[old tech]

Well, you learn something new every day!

Taylor Swift's latest album actually isn't badly compressed at all, for whatever reason.

I still won't forget fun.'s Some Nights, where their vinyl version didn't have this sizzle with the guitars. Think they brickwalled it or something because it sounded dreadful whereas the vinyl version was awesome.

Yeah, that's why I tend to be format agnostic. Sometimes the vinyl version sounds better to me whereas other times it is digital. It depends on the mastering, source of the original recording (eg age/condition of master tapes), the type of music (depending on your stereo and room characteristics some types of music may sound better on one format than the other). Also the fun factor, sometimes it is fun just spinning a record or going through old cassette recordings I did in my youth.

 

[wolfinwool]

Yeah, that's why I tend to be format agnostic. Sometimes the vinyl version sounds better to me whereas other times it is digital. It depends on the mastering, source of the original recording (eg age/condition of master tapes), the type of music (depending on your stereo and room characteristics some types of music may sound better on one format than the other). Also the fun factor, sometimes it is fun just spinning a record or going through old cassette recordings I did in my youth.

Format Agnostic is the way to be. I generally prefer digital formats for music made/recorded digitally and analog format for music recorded as such. Or in some cases, the version I want is only available in one medium.

 

[wolfinwool]

Yeah, that's why I tend to be format agnostic. Sometimes the vinyl version sounds better to me whereas other times it is digital. It depends on the mastering, source of the original recording (eg age/condition of master tapes), the type of music (depending on your stereo and room characteristics some types of music may sound better on one format than the other). Also the fun factor, sometimes it is fun just spinning a record or going through old cassette recordings I did in my youth.

I've also found that early black metal sounds best on tape. It's probably nostalgia, as I was first was introduced to the genre through tapes.

 

[gregorio]

[1] Everyone knows that a well mastered recording played on a decent DAC will sound better on a similarly priced turntable, even in 2020.
[2] DACs are getting much better though, and [2a] this mismatch won't last for much longer.

1. Are you really claiming everyone knows that lower fidelity "sounds better"? I don't, what I know is that higher fidelity "sounds better" to me, so that disproves your "Everyone".

2. No they're not. Not audibly better anyway.
2a. Yes it will. At no time in the foreseeable future will vinyl reach the high level of fidelity of which 44/16 is capable.

Format Agnostic is the way to be. I generally prefer digital formats for music made/recorded digitally and analog format for music recorded as such.

As this is the Sound Science subforum, the "way to be" is to accept the well proven fact that CD is far superior media format to vinyl as far as audio fidelity is concerned. However, that doesn't preclude anyone liking or even preferring the lower fidelity of vinyl or of course making do with a vinyl copy if there is no decent digital version.

G

 

[pinnahertz]

Not surprising really. Everyone knows that a well mastered recording played on a decent DAC will sound better on a similarly priced turntable, even in 2020.

Nope, wrong. First of all, pretty much "everyone" can't even make that comparison because they have no way to know if the vinyl and digital mastering was identical (mostly not). Second, the vinyl process is lossy in that it has reduction in pretty much every single audio specification: frequency response, channel separation, distortion, maximum response vs level, noise, time-base...need not go on. Vinyl is lossy, lossless digital is not.

DACs are getting much better though, and this mismatch won't last for much longer.

DACs were good enough to beat vinyl in the mid 1980s. But you're comparing apples and antelopes. You have no ability to make the comparisons you're claiming, and very few people ever have, because you don't have a handle on provenance. The assumption is always that the same masters were used for both digital and vinyl, and that is absolutely not correct, pretty much ever, with a vanishingly small number of exceptions.

 

[bigshot]

you're comparing apples and antelopes.

I find that apples are much better in a pie. Antelopes tend to tear up the crust with their hooves.

 

[pinnahertz]

I find that apples are much better in a pie. Antelopes tend to tear up the crust with their hooves.

You're not using the right kind. You have to use the high-end antelopes with smooth analog hooves.

 

[Glmoneydawg]

I find that apples are much better in a pie. Antelopes tend to tear up the crust with their hooves.

Thats why we have barbeques

 

[pinnahertz]

Thats why we have barbeques

I love the smell of barbecued antelope in the morning...

 

[old tech]

I've also found that early black metal sounds best on tape. It's probably nostalgia, as I was first was introduced to the genre through tapes.

There's a lot of truth in that. Is it surprising that most people that prefer analog playback sound tend to be in their late 50s and over? That is the sound they associate with their music (and declining hearing acuity doesn't help either). Kinda reminds me of my grandparents and their cohort lamenting the loss of the mellow sound of the early tube AM radios.