[superdragon]

I'm becoming a bit of an audiophile in my old age and want the absolute best sound.  This is good for the musicians as I am now re-purchasing music in different formats.  I just bought a CD to rip because the iTunes version of the album sounds crappy.  I finally looked at the file and it is only 128 Kbps!
 
Here is my question though:
 
Assuming that I have good quality Vinyl, a good turntable, a good way to connect the turntable to my PC, and good conversion software, if there is a vinyl version of an album, can I convert it to a digital lossless format that will be better quality than an iTunes ALAC rip from the same CD, or will I at best reproduce the exact quality as the rip, and possibly produce a worse quality version?
 
Thanks

 

[vcoheda]

i would say yes. vinly rip is/can be better than cd. short article is below. older article but point is still valid.
 
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question487.htm

 

[RRod]

It will all depend on the mastering. A well-mastered CD will have no problem matching or exceeding the quality of well-mastered vinyl, but a badly mastered CD can sound like crud.

 

[MindsMirror]

There are numerous threads here that discuss/debate CD quality audio and whether you need or could even benefit from anything higher. CDs have 44.1KHz sample rate which is high enough to contain all audible frequencies, and 16 bit resolution which has a dynamic range of 96dB, more than you need for playback in practically any case. Technically speaking, CD quality is as good as you will ever need, so a vinyl rip will be either as good, or worse.
 
Vinyl has less dynamic range, and audible artifacts such as clicks and pops. Technically speaking, vinyl is worse. That doesn't necessarily mean that a vinyl record or a rip of it will subjectively sound worse than a CD of the same album. The vinyl and CD masters are often different. You may prefer the vinyl master, enough so that you would rather listen to the vinyl rip despite the shortcomings of vinyl compared to CD.
 
To get the best audio you can, you would have to assess each album on a case by case basis.

 

[bigshot]

  i would say yes. vinly rip is/can be better than cd. short article is below.

 
I have many CDs that sound better than the vinyl. In fact, I have a lot more better sounding CDs, than I do better sounding LPs. The main reason to collect records is for music that hasn't been released on CD, not sound quality.
 
CD is a higher fidelity format than LPs, but it all depends on mastering. If the CD is badly mastered, it might sound worse than the LP. In other words, the format is no guarantee of sound quality. You have to talk to collectors who have heard various releases and know which ones sound the best.

 

[Shaffer]

You have to talk to collectors who have heard various releases and know which ones sound the best.

Hello.

 

[bigshot]

I have thousands of LPs. Happy to offer advice on what I know.

 

[Shaffer]

I have thousands of LPs. Happy to offer advice on what I know.

We may something in common after all!

The collections was curated over ~40 year period. ~90% of the albums were unsealed by me, most first pressings. I don't mean non-reissues; I'm talking about actual first pressing of the title. Quite a few audiophile pressings, from the time I worked in the business, some with several duplicate pressings from other countries. Naturally, having own some kind of cleaning machine for the last 30 years, a VPI 16.5 for the last 20, as well as a very good, properly aligned analog rig, the LPs are as mint as the circumstances allow. ~1000 or so are 21th century pressings; I mean fairly new and very new music. I also own ~2500 CD - can post a pic if you like - and quite a few of the titles have dupe LPs. Again, new and old.

As you know, we've talked about this, I regularly make needle drops for friends and for the car on a Tascam CD recorder. No software and digital intervention involved, aside from the brutally obvious.

It would be great to see a pic of your record collection and hear about its composition.

 

[bigshot]

About 2/3s of the collection...
 

 
The top is box sets, the bottom two rows are 78 sets. This is just the hall. I have four gorilla racks in the library too.
 
This photo may be impressive, but my digital collection is even better. I have 50 TB of movies and music streaming through my media server.

 

[Hijodelbrx]

I also use a Tascam CD recorder! I've enjoyed making 'mix' tapes, and now CD's for decades. As has been stated before, it's not the medium, it's all about the quality of the recording. The Tascam allows me to be careful about matching volume levels. I've recorded from LP's, CD's, & MP3's all on a single disc with fabulous results!

 

[xantus]

most people who argue for CDs have never heard a perfectly aligned needle.. (that has a sound signature that they like, in a well matched system..)
vinyl releases often are mastered with dynamic range like they never release on CD

 

[RRod]

most people who argue for CDs have never heard a perfectly aligned needle.. (that has a sound signature that they like, in a well matched system..)
vinyl releases often are mastered with dynamic range like they never release on CD

 
Except for genres like classical that moved on from vinyl even though they have pieces with huge dynamic range, at which CD is the better medium.

 

[Shaffer]

Except for genres like classical that moved on from vinyl even though they have pieces with huge dynamic range, at which CD is the better medium.

It can be, if done right. Unfortunately, the lower the level , as on a very quiet passage, the lower the resolution (on a CD). OTOH, a LP allows one to hear below the noise floor.

 

[Shaffer]

About 2/3s of the collection...




The top is box sets, the bottom two rows are 78 sets. This is just the hall. I have four gorilla racks in the library too.

This photo may be impressive, but my digital collection is even better. I have 50 TB of movies and music streaming through my media server.

Very nice! I confess to not recognizing any of the spines. Not that I would with 78s.

 

[RRod]

It can be, if done right. Unfortunately, the lower the level , as on a very quiet passage, the lower the resolution (on a CD). OTOH, a LP allows one to hear below the noise floor.

 
That's why dither and noise shaping exist if you happen to have content down at under 90dB below the max peak. None of the music I have does, because it would be annoying. It's all below the vinyl noise floor already, so I don't quite see your point.