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HD Vinyl?

I'd consider any '70's era vinyl to be "high definition" compared to the quickie get it to market crap they were pushing out on CDs at the dawn of optical music. I have a lot of albums in both formats and a lot of the CDs just flat out suck in comparison.
 
OK all you wingnuts, there is nothing wrong with the definition of well recorded old vinyl, if it is cleaned properly.
All the noise, pops, and tics, can be minimized with care. If a good table and cart is setup properly you may be surprised. All those that can only listen to CD's are missing the real artists. The newer vinyl has not been recorded as well as even 1955 stuff I have. Do not condemn something if you really never gave it a chance.
You do not have to spend $5000 for a table, arm, and cart either.
 
MiVinyl said:
In case anyone was interested in the DBX discs.
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Definitely ... yeah ... definitely!

I've got a pretty good selection of dbx labels here, as well as one of these ...

dbx21.jpg


Sound quality runs rings around a lot of the high definition digital in my collection.
 
^ Yeah, I'd be interested in picking up a decoder and some DBX albums, if there was more of a variety out there.
 
matteos said:
Sounds interesting, but really the problem with audio quality is the mastering done in the studio, it lives or dies right there. Nothing will be done to fix that.... I've got some direct to disk vinyl recordings and they sound absolutely lifelike although the music isn't particularly great, I don't see much trumping the sound quality of those, not even "HD vinyl". It sounds interesting, but I bet it won't make any difference whatsoever. CD supposedly gives us HD quality but it never does because everything gets brickwalled in the mastering.
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I have a couple of direct-to-disc LPs as well. One is absolutely dreadful. It sounds awesome, but the music on it is so bad that I'm embarrassed to play it. The album? Rough Trade Live. Ugh.... The other d-to-d LP I have is a double album featuring Canadian brass players. Not embarrassing to listen to, but just sort of blah.... Both sound incredible, but, like so many other early audiophile recordings put on new media or techniques, the talent on display barely merits the format.

I have a lot of MoFi pressings, and I have to say that few recordings, if any, in my collection come close to MoFi pressing of Los Lobos' Kiko. I was lucky and got record number 232 (limited, numbered edition). It doesn't just give you a left-to-right soundstage, or a front-to-back soundstage, but it creates a sense of physical space between the band members. It's crazy.

On the digital side, I have some incredible recordings. I have a 5.1 re-mix of The Who's Quadrophenia that's out of this world, but it really has to rely on using multiple speakers to evoke that same sense of space between band members. Either way, it's an incredible recording, and one I highly recommend.
 
woofmytweets said:
i'll have to take your word - i don't yet have a decent turntable - waiting to smooth out my last purchase out, then maybe see what bartertown brings forth...also a little hesitant - know nothing about setting one up - i mean i can figure out how to level it, but no idea re: balancing the tonearm (although i know this is necessary) and whatever else.
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I'm about the most mechanically inept person you're likely to run across anywhere, and if my 16-year-old self could mount a cartridge correctly and set up the rest of a turntable, you should be able to do it with ease. Patience is the primary ingredient in the process.
 
asilker said:
A few thoughts:
-They mention turntable sales via Amazon. However, people buying $50 Jensen sets will not care if their records are "HD" or not. They are after the "scratchy sound". Not bashing, simply repeating what I hear all the time in person. Local used sales on vintage tables is probably a better indicator
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Agreed. I believe the mention of the turntable was just to indicate how big this retro move is these days. My guess is that if you're buying a $50 turntable, you're not going to "be into vinyl" very long. Just a guess on my part.

asilker said:
- seems like an eventual industry shift to regular vinyl grooves with digital analysis. Good deal
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That's what I was thinking. Make the recording in the analog realm, but then A-to-D it, and analyze the recording in the digital realm so that when you actually cut the groove, you make the best use of the available space on the platter. I've seen others mentioning that because the format claims to provide additional capacity, studios will put as much content on it as possible. While that may be true, if the format truly is capable of producing improved playback, I suspect that labels, like MoFi, that specialize in higher quality pressings, will use that optimized space to improve playback, not cram more content onto the disc.

asilker said:
- "HD" is a hackneyed label. The whole point of vinyl is that it retains definition. Seems like a double statement
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I believe the article says that "HD Vinyl" is just a working title. I have some 3D toothpaste at home.... because, you know, all those other toothpastes only work on two dimensions of your teeth.
 
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MiVinyl said:
^ Yeah, I'd be interested in picking up a decoder and some DBX albums, if there was more of a variety out there.
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I know. I went onto that famous auction site, and there are lots of decoders available, some of which are downright cheap (in an inexpensive kind of way), but the music selection.... uh.... no thanks.
 
I don't know about, cwall99, I paid $40 for a Automatic PD 289 with a used Denon D103 in it that didn't sound at all bad, I just depends where you live, or who you know. The wow and flutter on that table is five times better than the raved about U-Turn orbit!
 
Another good option for premium vinyl is the Mercury 35mm recordings. Those were excellent with very wide dynamics ... one take, directly to tape.

Mercury-Living-Presence-Liszt-Concertos-12.jpg


Bravo! BRAVO!
 
cwall99 said:
I know. I went onto that famous auction site, and there are lots of decoders available, some of which are downright cheap (in an inexpensive kind of way), but the music selection.... uh.... no thanks.
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Yeah not much choice if your inta rock.I got Who are You.Great album.I remember cueing it up and not hearing anything so I turned it up and when the song started I practically blew my speakers up.:yikes: It was frightening.
 
cwall99 said:
I have a lot of MoFi pressings, and I have to say that few recordings, if any, in my collection come close to MoFi pressing of Los Lobos' Kiko. I was lucky and got record number 232 (limited, numbered edition). It doesn't just give you a left-to-right soundstage, or a front-to-back soundstage, but it creates a sense of physical space between the band members. It's crazy
Click to expand...

Yes! Kiko is absolutely insane sounding. Probably the best sounding Mofi I own too. A recommended record for everyone. Of course, fantastic musically as well
 
just dave said:
Yeah not much choice if your inta rock.I got Who are You.Great album.I remember cueing it up and not hearing anything so I turned it up and when the song started I practically blew my speakers up.:yikes: It was frightening.
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I have the non-DBX version of the same recording (the same company's master disk). There are some great tracks on the album, but there are some frighteningly bad ones too. Especially Love is Coming Down....

I hate to sound like an old fart (which, sadly, I'm discovering that I'm becoming with increasing rapidity), but I really don't think The Who released any good albums after Quadrophenia. I'm not even that big of a fan of Who's Next (but that's probably because I'm sick of Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again; though I do really like Going Mobile and My Wife).

It is odd that there's no percussion at all on The Music Must Change. As eery as Keith sitting on a chair that has "Not To Be Taken Away" stenciled on the back.

The Who used to be my favorite band. I have every album they released up through It's Hard (which has its fair share of dogs as does Face Dances). I just got tired of the same collections of songs being released on another Best Of... compilation, and I thought their most recent studio album was tepid at best.

Pete's had a lot of good solo albums, especially White City.

Oh, shoot.... I'm rambling again. Sorry about that.
 
oblomov said:
Yes! Kiko is absolutely insane sounding. Probably the best sounding Mofi I own too. A recommended record for everyone. Of course, fantastic musically as well
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You're absolutely right!!! Musically and sonically, that record is up at the top of my favorite records of all time. I was just disappointed that the record sleeve split (because a) the record itself is so thick, being 180 grams and b) MoFi crams all that extra junk into the sleeve). MoFi was good, though, and sent me a new sleeve, though it's stamped with pressing 1131. I have both sleeves, my original 000232 sleeve as well as the replacement sleeve MoFi sent me.

The imaging, though, is freaking crazy. If you like MoFi and don't have this album, run, don't walk, to MoFi's web site and order it. You'll be glad you did.
 
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