Whats your preference---Compact Disk or Vinyl Record

[oldtimer]

When I play an lp it makes me wonder why there all these annoying cds around. Then I remember, oh yeah, my wife bought them.

[Rick]

As someone who enjoys music as much as anything else in life, I listen to it on Vinyl, CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, Blu-Ray Audio, and DVD and Blu-Ray concert discs. Each has the potential to sound fantastic, depending on the quality of the the recording (and of course the gear used to play it back on). I don't really have a preference as long as it sounds good... [8]

Having said that, there really is something special to me about vinyl. The whole process, from going to my favorite record store and spending a few hours looking through the bins and picking out LPs to purchase, taking them home and cleaning them in my Spin Clean system, taking photos of them to post in the "Right This Minute" section of the forum, and then playing them, is an extremely fun and rewarding experience for me!! [8-|]

[LarryC]

Having said that, there really is something special to me about vinyl. The whole process, from going to my favorite record store and spending a few hours looking through the bins and picking out LPs to purchase, taking them home and cleaning them in my Spin Clean system, taking photos of them to post in the "Right This Minute" section of the forum, and then playing them, is an extremely fun and rewarding experience for me!!

You have good support from the folks quoted in this article from today's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/garden/the-new-audio-geeks.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

[Quiet_Hollow]

...this article from today's NY Times

I see "price" being tossed around in that conversation like it's some sort of technical specification.

You know who I think is sparking this resurgence in vinyl?

The iPod generation. Yep, those same clueless jack-wagons that somehow found it justifiable to actually pay real money for 128k MP3. Bloody fools! [8-)] If their source didn't sound so terrible to begin with, then the sound of a record wouldn't be such a revelation for them.

Meanwhile, folks my age (the tape generation [Y]) know better, and can appreciate all the hardships that the initial movements away from records, vinyl, and even cassette had dispensed with. [:-*]

[neo33]

Ditto!

Vinyl all the way baby.

[philly0116]

I echo previous comments. Cd's are small and convenient, but they are digital, stuff is missing. With the records, they are analog, its all there and nothing is missing! A clean record on a good turntable with a good needle and cartridge beats digital any day!! [Y][Y]

[Quiet_Hollow]

...but they are digital, stuff is missing. With the records, they are analog, its all there and nothing is missing!

Having said that, please consider that from the mid-70's forward many of the best "sounding" LP's (Telarc or Decca for instance) were either recorded or mastered digitally to some degree, if not entirely.

If any of those albums sounds blissfully good to you (especially anything from the last two decades), it has nothing to do with their creation being an entirely analog process. [8]

[2 channel guy]

I definitely use vinyl as my go to for sitting back and listening for enjoyment. Mostly when the family isn't around to disturb the peace. For "music for music's sake" I'll toss a cd in or use a data dvd for really long playback. I have the entire Bealtes stereo box set on 1 dvd and it barely takes up any space at all.

[JJkizak]

I have played thousands of LP's and have never ever heard a prefectly clean one.

JJK

[Mallette]

I have played thousands of LP's and have never ever heard a prefectly clean one.

JJK

I've listened to thousands of recordings in all forms, and have yet to hear a perfectly clean, perfectly performed, or perfectly recorded one, PERIOD. I listen anyway.

Dave

[Boxx]

I have played thousands of LP's and have never ever heard a prefectly clean one.

JJK

I've listened to thousands of recordings in all forms, and have yet to hear a perfectly clean, perfectly performed, or perfectly recorded one, PERIOD. I listen anyway.

Dave

I have found this true of "live" performances also... There always seems to be an unwanted noise/sound that is audible to the listener.

[Mallette]

I have found this true of "live" performances also... There always seems to be an unwanted noise/sound that is audible to the listener.

Well, fully agree. I was making an effort to minimize the appearance of a crotchety old man...[]

Dave

[Mallette]

Got to thinking about this more deeply thanks to Boxx.

While in no way intending to be critical of anyones tastes or preferences, from my standpoint when a person cites issues with a medium as a reason for not listening to the music on it I can come to only one conclusion: For that person, it is not about the music.

One of my favorite recordings of all times is over 80 years old. Kid Ory and his band performing "Muskrat Ramble." It never fails to energize, totally occupy the mind, and transport me direct to the room they were in. The surface noise and limited bandwidth? Really? REALLY???

Frankly, I'd be doing some folks a favor by ignoring these topics as medium bias is competely incomprehensible to me.

Dave

[neo33]

thaddeussmith, if you are the one depicted by your avatar, then you're a a close personal in my inner-circle.

Music server with 16/44.1 or 24/96 FLAC files. It doesn't make for very compelling "audiophile" gear porn since you only need one or two components to play the media, but it sure sounds just as good.

[seti]

Got to thinking about this more deeply thanks to Boxx.

While in no way intending to be critical of anyones tastes or preferences, from my standpoint when a person cites issues with a medium as a reason for not listening to the music on it I can come to only one conclusion: For that person, it is not about the music.

One of my favorite recordings of all times is over 80 years old. Kid Ory and his band performing "Muskrat Ramble." It never fails to energize, totally occupy the mind, and transport me direct to the room they were in. The surface noise and limited bandwidth? Really? REALLY???

Frankly, I'd be doing some folks a favor by ignoring these topics as medium bias is competely incomprehensible to me.

Dave

I know what you mean. Some of my favorite recordings were made in the caribbean in the 50's-60's and the quality is sometimes abit rough. Prince Buster and the Maytals doing Broadway Jungle aka Jamaican Dog Ska War is a powerful romp but there are issues with the recording. The artifacts in the recording or the recording style have now just become part of the music and part of the charm for me. You can make a recording clean but you can't always record that much spirit into a song it either has it or it doesn't.

[RT FAN]

With both of my Dual TT's on injured reserve, LPs are not getting spun in my place. However I still play cassettes in my car and enjoy listening to them. It is great to hear the old mix tapes I made back in the late 70's until the turn of the century. I have to say the tapes have held up extremely well. It paid to buy the Maxells which make up 95% of my tape collection.

[bracurrie]

Got to thinking about this more deeply thanks to Boxx.

While in no way intending to be critical of anyones tastes or preferences, from my standpoint when a person cites issues with a medium as a reason for not listening to the music on it I can come to only one conclusion: For that person, it is not about the music.

One of my favorite recordings of all times is over 80 years old. Kid Ory and his band performing "Muskrat Ramble." It never fails to energize, totally occupy the mind, and transport me direct to the room they were in. The surface noise and limited bandwidth? Really? REALLY???

Frankly, I'd be doing some folks a favor by ignoring these topics as medium bias is competely incomprehensible to me.

Dave

I'm with you Dave, although I do have issues trying to enjoy limited bandwidth recordings. I can only handle limited distractions, too.

For me its enough about the music that I have opted for what ever makes its easier to discover, enjoy and re-discover good tunes. Back in the day it was cassettes recorded from records. Today its all digital. I am even converting my rare records to digital using Pure Vinyl. In some cases where the mastering of the record is better than the CD I digitize that to add to my library.

With the better than CD digital download stores that are making files from master tapes and RTR sources, I am enjoying recordings made back to the early fifties that are stunning.

So in sum a great TT setup is a must, but the computer based digital playback library makes enjoying the music better with no sacrifice to sonic quality versus analog. In some cases because the digital copy is of such high resolution the sound is way better than any consumer available analog source.

[Knorbu]

[Y]

Everything is ripped to a laptop, played by a Squeezebox Touch, controlled by Ipeng. My stuff is lossless, my wife's is imported from iTunes at lower bit rates....fairly easy to switch back and forth to hear the difference in what duplicates we have ....it's substantial in most cases.

[Mallette]

So in sum a great TT setup is a must, but the computer based digital playback library makes enjoying the music better with no sacrifice to sonic quality versus analog. In some cases because the digital copy is of such high resolution the sound is way better than any consumer available analog source.

No argument. A few years ago I made a DSD recording of one of my Crystal Clear Virgil Fox recordings. These are reqarded as some of the finest DD discs ever engineered and are truly awesome. Even those who don't like organ music are nailed to the sofa and transfixed by Fox's Bach D minor Toccata and Fugue. I set up an A/B. Syncing the disc and the digital was a CHORE, but I managed to get very, very close. While not an all audiophile group, all were pretty well trained listeners and nobody could tell the difference.

A medium is just that, no more, no less. I also have a couple of metal cassettes I made back in the 80s that are truly stunning.

I am too old and have way too many records to undertake digitizing them all, so I only do those I want to share or listen to really often. The rest I quite happily go through the rituals and let nature do it's thing on the turntable.

I just don't get limiting oneself to any medium unless one's tastes are confined to the last 20 years or so.

As to limited bandwidth, I only notice it if the music or performance sucks. In that case, I get rid of it anyway. However, I cannot imagine foregoing the magic of early Armstrong, Biederbecke, Whiteman, delta blues, and so much more just because of the medium. This stuff is magic!!

Dave