I’ve actually heard original master tapes - both Doobie Bros and Frank Sinatra - with the re-mastering engineer.
I have the Doobies acetate as well as a CDR burned direct from those master tapes. Alas, “only” CDRs burned from the original master tapes of Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Simon&Garfunkel, Eva Cassidy, Doors...and so many more.
Conclusion: nothing is really close to those original master tapes...but using a high-end turntable/arm/cartridge/phono stage - the acetate cut with a $35k 300B amplifier easily comes the closest albeit with a very limited life. The acetate is light years better than the commercial vinyl release, too.
That said, my CDR copies from the original master tapes can sound extraordinary - especially the versions I have burned BEFORE the reverb was added for the commercial release. In fact, some of my CDRs are not only “dry” but have studio chatter that was not on the final commercial release.
An aside - mastering can make all the difference...especially if the mastering engineer can avoid the dreaded compression and noise reduction; however, often the label makes that decision for the mastering engineer.
2nd aside: I have the original Beatles albums - UK first pressings - considered to be THE best sonic version. I also have the relatively new ReMix/ReMaster 24-bit versions of SP and White albums. The latter are superior in terms of transparency, detail, dynamics & tonal accuracy. Finally, McCartney’s bass can be heard.
“Conclusion: nothing is really close to those original master tapes...but using a high-end turntable/arm/cartridge/phono stage - the acetate cut with a $35k 300B amplifier easily comes the closest albeit with a very limited life. “
First, the file is modified by the RIAA standard before cutting the disk. The LP will not even handle the original.
The die cannot accurately follow the intended path. It is mechanical. Sometimes the back edge will even over-write the front edge cutting.
The turntable and needle are mechanical. Wow and flutter from the platter and distortion in the needle movement.
Dynamica are limited so the needle will stay in the groove. There is no true separation between L/R channels.
Then you have to apply filtering to ‘back-out’ the RIAA pre-cut filtering. These filters are not perfect and the original info is not truly restored.
If have some digitally recorded tracks high resolution FLAC files and they knock my socks off!
There is no way LP tech can even approach the dynamics and separation of those.
If you want reality, go digital. If you want distortion, go LP.