Vinyl v CD

[Freddy58]

Hiya folks

This topic has no doubt been raised before, so my apologies.

I'd appreciate your input as to the qualities (or lack of) of Vinyl. My own impression is/was that Cd's have a greater dynamic range and you don't have to put up with all those scratches. On the other hand, Vinyl seems a lot more musical and that the music seems to have more movement, if you get my meaning. Maybe less clinical? I haven't been in the Hi fi scene for some time, so I would imagine that things have moved on? Sorry if it's a daft question

Cheers...Freddy

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

FIGHT!!!!!

 

[jamesrfisher]

Sits in comfy chair, pours a large whisky and waits for the fun to begin!

 

[Freddy58]

FIGHT!!!!!

Oops :rofl:

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Or, it could be

 

[Freddy58]

I'm not particularly biased either way. I think that both formats have their qualities. I used to have a Denon DCD500 which was (imo) very good at producing very precise tones, and was quite happy with it. But, having subsequently heard a CD player from Marantz that a friend of mine had, I was just a little envious of his players 'musicality'. On the other hand, I always felt that my Rega Planar 3 was capable of producing more of a 'mood'. I'm probably talking nonsense, but that's my impression.

 

[chebby]

You've missed the 30th anniversary of the first vinyl vs CD arguments by at least a year.

 

[Freddy58]

You've missed the 30th anniversary of the first vinyl vs CD arguments by at least a year.

Not looking for an argument, just opinions. As I said, I've been out of the scene for quite some time, and I've missed those.....discussions

 

[Freddy58]

My opening statement...

This topic has no doubt been raised before, so my apologies.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I've missed those.....

 

[Jim-W]

:wall:

:cheers:

 

[ifor]

http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/blog/did-i-change-my-mind-about-digital-audio-or_post70.html

This may be of interest, or maybe not.

 

[John Duncan]

I sold my turntable some time ago when 'Hounds of Love' was a bit distorted to the end of one side. Whilst this could probably be sorted by some judicious arm and cartridge tweaking, I couldn't really be bothered, so all my listening is digital now.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

CDs to me will soon become as redundant as floppy discs. They are storage devices for digital information, that's it, and there is nothing at all interesting about them. There is no CD sleeve, no matter how elaborate, that can't be bettered by it's vinyl equivolent.

Vinyl on the other hand, is just a pleasure to deal with. The sleeves look great, the records look great, and when you play them, there is an interaction that you just don't get when you play a CD.

I mainly buy vinyl, but if I do buy a CD, it's usually because it's really cheap, and then I just copy it on to my hard drive, then it's bye bye Mr CD.

I am hoping that the current vinyl resurgence ends soon though, as it's pushing the price of vinyl up and up, and it's making it much harder to find bargains at car boots and charity shops.

 

[Jim-W]

Cue the physics big-hitters, test-measurement graphs, streamers, flamers and all manner of hifi nerds. Like you, BBB, I just like records and I couldn't care less if somebody proves that they're crap and I'm a dinosaur. When I was 12, I remembr listening to the Beatles'Strawerry Fields Forever' single on a tiny, tinny and nasty little record player; I wanted to crawl into the record player and see the world that I was hearing. It was hard to believe this plastic thing contained such wonderous beauty. That was me done for: I was smitten. Who cares though? I also remember listening to The Pretty Things 'Defecting Grey' single on Radio Luxemburg; in those days it was perfectly normal to look forward to going to bed with a tranny. That record, in all its weird magnificence, the signal dropping out every 10 seconds or so, was just so fascinating and other-worldly. My point is that great music is great with or without perfect sound quality. Here endeth the leson.

 

[chebby]

... in those days it was perfectly normal to look forward to going to bed with a tranny.

In which case I can certainly understand your preference for vinyl.

 

[Petherick]

in those days it was perfectly normal to look forward to going to bed with a tranny.

Tee heh!

 

[stevebrock]

The way I see it Vinyl has no god given right to sound as good as it does especailly since the inferior technical spec of the format!

I love vinyl, the sound, the interaction the ritual etc etc

 

[Al ears]

in those days it was perfectly normal to look forward to going to bed with a tranny.

Tee heh!

I'm pretty sure that's short for transistor radio.

 

[Al ears]

'since the inferior technical spec of the format!'

You may have a point but I'm still trolling through SACD, BluRay audio and DSF hi-res downloads but still keep going out and buying vinyl.

Am I mad? My psychologist appears to think so.

Personally I just love the sound a well produced piece of vinyl can produce with a well fettled 'front-end'.

 

[Freddy58]

Some great comments there

To me, there's something magical about putting an album onto the deck, something inbuilt, organic, some intent. Sure, there's the scratches to put up with, and to some extent inferior sound quality (dynamically speaking), but I always feel more involved with vinyl. I think both formats have things to offer. I don't know if any of you folks have listened to anything on the Telarc range (CD)? Incredible, truly. No vinyl can ever match that, imo. I used to have a DCD500 (Denon) coupled with a Kenwood KA660 (amp) and Kef Concord speakers. I have NEVER heard anything like it when playing things like the 1812 overture with real canons (Telarc), amazing.

 

[Freddy58]

This is particularly good....

http://www2.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/Time-Warp/

Amazing crescendos A real test of your equipment

 

[PEAYEL]

I love both, don't care about the pros and cons of either, because I enjoy both. Although I have about 1000 LPs left, since the Sonos came into the house I rarely go and put one on. I have worked out a valid reason to keep them though, that is to educate my son. Whenever we put a record on the TT, it is both an enjoyable listen and conversation. He likes 70s Rock and is always interested in my obscure punk records.

For me the downside is that many of LPs are simply wearing out after many years service, and I will not be replacing them as I have gone fully digital. I also think that the prices being asked for new vinyl is way OTT. So I'm going to simply enjoy it whilst it lasts.

 

[Freddy58]

I love both, don't care about the pros and cons of either, because I enjoy both. Although I have about 1000 LPs left, since the Sonos came into the house I rarely go and put one on. I have worked out a valid reason to keep them though, that is to educate my son. Whenever we put a record on the TT, it is both an enjoyable listen and conversation. He likes 70s Rock and is always interested in my obscure punk records.

For me the downside is that many of LPs are simply wearing out after many years service, and I will not be replacing them as I have gone fully digital. I also think that the prices being asked for new vinyl is way OTT. So I'm going to simply enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Nice post! That's pretty much my position, I can see/appreciate the benefits of both. I just wondered if digital had got a bit closer, in terms of musicality and involvement. I'm certainly no audiophile, and I can only speak of my impressions. Hell, I'm probably talking nonsense! Just wanted other folks impressions/thoughts

 

[Peter Larsen]

Both formats can sound awesome. On CD just listen to Grace Jones' Nightclubbing. A CD that sound absolutely superb with a full sound, deep tight bass, a clear separation of instruments and sweet top - and an album dynamic range of 14! Puts loudness war/brickwall mastering to shame.