[bflatfinesse]

There are so many analog to digital transfers of Karajan's recordings, can anyone direct me to specific albums, collections, or even record labels that did the best job of remastering and transferring to CD format?  Any help is appreciated.  

 

[EDN80]

To start, I think you should look into what Maestro Karajan himself called his "favorite symphony" - honestly, one of the greatest ever written IMHO, Anton Bruckner's monumental Symphony N.8, which he recorded a couple of times for DG in 1975 and 1989.
 
I recommend the latter with the Wiener Philarmoniker... 
 
http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphony-No-8-Anton/dp/B008PC1GF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463029240&sr=8-1&keywords=bruckner+8+karajan
 
 

 
 
... but if you are new to Bruckner and don't know what you're getting into, I recommend the DG Box set - unbeatable at a budget price - and newly remastered too.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-9-Symphonies-Box-Set/dp/B001DCQI8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463029079&sr=8-1&keywords=karajan+bruckner
 

 
... the highlight here, ironically, is the majestic 7th. Read the reviews here:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Bruckner-Symphony-No-7-Anton/dp/B00000E3F6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1463029532&sr=8-3&keywords=karajan+bruckner+7

 

[god-bluff]

Got to be Deutsche Grammaphon. Take your pick; hundreds of Karajan and Berliner Philhamoniker recordings. The three are synonymous
 
My favourite
 

 
and this, which is a digital recording
 

 
(PS Listen via Beyer DT150 for full effect. German 70s  phones fully in keeping with the music.)
EDIT these are '69 and 81 recordings!

 

[bflatfinesse]

@EDN80 My initial research shows that The Originals series you recommended for the Bruckner was not as good of a remastering as the earlier CD releases in the 1980s.  Can you shed more light on this?

 

[bflatfinesse]

@godbluff Out of the hundreds of DG releases, I am trying to find which remasters and releases specifically had the best sound quality. Are there any databases or forums where people post reviews of specific remasters of the same recordings?

 

[god-bluff]

Sorry can't  help with those sort of details. I can only say I find all my DG Originals, some of which I own on LP (although with no way of currently playing them for comparison !) sound very good remasters.
 
 I find Gramophone http://www.gramophone.co.uk/ and the book 'The Penguin Guide to 1000 Classical Recordings' good sources of information. I am no expert on classical music by any means.