Vinyl record better than CD?
Song is by Paco De Lucia, Album: Almoraima, i bought it in Japan. Song is Plaza Alta I have read alot of the endless threads comparing vinyl to CD. However, there is one angle I have not seen argued. That is the viewpoint of vinyl as an art form, just like music is. It is the same reason why real drums always sounds much better than technically superior programmed electronic drum machine. Or why a crude painting of a vase evokes much more in the beholder than a digital camera photo of the vase. Vinyl is more appealing because it is art, in other words it has expressivness. One can completely influence how the vinyl will sound, from caring for the records to the playback equipment. The more effort and thought you put into the vinyl, the better they will sound. And the best of equipment can sound almost indistinguishable from dgital. But even if we say they sound 20% less accurate than digital, there is still that expressivness that generates their appeal. And that is what art is about, expressing yourself through a challenging skill. Because if there was no challenge in it, it would convey no dedication and love.
@tolgaabaci i bought a cd album of a vinyl album i had and compared..the cd sounded thinner and colder so i finally realized vinyl actually sounds better..but most ppl prob dont care
There is no definite answer… There are too many factors at play… It’s not just the equipment you play the media on. For example, how good was the equipment the vinyl was cut on? One thing is for sure, digital gave a higher degree of control to engineers and it is easier to maintain than analog…
Personally, I like vinyl not because it sounds better (which is true in many cases), but I can get music on vinyl that I may never be able to get otherwise.
I remember putting my Steely Dan Aja Vinyl album against the same album only the CD version, and the vinyl sounded a whole lot better, no kidding!! The CD sounded very dull compared to the record.
just google “are vinyls better than cds” and the first search result explains everything .. vinyls are better, fact
@ninjabluewings dON’T yOU gET tIRED oF cAPITALIZING eVERY sINGLE wORD yOU tYPE?
I love my records. You find artist, back in the days, pulled much better albums. Now artist are just hoping to make a hit and the rest of the songs are crap.
@ninjabluewings
It was a technical fact, but since 2 or 3 years, with the new DAC’s, CD or Vinyl it’s the same, and here it’s not a technical but a physical fact. That’s the advise of Jean-Michel Jarre. Of course, only same level/standing products must be compared. And naturally, it depends also of the quality of the conversion. So it needs a serious tests again, before speaking of troubles. It was the object, to make digital sound like analogic, and JM Jarre says it’s done. i just say 4 info.
sorry vinyl is an improvement on the cd version
@nigletgook I have to disagree, death magnetic is an improvement on the cd…less distortion and the drums sound a little more organic and you can listen to the album through without suffering the fatigue the cd provides.
@nigletgook i meant to say “digital recordings of bands”…
Although I must say computerized digital records of bands don’t sound so good on vinyl sometimes, take Metallica Death Magnetic, that sucks on vinyl but the CD sounds good so I dunno…
I like both i collect records and would love to walk around with a portable turntable playing my records but I just can’t do that so yes I have an ipod. So I’m stuck with crap quality Mp3′s but I love music so it really doesn’t bother me I’m not a audio geek. I still blast my old punk metal hardcore rock vinyl all the time. CD’s are just a back up I have versions of both sometimes. I like to rip my vinyl to wav files. I play CD’s mainly in my car. I used to be a huge cassette geek in the 80′s.
Bang for the buck, CDs usually sound better than vinyl.
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But if you have the resources to properly set up a quality analogue front end, vinyl will blow away CDs.
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Not all records sound the same. Two brand new copies will sound different. Side 1 will sound different than side 2, etc. So finding that, sometimes elusive, quality pressing, made in one country or another, will make a world of difference. Cleaning the record is a must.
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Heavy vinyl usually sucks.
MP3s are sacrilegious.
I had a huge collection, then CD’s, now Mp3′s, I love music and love having GB’s of music, but, and it’s a BIG BUT, CD’s are clinical and horribly packaged, Mp3′s are… well nothing, absolutely nothing! LP’s sound superb even on a modest system, on a HI-FI they will blow your mind. I’m now starting to re-collect my Vinyl and I haven’t even got a turntable or a budget, but I would rather have 20 good LP’s than 20 Gizillion GB’s of MP3! …apart from live music LP’s rule!
@bugleboy5 Glad You Agree With Me, Yes The Digital Transfer To Vinyl Would Confuse The Situation I Think And I Feel The Nation Of Vinyl Lovers Is Being Bullied Into Using Digital Media But No Fear Coz Vinyl Is Slowly Making A Come Back Because Some DJ’s Only Use Vinyl And Refuse To Be Dragged Along With Everyone Else To The Digital Age
As For The Blu-Ray Issue I’m Afraid I Cannot Possibly Comment As I Have Not Heard It Yet But It’s An Interesting Thought Though
@ninjabluewings Well, yeah. Digital is inherently lossy. Analogue is not lossy. The only thing is that nowadays even analogue sourced material is transferred digitally. So where does that leave us vinyl lovers? I agree that vinyl is better than CD, but I’m not so sure about vinyl being better than blu ray audio.
@Scotter1971 I was joking
….. sadly over my area too it got harder to find some vinyl records during the 90s :/ specially singles, double set or triple set albums, but hehehe, I never stopped to listen to vinyl, I had to get a couple of albums on cd because I couldn’t find the vinyl release back then, in some cases it took me years of searching, or I could get the vinyl edition just in recent times thanks to the internet.
@kainthevampireduck
While it never went away completely, a lot of releases were CD/Cassette only thruought the 1990′s and the bigger chains stopped carrying the few vinyl releases that were still available… at least in my area…
Today I compared highest quality digital mp3 music to the same music I have a copy of on vinyl. (It was some gabber. electronic music fan here) And holy shit the difference was so great I don’t think I’ll ever look at the digital format file the same way ever again. The sound is just so much more pure and powerful on vinyl, it’s the way music is meant to be played. If you can’t hear and feel the difference, you’re deaf.
@Scotter1971 comeback?, when was it gone?
Fuck yeah! Cds mp3s are just for convenience
@ninjabluewings, that’s just hearsay. Google +”gramophone record” +”shortcomings” and do a bit of reading on vinyl’s faults.
Spiral groove recording originated in 1877 and could only be refined to a limited degree over many decades. It may sound “warmer” than CDs but it’s not more accurate and was never a pure analog format (mechanical distortion).
HQ reel-to-reel tape comes much closer to analog purity. Inherently better dynamic range and stereo separation than vinyl.
@canitasteyou321
thats not quiet right.
I`m a studio and live musician. A digital recording is always a bit flatter (make sure you do not use discount tapes for recording). Its not only what you hear but also feel. Digital cuts a lot, but its cheaper to produce/record, you dont have to be a professional and you can rip the sound from the net for free (the musical industriy`s own mistake in end 80s, idiots, now they are bankrupt-nearly-, hahaha)
yip yip, for sure its better. and I`m happy to see, that around 88-90 (in Germany) the music industry digged its own grave with the CD or digital music (see nowadays-ripping music from the net for free etc), twas ttheir own fault. they`d only see a fast profit back then.
Nowadays music is industial fast food (metapher) worth nothing.
What happen to a fast food junkie? gets fat, unhealthy, aggressive and dumb.
So now lot at generation 0-30 of age…fat, unhealthy, without values and dumb.
My Japanese Bob Dylan Blood On The Tracks LP sounded better than the American CD