LPs versus CDs

[iLUVanalog]

It's all about the mastering. CD has the ability to sound very good but most engineers master them for loudness.

absolutely correct slow jazz. audio "engineers"(??) have been programmed to think that louder is better. no modern CD - especially pop and rock music - sounds worth a damn because they turn the recording level way above and beyond the "red zone" of the vu meters. and when you play the CD and make the mistake of turning up the volume, all you get is a hazy, fuzzy, gritty, grainy, congested mess. the sound would be best described as white noise amplified 100-fold. i ALWAYS try to find recordings on vinyl, and resort to buying a CD only if there is absolutely no chance of finding the recording on vinyl.

 

[iLUVanalog]

I prefer CD, and don't like being called stupid.

Dude.....did you actually read his post??

He didn't call YOU stupid.

 

[outshined]

I prefer CD, and don't like being called stupid.

I'm with you, Rich.

 

[ducati_EL34]

If you can convert your favorite LP's to CD's as I did, then you may have the best of both worlds. Have you ever tried listening to records in your car?
Tony

Listening to music in a car, is like taking a shower with a rain coat on... What is the point. Of course I drive a Miata, so that mat have something to do with it.


Oh and some car companies use to offer a turntable as an option...

 

[wizargoz]

OK- Jimi Hendrix LP "Are You Experienced". On vinyl on my system, it sounds great- but it also sounds like a lot of 60's recordings- a bit thin on the bass and mids. On a remastered CD it sounds better- all the ranges appear to be there and sound robust.
But I prefer the vinyl sound. Why? Because that's the way I heard it the first time. It sounds rawer and more psychedelic 60's- it evokes the sound and the memories for me.
Now- the song "Are You Experienced" on a greatest hits or other compilation CD? The pits- just ripped from vinyl or another CD and compressed to hell.
So it's not the medium- it's the mastering and GIGO as mentioned many times here.
Now where is that dead horse...:scratch2:

 

[BrassTeacher]

I know vinyl is better because... it just is. But can anyone point me to a thread where people wax poetic about why? (Of course if you'd just like to yack about why, that'd be cool too.)

I know this may open a big can of worms with some people, but since a bigger can was opened by the initial question , here goes:

Unless you set your turntable up incorrectly, or have an odd component in your system, the signal comes out the speakers with correct signal polarity.

Most (if not every) CD players I've heard inverts signal polarity.

Make a difference? You bet! If your favorite album on vinyl sounds like it has more bass and punch, and overall clarity on your turntable than the same material on your CD player, guess why?

Want proof? If you have the same album on CD and vinyl, do this: Listen to it on your turntable first, then flip your speaker wire connections and listen to it on your CD player. The difference will either be MUCH smaller if you have a really good turntable and cartridge, disappear if both components are equally matched, or your CD player will suddenly wax your turntable (pun intended). At the very least, some of you can use this as a good excuse for a turntable/cartridge upgrade, or a CD player upgrade!

 

[gogofast]

I prefer CD, and don't like being called stupid.

i mainly listen to cd's, too - even knowing that the sound i get out of them isn't better than lp's just because they're more convenient. i don't think of people preferring cd's as stupid - i just think my friends are stupid.

 

[qpagoda]

Unless you set your turntable up incorrectly, or have an odd component in your system, the signal comes out the speakers with correct signal polarity.

Most (if not every) CD players I've heard inverts signal polarity.

???? Huh? :headscrat Don't take this as an argument, but as a plea for help. I'd like to try the test you suggested (when the wife's not home to laugh at me). Experiments are fun.

Inverts the signal relative to what? Swaps channels? That doesn't sound like what you're saying. Inverts the phase in one channel? Inverts the phase in both channels? If you'll provide an explanation, I'll try it.

 

[terra1]

Permanence don't mean a thing if the master is bad, bright and harsh. Just permanent bad, bright, and harsh.

Original Master tapes age and wear out. So the LP may be the only source of the original sound. And therefore, could sound cleaner, better than later CD masters.

Also totally different mixes can also be used. Master tapes are lost or Frankensteined or rerecorded to the point of not sounding the same as the LP.

By the way CDs can get scratched. Some can suffer from CD rot where the label side start rotting and getting pinholes or discoloring.

Also people are already talking about the demise of the CD being replaced by downloads. If so it seems the LP may have outlasted CDs -- in stores anyway. I know our Costco only carries a few new CDs and mostly sellable collections and proven oldies.

And hard drives crash and wear out too - usually unexpectedly. Files can get corrupted. So permanence is bogus there too.

Nothing is forever.

 

[levensnevel]

Wizzargoz hits it on the nail

But I prefer the vinyl sound. Why? Because that's the way I heard it the first time.

It is all a matter of which medium you grew up with.
I myself grew up with vinyl so ....
I don't care about statistics or numbercrunching
When I sit down at home and want to enjoy some nice pre 90'ies music from my collection I get my TT working and not my CDP
Currently Dire Straits with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms with the volume at almost 10 o'clock

 

[analog fan]

If you can convert your favorite LP's to CD's as I did, then you may have the best of both worlds. Have you ever tried listening to records in your car?
Tony

I've been ripping LPs to WAV files for listening in my truck. Not as good as being in my living room, but way better than listening to lossy formats.

 

[analog fan]

I seem to have more problems with CD's going to **** than I do with LP's, to be honest.

It's easier to get a scratched LP to play than a scratched CD.

 

[analog fan]

Come on, man, I'm new to AK. I just wanted to hear from people about the (non)issue.

 

[analog fan]

Listening to music in a car, is like taking a shower with a rain coat on... What is the point. Of course I drive a Miata, so that mat have something to do with it.


Oh and some car companies use to offer a turntable as an option...

True, it's a bad environment, but it's better than listening to the radio.

 

[analog fan]

Wizzargoz hits it on the nail

It is all a matter of which medium you grew up with.
I myself grew up with vinyl so ....
I don't care about statistics or numbercrunching
When I sit down at home and want to enjoy some nice pre 90'ies music from my collection I get my TT working and not my CDP
Currently Dire Straits with their 1985 album Brothers in Arms with the volume at almost 10 o'clock

Damn good album.

 

[mrb3]

Listening to music in a car, is like taking a shower with a rain coat on... What is the point. Of course I drive a Miata, so that mat have something to do with it.

Well, playing music in the car is usefull to give the beat in order to help "sing" over it acuratly ! :sing:

 

[Zeromancer]

hehe

 

[operaman]

Hi,

The rules are simple: Garbage in-Garbage out! The secret to good LP and CD releases is the master source quality and mastering. If any link in the chain is not up to spec, the result isn't there.

ABSOLUTELY

Also, I think the format of Lps has an advantage. Cds look cheap and chincy with all that plastic. Lps were/are art. Mp3s reminded everyone that if we continue on this path, we would end up with nothing! just a file on a MacBook which can be erased. And that thought has sent me back to LPs.

This is a slightly materialistic view, but I still think it's meaningful.

 

[Brett a]

Even considering the different mastering, the nicer physical format and the garbage in, garbage out consideration, I still think the most important difference in Lp playback is in the agreeable quality of the second-order harmonics distortion and the way the higher noise floor masks the higher order harmonics - all resulting in a more pleasant sound.

 

[similost]

I know vinyl is better because... it just is. But can anyone point me to a thread where people wax poetic about why? (Of course if you'd just like to yack about why, that'd be cool too.)

I can tell you why.. Cause my wife says so...

With even as "monstrous" of a system she believes we have, and not being into music a fraction of what I am, my wife just doesn't want me to play any CD's

She says CD's sound like crap, and you can never get the sound from them that you can from an album...

That's all the reason I need to not buy CD's and keep adding to the stack of wax... :tresbon: