CD v Vinyl - My preference.

Tony your just CD Phobic

 

I thnk that is also a big appeal for example if an LP had a good cover, Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon, Joy Division/New Order stuff are good examples it just dosn't work the same on CD.

When you buy vinyl you're not just buying somthing to play music on, you're buying into history. I look after my LPs are better than my CDs. CDs are as meaningless as MP3 for me, LPs however you can be passionate about.

Having said that I am currently listening to a CD and I am more than happy with the sound. The main issue I have with CD is what I have mentioned above rather than sound quality.

 

… and I've got well over 1000 of the things!

Tony.

 

Absolutely.

Oh, and I don't like people who don't have any vinyl - they're probably younger than me and have all their own teeth.

-- Ian

 

So, we have some here who are record collectors. People who want the vinyl for nostaligic or historical reasons, rather than because it sounds better.

 

Wanting to hear an album as it was originally released, having a sense of how a record fits into history, is as much a musical reason as a nostalgic one.

They do also sound better, generally speaking (i.e., more like real instruments and voices) than most CDs, which is a nice bonus.

Having said that, what's wrong with being a record collector? If you love music, why not collect its physical manifestations?

-- Ian

 

They would probably argue it sounds better as well........

 

They do sound better ya know

 

Nothing wrong with being a record collector. I am one myself in a small way. But I don't confuse the nostalgia and pride of ownership with better sound reproduction.

 

Nik
Chances are that if you have an original pressing it will sound better, and also apeal to the collecter aswell

 

I'm not confused. I have many thousands of CDs and about 1000 LPs, and I know which generally sound better.

Listen to some classic jazz records from the 50s and 60s and tell me with a straight face that the digital remasters sound more like the real thing than the original albums.

-- Ian

 

Yes, I think so too.

Learning about the artist, their history, their influences, taking an interest in the recording and the music as a whole gets me more into the music itself, - giving me a better understanding.

Almost like learning a musical instrument giving you better understanding when you hear it being played.

Im a real novice on this road to Damascus, especially compared to TonyL, Lilolee, Dean and Ian (many others Im sure).

On the sound quality thing - well, Id maintain that it depends on the individual slice of vinyl. Some is much worse than CD I think. At its best its pretty unassailable to these ears though.

:MILD:

 

Absolutely - couldn't agree more. This really becomes obvious when buying second hand vinyl. Buying 2nd hand CD's is to be honest a far safer bet but nowhere near as much fun

 

Yep - this is true, but my Rega never jumped in the veritable trampoline fest of my old flat; Henryt's Linn was really really sensitive on a far better built house's floor.

Like I say though, I'm willing to listen to a well set up one one day The Audio-T one was very good indeed.

I'm with everyone who's said having 60s/70s stuff on CD over vinyl missses the point; OK, so I only have 3 Beatles' LPs on vinyl but they just seem more "right" - especially Please Please Me in stereo

Love's Forever Changes looks better on vinyl for a start - as does stuff like ELP's Brain Salad Surgery or of course the Floyd's DSOTM (especially with the 2 posters and stickers inside

 

...my Rega never jumped in the veritable trampoline fest of my old flat; Henryt's Linn was really really sensitive on a far better built house's floor.

This is like comparing apples with oranges. If his Linn was getting footfall problems, it was badly set-up.

If you've heard a good one, then you know that it is potentially a very good deck, but only if it is set up right.

 

re the cd vs vinyl debate - here's my perception of it... everyone goes on about purity but your DACs are actually manufacturing(synthesising?) a reasonable chunk (small BUT reasonable!) of the sound you are listening to (sound that was not created in the studio)... a digitally produced sine wave comprises of steps as opposed to the smooth analogue waves produced by a needle on vinyl hence the converting of digital sound encoding must involve the adding of code to smooth out these "rough" edges? So for purity the LP wins but loses maybe in bandwidth capabilities - i.e. there has to be a limit to the amount of simultaneous frequencies and contrasting frequencies a vinyl groove can contain - let alone a cartridge be able to effectively translate... I think the human brain can tell at a subliminal level whether it is listening to an analogue-analogue vs digital-analogue sound - and what I imagine high-end digital equipment is trying to do is to adequately fill the gaps in a brain-convincing manner... analogue is "organic" sound is the word I think I am looking for - it is not necessarily always a neat and tidy sound but it is one your mind can feel more empathy with.... we are organic beings after all. Hifi I guess is the struggle by mortals to put the organic back into the clinically synthesised...
...time for a Camberwell Carrot :beamup:

 

Danny starts pulling out rizlas at a prolific rate Withnail: What are you going to do with those?

Danny: The joint I am about to roll requires a craftsman and can utilize up to twelve spliffs. It is called a Camberwell carrot.

Marwood: It's impossible to use 12 papers on one joint.

Danny: It is impossible to roll a camberwell carrot with anything less.

Withnail: Who says it's a Camberwell carrot.

Danny: I do. I invented it in Camberwell and it's shaped like a carrot.

Cut to Danny on the sofa. The Camberwell carrot is complete and is indeed of prodigious proportions. As Danny lights it we see only the end but as he hands it to Withnail we see the true size. It is enormous. Danny: These will tend to make you very high.

Withnail takes a long draw Danny: This grass is the most powerful in the western hemisphere. It grows at exactly two thousand feet above sea-level. I have it special flown in from my man in Mexico. His name's Huang. He's an expert.

 

I DEMAND TO HAVE SOME BOOZE!!!!

We want the finest wines available to humanity. We want them HERE, and we want them NOW!

Scrubbers!! SCRUBBERS!!! They love it, the dirty little tarts!

I'M GOING TO BE A STAR!

Etc etc...

 

A common misconception about D to A converters.

 

Well I can't tell, and neither can Ivor Teifenbaum (sp?), the boss of Linn.