The cd isnt that quiet, i noticed that i thought it sounded a bit better than my cd as well. Though i didnt do any extensive a-b testing or anything. Though that might also just be because my turntable rig is considerably higher end than my digital setup is.
Also, i got my copy of the new Svart Crown CD today, Profane, and man is it alot better than Witnessing the Fall was. Though i do wonder why they dont have an LP for Profane yet...
Thats another thing, now that i have the turntable, I've been preordering/buying CDs and LPs for everything, which just costs me a ton more money -_-
The issue is master vs collectible.
If you are just collecting than yeah, get the LP. I actually wound up doing that for Vertikal - I did pick up the last copy the store had on RSD.
But if you want the best master, then the answer is fuzzier.
Most of the time, I would tell you to just get the CD. Despite my love for the analog, LPs come with a lot of inherit format drawbacks and the overwhelming majority of time (at least for the *big* releases), the LP is just the Redbook master on vinyl.
Is that always bad?
NO not at all. A well done Redbook master can be pressed to vinyl with almost little change. In this case, its personal taste and quality of playback gear that really determine what format you want (if you invested heavily in a TT, go with the LP, if you are like me and listen to 100% of your collection through a digital medium (LPs would be needle drops), buy the CD).
Here is another data point:
I was at the New York Audio Show (representing Metal-Fi.com and doing a bit research on what Dave and I are going to cover on our site) and I went to the Rob Roberson Pure Vinyl talk and he said something very interesting. This guy has tons of wax and has been ripping vinyl for YEARS. I mean it sounded like he has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in his hobby (between his company, gear, etc. etc.).
They were asking him about DSD since a lot of the vinyl folks seem to gravitate toward DSD files thinking that its more truer to representing the wave form. He said NO. He said modern LPCM DACs sound a lot better to his ears. If you can find a well mastered LPCM version of the music you want to listen to, go with that. I THOUGHT that was a big statement from a guy who has invested a lot of his personal and professional time in vinyl.
Now for a personal rant (this should all probably go on MFi but):
The problem I see with a lot of vinyl junkies is that they fall in love with the medium instead of the music. Wax, CDs, MP3s, they are all
means to an end - to maximize your listening experience. It really is all about the
music. I don't care about formats that much. I really think that is where Dave and I differ from the average audiophile or vinyl-junkie you see on a plethora of websites. We don't care what format a particular album comes in, we just want the one that sounds the best - whatever that is - it could be cassette for all we care (it never is thankfully).
Bottom line: Don't fall in love with formats, they come and go as technology improves. Fall in love with the music.
