i agree with you completely on Crimson II, the sound is shit and it baffles me why he HATE HATE HATES anything analog. i used to talk to him by email for a while, and he is a very nice guy, very open and honest, friendly, and good with sharing information about all his musical endeavours. he skills as a producer were good but he admits he overextended his influence at times and ended up fucking over a lot of projects. this led to his withdrawal from recording other bands for a while.
his digital recording obsession may be the end of my appreciation for him as a musician, but god damn has the guy done/been around other bands who have done some great things in the past.