Let's talk vinyl.... - Page 4

Vinyl doesn't "add" anything, that's the point of vinyl. It is THE closest thing to the original audio that you can get.
 

 

 

Utterly incorrect. Have you looked into the process by which music gets from the recording studio to an LP? Seriously, please do this.

 

Viny that is a direct transfer from the studio would be utterly unlistenable - without significant EQing at both ends it is abysmal. Then look at all the added noise and distortion due to the physical characteristics, seriously !

 

Prefer Vinyl all you want but argung it is more accurate than CD is just incorrect. Find me any meaningful audible parameter where Vinyl is better, it is not on  noise , distortion, dynamic range, linearity, or speed stability that is for sure

Edited by nick_charles - 6/15/11 at 9:17am

It's one thing to say you think vinyl sounds better, but it's quite another thing to say that the format is technically better than any other digital recording/archival format.  Digital recordings will have the exact same waveform as an analog recording, with the added bonus that computers have error correction so it'll always be the same as the original.  And there's no need to worry about dust, scratches and vibrations with a CD.

 

Still, I think arguments that vinyl is "obviously better" than digital is similar to cable arguments.  For all we know, it's all just placebo.

 

But I guess vinyl will always sound different, and most will probably be able to pick out the vinyl record in an ABX test, meaning blind tests are somewhat worthless in this case. 

Huh? Who told you that? Or do you have some professional qualifications to back that up?

You do realize that vinyl is cut with an EQ curve, right? A part of the sound depends on the phonostage you're using.

Vinyl certainly can sound excellent and I enjoy it very much. I spin black discs mostly because I can find a lot of music on LP that hasn't made it to digital. Vinyl gives you access to a lot more recordings and I'm mostly interested in accessing as much music as possible. But vinyl far from the last word in technical ability. Check into reel and DSD recordings. You might learn a few things. And, yes, I listen to digital regularly, too. It's all good.

 

Well said. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the technicalities of our gear that we forget to enjoy the music. 
 

 

Some cd systems sound fantastic, some vinyl systems sound fantastic. I have a personal belief that the bass is a little better with a record or tape. I have not heard enough mega cd systems to make a fair judgement.

 

The fact is that they have been making some bad records the last couple of years. The audiophile lables use better masters but some new records sound thin. Buying an older record from the 1990s or 1980s can get you a better chance of finding a great recording. Buying an audiophile record gets you about 99% of the way to finding a great recording just by chance. Looking for 180 gram records also can help your chances but there are no fool proof ways other than buying the same record you heard at a friends house.

 

Records are always a learning experience, I don't care how long you been collecting. I gave away a lot of mono records in the mid 1990s because I was into stereo. I also traded many records that I wish I would have had today. One saying that I feel always hold true is try and keep all your records. It seems that most musical trends have a strange backlash right before they get popular again. The records that you can get for a buck can end up being what is cool in ten years. I have seen many really crazy things when looking for records. I met record wholesalers which drive a van around to used record stores and always have new stuff. These guys always have a base somewhere and if you are cool they may invite you over for a couple of hours at night and let you go threw a box or two.

 

I used to drive to thrift shops in really bad violent gang hoods just to see if there were some rare records there. I once dug through a closet in a pawn shop where the records were stacked to the roof, with many falling as I went through the piles. If you really try hard, your hands can get black with the dust on some of these old records.

 

What I'm saying here is that records are a lifestyle a way for the hunter in us to go out into the city jungle and hunt. To come home with a prize and feel like we did well. When you want to spend money there is always the easy way which is to go to the pricy record stores and pay top money for the one you have been looking for. The sound is great but records also have the whole other side which is connected to them. The covers, the labels, cleaning tools. Each record collector has his own special mix of soap for his cleaning machine. This all goes together with the phono stage settings, cables, amps, speakers, room treatments. And this work ends with an audio time machine that with the improvements in today's turntables takes the record listener back to 1965, 1975 or 1985 when the record company used ways to make records sound warm. That's the quest.

 

Edited by Redcarmoose - 6/17/11 at 9:07pm

Everything Redcarmoose said hits the nail on the head........ I'll just add beside the system matching being even more important with your T.Table, Phono stage, cartridge, phono cable and let's not forget the T.Tables power supply/ speed controller, vinyl just sounds more organic or truer to the actual recording, if said recording was done on analog recording equipment and engineered and mastered with some thought and talent....  Plus I just enjoy collecting LPs.........