The Real Kick Out Of Sound...

o.k. here i go, if you agree to disagree i will value your opinions, do not crucifie me please or i will come back from the dead,
no matter how many cd players i lissen to , ok some i get on with for a period of time confortably, but when i go back to VINYL i get so high that i do not even answer the phone or door bell, no matter what t/t i use, i have spoken, ladies and gents, your turn,
nando.

 

I've no preference either way, though I do find that older recordings from the pre digital days seem to be better on vinyl than the CD transfer.

 

It isn't really a question of whether vinyl or digital is best, it is more like how do I get the best sound from each imho.Keith.

 

there is a difference that can be noticed between both sources, to my ears at least, i am not saying that cd sources are no good, some are quite pleasent, what i am saying is that "to me" vinyl sounds more pleasent,
nando.

 

No matter what the Vinyl sound does that the CD sound doesn't.. or vice-versa, the one great and unchanging difference that carries Vinyl to a higher place is the filling of space/released width of sound that the CD is unable in it's constriction to give itself freedom enough to attain.

 

quote

those covers and sleaves, a pleasure to admire even with out playing,
nando.

 

most certainly, and the secret is simplicity

 

For me there is no question to which is the better VINYL every time!!!

I have yet to hear a CD player or transport/DAC or anything PCM sound better than vinyl. I have AADs, DDDs, DSD transfers, SACDs and the list goes on. My CD player at one stage cost more than my TT but even then it could not do half of what my TT could do. Yes the high from vinyl is great! Do I get the same sensation/ feeling from digital NO!

I've tried the Macbook/DAC thing and it's cr*p. It sounds like my old Philips CD player from the 80's compared to my Nagra CDP which sounds like a cheap copy compared to my TT.

 

I suppose every vinyl pressing has been made from a digital recording for at least what 20 years?
Distortion can sound pleasant I am partial to a little of it myself, but increasingly I find myself wanting to hear exactly what the engineer heard, nothing more nothing less.

 

what the engineer herd while making their mixing was of an individual state of hearing, as i mention before, hence the thread of tone controls,
nando.

 

What the engineer hears through the mic feed is the very least distorted signal,personally that is what I want to hear.
Keith.

 

Not all! There are still many bands out there that record/mix/master in analogue. If you want to hear all of what is on the recording, vinyl will give you a far better stab at that. I'm not too sure what TT and CD player you are comparing but I cannot get any CD player to come close to vinyl even for resolution.

What distortion are you talking about? If we go down the distortion route then you need to take every loudspeaker, amplifier, CD and TT and figure out which part of the distortion equation that piece of equipment is playing.

You'll never know what the recording sounds like because you weren't there. It's that simple. You could go to the studio and ask to hear the final mix on the main monitors as that is what the engineers were listening to, but then how does that equate to your system running horn speakers?

 

Hi resolution digital recordings such as those from 'reference recordings' are exactly as the mastering engineer hears them, I am afraid vinyl just adds tracking ,tracing distortion and a much higher noise floor, but if you like that, that is fine.
My horns use TAD compression drivers probably the finest drivers currently made, they were developed for studio monitoring.

 

so do live concerts but we nearly all of us like the sound, tell me that we do not like harmonic ditortion!
nando

 

Really? Are hi-rez files that much better than 16/44? Are they as good as a second generation cd copy for example? The reason I ask, I've never heard a hi-rez file other than a few forgettable tunes on a Mac/Lavry setup but I have heard several second gen copies of CDs pending release which sound far beyond any production CD I've heard.

regards,

dave

Prefers digital

 

If every piece of music ever recorded was on vinyl then I would not have a cd player, but it is`nt so I have to have one.

For music not recorded to vinyl the cd spinner does a fairly good job to my ears, and I will continue to buy cd`s until the day that all music is recorded to vinyl.

 

Pre-fade listen? Be careful what you wish for...
FWIW, no one seems to complain about FM radio transmission sounding harsh or digital, and that's been PCM (14bit IIRC) since the seventies for signal distribution from the "studio" to radio masts up and down the UK. Hopefully Paul Ranson is reading this and will correct / fill in the blanks about this.

 

Don't kid yourself. I've yet to see a pair of horn speakers in any major studio. I've worked in all the major ones in the UK and will to brutally honest with you.... I've NEVER EVER SEEN a pair of horns.
Have a look at the list of studios using ATCs, you can pick that up on their website. Then go to PMC and Genelec. Between the 3 companies I bet they are in all the MAJOR studios worldwide. You might find a pair of your horn things in some small 'audiophile' hi-rez studio BUT all the REAL music comes from elsewhere.

As for tracking distortion.... how about jitter and error correction with digital? I suppose if you love a lack of bandwidth, then CD is great! Because the last I heard violins have a huge amount of harmonic content above 20Khz and CD has a brick wall filter there

 

It's preference - one is not better than the other.

I could argue that vinyl sounds better because it doesn't reproduce music faithfully. Rock guitars not ripping your ears off when in real life they very well may do. Rude crash cymbals that aren't called Rude for no reason.

I'm trying to think of an argument against digital - but meh.

It's what you prefer - simple.

 

I would agree with Andy 831, some material is available only on vinyl, some only CD, some both, so it's a matter of availability--brings to mind another point: I used to dabble in car audio also, but due to so many inherent challenges faced in the in-vehicle acoustics, and the so many tweaking options, I did get quite carried away, with whatever limited funds I have, tried all sorts of fancy setups (bi-amping, full active, phase compensation, time delay alignment, what not) but cannot achieve the sound I like, which is what I have at home, I've given up on car audio

I digress, my point being, sometimes in car audio, after much effort, what makes a system? I find that all too often, most cars I have sat in and listened to, end up sounding very clinical (no doubt with top-end transports, DAC, amplification etc), where is the joy in the music anymore? It seems to become a "technology for the sake of technology" race! Sometimes people buy and listen to music that 'makes their system sing' high-def, DSD? but to what end?

imho, it all comes down to preference, granted not ALL your favourite music can be available in your desired format, but FWIW, I just want to relax to the music I love, never mind it being CDs, compressed digital audio, or even a CD-R

That said, with my limited funds and hence limited choices of vinyl, for now I stick with CD as my preferred source;


regards,
Kenny