Questions about vinyl

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Well, however you cut it or listen to it, the invention of recording was revolutionary in the history of music.  But the music is much more important than the medium.  I would alway tape my LPs to cassette to preserve them and make them portable.  DBX anyone? 

All this stuff we're talking about was recorded to a tape anyway, if you weren't there to hear and see it live, so much was lost anyway and in some cases the recorded product was much better than the live and in studio version...

Edited by Slartibartfast - May 26 2008 at 04:59

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Slartibartfast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630	Posted: May 26 2008 at 04:54
	Well, however you cut it or listen to it, the invention of recording was revolutionary in the history of music. But the music is much more important than the medium. I would alway tape my LPs to cassette to preserve them and make them portable. DBX anyone? All this stuff we're talking about was recorded to a tape anyway, if you weren't there to hear and see it live, so much was lost anyway and in some cases the recorded product was much better than the live and in studio version... Edited by Slartibartfast - May 26 2008 at 04:59
	Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Sacred 22 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 24 2006 Status: Offline Points: 1509	Posted: May 26 2008 at 04:17
	All things being equal vinyl will sound better than 'Red Book' CD. The sample rate as mentioned before is based on Nyquist's theorem which says that you must double the sample frequency of the maximum frequency being articulated. There are many problems associated with this process of which I am not going to go into here (most of the problems occur with filtering and jitter). Many very talented technicians and engineers have employed all kind of electronic 'tricks' to get better sound from digital, but in the end a analog recording will sound better all things being equal but digital is so much more versatile. The analog to digital and the digital to analog process is much better now than it was when CD was first introduced in the early 80's. Recording equipment has also improved dramatically over the years which adds to the sonic purity of the CD. The proof is in SACD recordings which have a much higher sample and bit rate over Red Book CD. When you listen to a SACD recording and then the same recording using Red Book CD you can hear the differences. SACD which works at 24 bit depth and a sample frequency of 96KHz is far more accurate and also gives you much better dynamic range. SACD is much closer to vinyl in sound quality. The problem is that most of the stuff that we like to listen to is not available on SACD. We are stuck with the Red Book CD but it's much better now than it was when it was first introduced.

Slartibartfast Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630	Posted: May 26 2008 at 04:14
	Speaking as someone who got into prog in the vinyl age, vinyl sucks. In a perfect audiophile world with the perfect equipment and a perfect vinyl, maybe it does sound better. Even if you do have the hearing of a dog. The norm is needle noise, scratch noise, etc... For me, I'd rather hear the music than the medium. And just try taking along the record player in your car. Now, when it comes to album art, the LP has yet to be beat. There's a reason why CDs were invented and became a popular format to deliver music and that is the LP, which was invented to replace that cylinder thingy because of it's sonic limitations. I seriously don't get this whole LPs sounds warmer thing. What is it, the friction of needle in a groove? Scratch a CD and it can usually be repaired, scratch an LP and it's permanently ruined. Now, many of the early CDs were made from the LP masters, which were structured in a way to compensate for physical limitations of the LP. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure I can hear the difference, but Mr. Fripp has some choice words to say on the subject. (sorry, don't have a link handy) Those of us who wound up with them basically got ripped off. I say go for the latest remaster if it's available. Edited by Slartibartfast - May 26 2008 at 04:49
	Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

Passionist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 14 2005 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 1119	Posted: May 26 2008 at 03:51
	Personally, I'd never give away my vinyls. I like to refer to a survey, and a blind test that they had at a hifi magazine. Vinyl, by sound quality owned cd by far. I suppose it's true. I just love the feeling it gives me, and yeah, some cds have a really clinical sound. In fact, when I go to the store, I usually buy the vinyl rather than the cd if they have it.

A B Negative Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 02 2006 Location: Methil Republic Status: Offline Points: 1594	Posted: May 26 2008 at 03:31
	I've put on weight since CDs took over, no more walks to the record deck every 20 minutes!
	"The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar.... Now, that's my idea of a good time."

Mikerinos Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 11 2005 Location: Planet Gong Status: Offline Points: 8890	Posted: May 24 2008 at 22:55
	Analogue (vinyl) has a different sound compared to digital (CD, mp3). I think people exaggerate their opinions of which is "better," it all depends on a multitude of issues. The best approach is to be open to both, since buying cheap vinyl rocks, plus I usually prefer the "analogue" sound myself, but I have a great CD player (Cambridge Audio Azur 340c) as well as a great turntable (Rega P1), so I'm generally happy unless the mix is sh*t, which usually is only the case in music I consider bad. ;) Ignore the technical stuff, since if you like analogue more, you can dig up studies that prove vinyl is superior. If you prefer digital, you can dig up studies that prove CDs are are superior. Go from experience and that alone, since studies are contradictory because disagreeing parties like to prove they are right. I might even look for/buy a cassette player soon. At book sales/flea markets cassettes seem to generally be better selection than the CDs, plus are way cheaper. Reel-to-reel is cool, but I'll wait a few years for that. I'll pass on the 8-track for now too Edited by Bluesaga - May 24 2008 at 22:58


Petrovsk Mizinski Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210	Posted: May 24 2008 at 22:42
	Actually, that was kinda just some of the more basic info that partly explains why vinyls sound the way they do. I can imagine a full on audio-phile with some knowledge of electronics and physics would give you something a hell of a lot scarier than what I said


crimson87 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: January 03 2008 Location: Argentina Status: Offline Points: 1818	Posted: May 24 2008 at 22:39
	that was a preety technical explanation , but I appreciate it

Petrovsk Mizinski Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: December 24 2007 Location: Ukraine Status: Offline Points: 25210	Posted: May 24 2008 at 22:32
	Well I'm no expert and I imagine the more experienced people will pop in on this topic later, but you will now a CD has a 44100 Hz sampling rate, which according to Nyquist's Theorem (maybe I'm wrong, but I now it's one of the things to do with Nyquist) states that the maximum frequencies produced are going to be half the sampling rate i.e 22050Hz which is of course means we get the whole spectrum of the human hearing range and more. A Vinyl, due to many factors like wear and tear etc, over time tends to have a restricted frequency range, sometimes even rolling off at around 8khz, which results in a vinyl of the same CD sounding warmer than than CD. Hopefully someone can add to what I said


crimson87 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: January 03 2008 Location: Argentina Status: Offline Points: 1818	Posted: May 24 2008 at 22:23
	I am 21 years old and I have never heard one of my beloved records on vinyl before.This is a question mainly for the older members of PA , WHICH DIFFERENCES DO YOU ENCOUNTER WHEN COMPARING A VINYL TO A CD? Are vinyls better? Or is it pure nostalgia? I am asking this question becouse I am due to buy ITCOTCK as a vinyl and I have my doubts