Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
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Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
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Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#2May?? What do they mean May??
Why do you need an entire article for something that everyone already knows?
Even if you especially like the sound of vinyl, you can just play one and record it on a CD.
I watched a video of how they make vinyl. They take a ... wait for it .... CD! And play it into a machine that cuts the grooves.
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#3I just find this hilarious. If you like the sound of vinyl; record it to a CDROM, play the CDROM, it sounds just like vinyl, pops, clicks, skips and all.
Also, back in the glorious disco era, record companies would release 12" single disks, where the grooves were spaced wide enough that the bass beat could be laid down. What more proof does anyone need that 33 records are inferior?
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#4It may sound "better", but I find it lacks the warmth and depth that vinyl provides.
Edit: /s. Sigh.
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#5May?? What do they mean May?? Why do you need an entire article for something that everyone already knows? Even if you especially like the sound of vinyl, you can just play one and record it on a CD. I watched a video of how they make vinyl. They take a ... wait for it .... CD! And play it into a machine that cuts the grooves.
Yet I think this article is interesting because it provides us with several explanations of why people perceive analog recording as better.
Here are a few quoting from the article:
- "few people who would tell you that recording classical music to analog tape has any benefit at all," Metcalfe says. But for some artists, he says — particularly in rock — those layers of distortion are preferable.
- [...] recording to analog tape isn't any purer than recording music digitally. But the distortion and pitch variation that analog tape adds to the recording are preferred by some artists and audiences.
- "Because vinyl is a reflection and any digital is a reconstitution; it's not the same thing."
- [...]the distortion and pitch variation that analog tape adds to the recording are preferred by some artists and audiences.
- However, for a less skilled mixing engineer, mixing to analog tape can "'glue' the music together in the most wonderful way,"
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#6I just find this hilarious. If you like the sound of vinyl; record it to a CDROM, play the CDROM, it sounds just like vinyl, pops, clicks, skips and all. Also, back in the glorious disco era, record companies would release 12" single disks, where the grooves were spaced wide enough that the bass beat could be laid down. What more proof does anyone need that 33 records are inferior?
12" singles were about extended play time, not about bass.
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#7As a vinyl enthusiast, I find claims of vinyl's superior "sound qualitY" (whatever that means) to be laughable. A CD can clearly outreproduce a vinyl even the first time you play the vinyl record -- by the fifth time you're playing the vinyl record it's clearly inferior from a technical perspective.
The thing that's fun about vinyl is that it feels more like a physical artifact -- each one sounds different, the album art is bigger, it's been around for a few decades, etc... that's why I like it.
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#8Alright, so the reasons I've heard over the years that vinyl sounds better are:
a) the high-frequency roll-off starts at 15 kHz; b) the needle vibrates which smooths out the sound and provides warmth; c) the needle melts the vinyl at the molecular level which also smooths out the sound and provides warmth; d) the needle picks up feedback from the room; e) not all vinyl is created equal, you get a lot more quality out of a 5-minute 12" 45 rpm than a 30-minute 12" 33 1/3 rpm; f) clicks and pops and burns are part of the charm; g) the runout groove nagging you to get up is part of what vinyl sounds like; h) vinyl is physical and cool and sometimes extremely rare and barring an ABX test your perception of how good something is will be affected by these supposedly irrelevant meta qualities; i) some things are only available on vinyl, so of course it sounds better; j) depending on the type of music, the mastering won't be targeting mp3 players with earbuds but instead big club systems, so if you have good speakers, it might be easier to find the mastering you want on vinyl.
I don't know how many of these I agree with. Honestly the worst thing about vinyl is that it's heavy.
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#9It may sound "better", but I find it lacks the warmth and depth that vinyl provides. Edit: /s. Sigh.
"Warmth" and "depth" seem imprecise to me. Do those words have quantifiable meaning to an audiophile?
Re: Why CDs May Sound Better Than Vinyl
#10I just find this hilarious. If you like the sound of vinyl; record it to a CDROM, play the CDROM, it sounds just like vinyl, pops, clicks, skips and all. Also, back in the glorious disco era, record companies would release 12" single disks, where the grooves were spaced wide enough that the bass beat could be laid down. What more proof does anyone need that 33 records are inferior?
12" singles were about extended play time, not about bass.
You would get 10-12 minutes of music on a side instead of 30 so the grooves are wider and thus higher fidelity.