digital lp's ?

[honestabe316]

A lot of the new vinyl coming out is sourced from digital files.....can anyone exam to me why this would be done? Im assuming its because most people want the format (vinyl) and are less interested in analog vs. Digital sound differences.

Scott

 

[markshan]

Can you explain to me why it wouldn't be done?

 

[honestabe316]

I thought that vinyl lp's are loved because they are analog mediums....a digital vinyl lp is like pouring sugar on a turd and calling it a donut....isn't the main reason people like vinyl for ths analog sound? Im confused??? Im not trying to start a vinyl vs digital discussion...just honestly wondering why?

 

[jlb2]

Because all of the music production today is made in digital files and no-one has demonstrated that being digital changed anything to the sound (providing you use decent equipment and software, of course), unlike being on vinyl, so no need to be analogue all the way. Also because mastering to vinyl is better and easier in computers than in analogue racks.

a digital vinyl lp is like pouring sugar on a turd and calling it a donut [...] Im not trying to start a vinyl vs digital discussion

And yet it's exactly what you're doing

 

[vinyl1]

Actually, there is quite a bit of all analog-music still being cut to vinyl. It is somewhat expensive, but it can be done.

 

[grottyash]

Mastering on digital has been the default for nigh on 30 years now. Ry Cooder's "Bop til you drop' was one of the first, and that came out in 1979.

 

[jasonsong86]

There is digital 24bit-192khz sample rate digital studio quality and there is 16bit-44.1khz digital CD quality. Vinyl or CD is just a media. Of course if you can play the original digital file it would've been the best.
There is no such thing as analog sound or digital sound. All sound is analog. Human brain can't decode digital. All audio signals eventually turn into analog coming out of the speakers. It's just how far from the source the analog signal begins.
Pretty sure vinyl enthusiasts aren't really looking for the "analog sound". There is no such thing as analog or digital sound. There is poorly reproduced sound. They are more into properly mastered music. A media is a media, simple as that.

 

[nu2toobs]

All digital sourced lp's aren't bad. The latest Stone's and Zeppelin albums sound pretty good to me. I like what my vinyl chain does with them.

 

[honestabe316]

This makes sense...I often will like a vinyl version of one album over the cd version and vice versa...I think pre digital first pressings on vinyl are desireable because they are closer to original "virgin" tape...

 

[4-2-7]

Some records are made from a digital source..
some are made from an analog source.

Some of your favorite albums that you think are all analog have some digital operation in them. You just ran a post on a UK pressing of Pink Floyd Animals, you said you bought it to be as close to the analog source you can get. Do you really think all the sounds recorded by PF were from analog instruments? As pointed out digital was in the studio and mastering process far earlier than most people think. It didn't start with CDs only, as there are many records that advertises "Digitally Mastered" in the early 80s.

Some new records are being sourced from digital because that might be all that's available. Some come from tapes that need to be restored by filling bad spots with digital and then recording back to tape. You name it they are doing it and in reality if it wasn't for digital some music would be lost forever.

Now you can have crappy mastering and pressing no matter the source, so buy records and listen. Quit reading and assuming something doesn't sound good just listen.

 

[honestabe316]

I get 'll of that....the reason ive spent what is a lot to me, on audio playback components, is because I want the best recordings I can afford..i read forums to get a feel for what people consider to be excellent recordings. With a few bands I want the collectible vinyl as well. I like listening to different versions of same recording...its a hobby...and pf animals is 1977. I will do some research to see if it has any digital highlights...

 

[honestabe316]

It looks like animals was the last non digitally influenced album by pf. The two channel recorder (digital) came out in 78'...so the wall would be digitally influenced but not animals....

 

[grottyash]

If you really want analogue only don't by a record made after 1980. Fifties, sixties and seventies are fine, but after that the chances are the recording media will be digital.

 

[jasonsong86]

It looks like animals was the last non digitally influenced album by pf. The two channel recorder (digital) came out in 78'...so the wall would be digitally influenced but not animals....

Again, its irrelevant. It's like saying one photographer uses film and the other uses digital camera. It's the brain behind the device (media), not the media itself. I've heard some not so nicely mastered vinyls. Some are really bad.

 

[SimplyOrange]

Though I don't know a lot about the subject, here is what I understand:

Digitally sourced LPs wont necessarily sound bad, at least in my opinion. But if it weren't analog, it seems like it would entirely defeat the purpose (with the exception of aesthetics and ritual).

On the other hand, as other users have noted, mastering is very important. I've probably heard just as many poorly mastered LPs, as I have CDs/digital. That being said, I firmly believe that a well mastered analog record will generally have a fuller sound.

Interestingly enough, I read an article recently that describes the process of mastering to vinyl as opposed to CD. It noted that there was use of low pass filters and de-essing to cut off certain frequencies IIRC; maybe that's why I find records to have a nicer, less harsh sound. Here is the article if you're interested.

 

[SimplyOrange]

Even if it is a digital master - it has to be remastered for vinyl (adding the RIAA curve) and some of the dynamics of digital will have to be removed. A vinyl system has a dynamic range of 70 dB (80dB optimal) while digital can be 116 dB (124 dB optimal system) for a 24 bit system. Vinyl tends to be spikier but also nosier.

Wow, 116 dB? I always though it was 90, interesting.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "spikier?"

 

[OldSch00l]

You can buy modern recordings that are created entirely with an analog process. Jack White for example is an analog 'purist', and as far as I am aware almost everything he releases under his label is analog from beginning to end in the recording process. One of my favorite groups, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, also record in analog and it stays that way through to the pressing.

 

[illinoisteve]

Mastering on digital has been the default for nigh on 30 years now. Ry Cooder's "Bop til you drop' was one of the first, and that came out in 1979.

A few years before that the TELARC label was specializing in digitally mastered classical music LPs. However, I'm sure that some small, very small, and "niche" record producing operations were recording, mixing, mastering on tape well into the 80s and 90s, even if the biggies went whole hog digital for whatever formats of consumer recordings they were producing around or not that long after what you say.

 

[honestabe316]

It makes sense that digital would be more accurate....I have heard early digital recordings might have had imperfections but are much better now....I think what it comes down to for me is a couple of things....one being the purist consideration where the pre digital age music and first vinyl pressings being closest to the new analog audio tapes from the particular sessions....for example a new 1980 gram vinyl pressing of pink floyd wish you were here is mastered from either a source that is 39 years old or from other 2nd. , 3rd, 4th etc..generation sources. So a first uk vinyl pressing of wywh should be closest to original. If you make a photo copy of a new document and use the copy to make another copy and repeat 50 times, the document will degrade. If you take steps to preserve the original tape and make all 50 copies from the one original master, the 50 copies will degrade far less....I assume some original analogs have been preserved well while others not so much. So thats my purist view.
Then you have the nostalgia/tangible aspect where a cd is cheap looking and the vinyl package is just more fulfilling....its my opinion and its probably why they marketed those mini lp discs. The cd looks like a small vinyl record. I guess it makes more sense to buy cd's for modern music and lp's for vintage. I am happy with that.

 

[jsisk]

You really can't make a broad judgement based on media, mixing, or recording type.

I have analog recorded and mixed CDs that sound great, I have digitally recorded and mixed records that sound great. Also have the exact opposite of both that sound great, while others sound like crap. I all depends on who was involved in the recording, mixing, and mastering. Some sound engineers are better than others.