Does vinyl really sound better?

Fretwired

Is that true? Kind of. Sometimes. It depends. The video's interesting ..

http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2014/11/does_vinyl_really_sound_better.html

Phil_aka_Pip

Yes, for certain values of "better". And depending on what you compare it to.

monquixote

It is absolutely, demonstrably, no debate required lower fidelity than lossless digital formats.

Also the chap in the article knows fuck all in that he starts by saying it is: "fully lossless". This again is demonstrably 100% wrong. 

You may enjoy listening to vinyl more, but it is a lower fidelity format than CD or file based players.

ICBM

+1

It's unquestionably worse, for all the reasons given in that article - even the ones that are right! (At least compared to CD-quality or better digital.)

In the same way as valves are worse than transistors for accurately amplifying an audio signal. The thing is that we often prefer the sound of worse .

Also, he's forgotten cassette if he's talking about all-analogue. While it's not quite as high-fidelity in most consumer systems, the very best (Nakamichi Dragon for example) were pretty well up there.

Emp_Fab

Of course vinyl is inferior to lossless digital.  Some people just use object snobbery to shore up their insecurities, arguing that what they have / like is better than what you have, in order to feel better about themselves.  Let's face it, when you're an ugly, overweight, socially-inept virgin, you'll use whatever you can to get a step up on the social standing ladder.

It's like these dorks who profess to be 'really into' obscure bands, not because their music is any good but just because it lends a hint of mystery and speciality to their (otherwise seriously lacking) personality.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be, and vinyl is an outdated medium.  Anyone seriously arguing that vinyl is better has definitely crossed the border into Russ Andrews land.

holnrew

Depends how old you are.

viz

I love listening to vinyl. To me it sounds more real. But i spose my turntable might be better than my cd player & dac.

stonevibe

Depends on so many variables.

For starters how the original music from the sessions were mastered.

Then how the conversion to metal plate for vinyl or the sampling rate / bit rate in case of digital.

So a digital recording versus a piece of vinyl for example can vary wildly just based on the mastering process for each format.

Danny1969

I prefer vinyl, but only if it was an analog recording originally. I don't now why, I just find it less fatiguing to list to for long periods. Maybe that's down to older better mastering techniques. Maybe it's because AD \ DA converters are far from perfect, particularly in the design of the filters. When I started recording it was to analog 1\2" tape and I honestly prefer the sound of that to the digital recording we do now. Now you can say digital has a better dynamic range and frequency response but that doesn't make it sound better. 

stonevibe

I was listening to 'Are You Experienced' last night on a 200 gram vinyl re mastered edition and it sounded great.

Plus when I put an album on on vinyl I tend to make the time to actually listen to it, rather than have it in the background.

So I put myself in the frame of mind to want to listen to the music.

With iTunes etc it requires zero effort and so I don't have that sense of making time for it.

monquixote

stonevibe said:

I was listening to 'Are You Experienced' last night on a 200 gram vinyl re mastered edition and it sounded great.

Plus when I put an album on on vinyl I tend to make the time to actually listen to it, rather than have it in the background.

So I put myself in the frame of mind to want to listen to the music.

With iTunes etc it requires zero effort and so I don't have that sense of making time for it.

I think that's a completely reasoned and logical reason to listen to vinyl. 

There is no need to make up bullshit reasons about the fidelity. If you find it a more pleasing process then that's reason enough to listen to it.

imalone

I think people look at vinyl and the idea of sampling in digital and think that analogue means you have:
1. No sampling.
2. No discretization.
When the truth is analogue still has bandwidth limits and amplitude resolution/noise, it's just harder to analyse.

Sambostar

I think the quality of replacement LP CD fidelity is the thing in question, not the actual media themselves. 

At least that is what I have found with many to CD's being lower definition.

Evilmags

A linn sondek will sound better than a 500 quid cos player. A two grand chose player will sound better than a basic turntable.

boogieman

I think @stonevibe has got it spot on. Listening to vinyl in my house means making a deliberate effort to sit down and concentrate for 20-30 minutes on a side of an LP, rather than just slinging a cd in and pottering around doing stuff. The whole experience is different. Plus most of my vinyl is old stuff, so there's all the evoked memories that tag along with it. I reckon that's actually what makes vinyl sound "better" (Which it clearly shouldn't. Most of my vinyl is full of scratches, clicks and pops from years of use).

digitalkettle

Even more so now they've started putting standard length albums across *four* sides.

ICBM

monquixote said:

stonevibe said:

I was listening to 'Are You Experienced' last night on a 200 gram vinyl re mastered edition and it sounded great.

Plus when I put an album on on vinyl I tend to make the time to actually listen to it, rather than have it in the background.

So I put myself in the frame of mind to want to listen to the music.

With iTunes etc it requires zero effort and so I don't have that sense of making time for it.





I think that's a completely reasoned and logical reason to listen to vinyl. 

There is no need to make up bullshit reasons about the fidelity. If you find it a more pleasing process then that's reason enough to listen to it.

Totally agreed.

I actually like listening to vinyl sometimes too, but it has nothing to do with sound quality.

Drew_TNBD

I like music and sound in all it's formats.

I'm a slut.

musteatbrain

What I enjoy about vinyl is, for me, it means listening to original mixes with lots of dynamics. Remastered digital media so often has less difference between the quietest and loudest parts as some lunatic sees fit to enter the loudness wars when remastering. Other than that I'm happy enough with MP3s

Phil_aka_Pip

musteatbrain said:

Other than that I'm happy enough with MP3s

How could anyone be happy with a format that loses half of the musical information? This isn't an analog vs digital rant, it's just incredulity about MP3. The quality is total shite. Why anyone puts up with it is totally beyond me.

TheMarlin

monquixote said:

It is absolutely, demonstrably, no debate required lower fidelity than lossless digital formats.

Also the chap in the article knows fuck all in that he starts by saying it is: "fully lossless". This again is demonstrably 100% wrong. 

You may enjoy listening to vinyl more, but it is a lower fidelity format than CD or file based players.

+1.  I'm a big hifi buff.  I used a Leak Stereo 20 into a Mark Levinson Cello passive (pure silver wired) pre amp.  Turntable is a Garrard 401 with Garrard 401 Celebration (SME) arm, and a lyra helikon cartridge with diamond tip.  The turntable pre amp is a hand built passive pre, which uses a series of coils to naturally amplify the output (complicated, built by a friend).

I've had all manner of CD players, from super hi end transport and DAC, through to my current super cheap Arcam Alpha 5 (which has been extensively modded to top end specs).

Speakers are Tannoy Little Gold Monitors, and Quad ELS57 Electrostatics, plus Rel Stadium sub.

Upshot is, all CD players, no matter how good, as flat and two dimensional compared to a quality Vinyl pressing.  There is so much more data in vinyl, no digital source can get close to a quality vinyl pressing.

Marlin