70s prog on vinyl

I have this for playing all my Prog 78 masterpieces . No Bass or Treble controls, just open the flaps on the front for more volume. What more could you want!

^
Although my memory is failing with advancing years I seem to recalling reading an article in Sound on Sound magazine or somesuch a number of years ago in which a respected vinyl mastering engineer posited the theory that it was in fact the compression that must be applied to cut masters that contributed vastly to the homogeneity of sound on 'pop' vinyl record, a quote corroborated by none other than Paul McCartney who added that he felt that cutting to vinyl always made him feel that it was the moment (when he listened to a cut record) that the whole performance sound liked a band playing together.

Slightly geeky but I've been doing an A/B test today on the CD version of Led Zeppelin's Mothership with the vinyl versions of the same songs. I got Mothership because reviews had mentioned the superiority of the mastering and how it breathed new life into the songs and made you remember what made Zeppelin great.

Have to say that the difference between the CD cut of Ramble On (played on a Roksan Kandy Mk III cd player through Myryad amps and Sonus Faber Concerto Domus speakers) and the vinyl version from Zep II played a Linn LP12 with Origin Live modded RB300, Sumiko Blue Point cartridge into a Graham Slee Era Gold MkV phono stage and through the same amps and speakers was negligible.

The CD sounded marginally more sparkly through the very top end (the leading edge of the upper bass notes on the chorus was more clearly defined and more dynamic and the hand percussion more brightly lit), a little tighter in the lower bass but the vinyl did indeed sound more cohesive, even though it presented a wider soundstage. Vinyl also treated the acoustic guitar on the verses with greater sensitivity, placing it in the mix better, not so starkly. It just sounded a bit more natural. To be fair to the CD remaster, Plant's voice had better articulation, especially on breathing and note decay.

Boring, but each I guess has its merits. It ain't as cut and dried as either camp would suggest though.

Vinyl defintiely warmer and more naturally but (maybe it's my cartridge) with a little blurring of the edges. CD crisper and more brightly lit but with a slight feeling that things had been over-accentuated.

Which is better? Who knows, I suppose the moral is: if you have a good enough replay system (analogue and digital) both are entirely satisfactory. And after all, some things just can't be got on vinyl anymore unless you're willing to spend, spend, spend.

Certif1ed wrote:     Nightfly wrote: I have this for playing all my Prog 78 masterpieces . No Bass or Treble controls, just open the flaps on the front for more volume. What more could you want!     Now you're just being silly - how could you fit a Wakeman solo onto a 78?

^ I don't know what you're trying to say by posting this link ... it basically confirms my point. I think that a common mistake people make when looking at these kinds of diagrams is to assume that the perfectly round sine wave represents the analog recording typically found on vinyl discs. *Maybe* if you used vinyl discs with twice the diameter and rotate them a couple of times faster ... but where's the point? Humans can't hear such fine nuances ... our ears simply aren't sophisticated enough.


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - November 24 2007 at 16:41

Slartibartfast wrote: Nightfly wrote: I have this for playing all my Prog 78 masterpieces . No Bass or Treble controls, just open the flaps on the front for more volume. What more could you want!   I wonder if any prog ever actually made it to the 78 format?  Cool thing about this little unit is that appears to be totally hand crank powered.

Certif1ed wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ I don't know what you're trying to say...   I know - tell me about it!!!

Well, if you're asking me to ignore facts ... I won't do it. Analog doesn't mean infinite resolution, it's as simple as that.