Doesn't anybody find it the slightest bit odd that when discussions such as this occur, everything is traced back to either the musician or the engineer? I certainly do since the logical thing would be to trace it back to the sheet music or the improvisor. Granted that quite a few of these composers have passed on, but it is the sheet music that will always remain as the closest link to what happened in their minds.
It says what instrument to play, what note, when to play it and how hard or soft to play it. Musicians aren't machines and neither are conductors, band leaders or producers. One take will be different from the next. So what truth are we talking about when here can be an infinite number of interpretations even before the music is recorded?
The best that can be hoped for is that every note is played and that every note is heard, be it singly or as part of a chord or even just a bed. Tonality is only a part of the sound envelope and ideally, note just the tonality but all aspects of the envelope be played and heard. In my mind, if distortions hamper this, be it electrical, mechanical, thermal or acoustical then the distortions should be brought at the very least to a level that makes them as benign as possible.