No Disc Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 If you have a high-end stereo shop withing driving distance that has a analog setiup, go have a listen and see what your ears tell you. Have them play the same selections on CD and Vinyl and see what you prefer. Even though I had a TT back in the 80's I forgot how good vinyl was and gave into the Perfect Sound Forever myth. 20 years later I'm listening to more vinyl then ever. SACD has closed the gap, vinyl is still preferable to my ears. - tb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Put me in the "nothing matches good vinyl" camp - even on a mediocre set-up. As your TT improves (cartridge upgrades, arms, power supplies, bearings....) the sound quality simply beggars belief. The simplest statistic I have is this: Over 20 years with CD I bought 450 disks. Over 2 years with Vinyl I bought over 1000 disks. The numbers kind of speak for themselves I think. I just never wanted to spend so much time listening to CD as I do to LP's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 "CDs replaced records much in the same manner that naugahyde replaced leather . . . ." the way stereo replaced mono..... ....and in much the same manner as transistors replaced tubes. the way TV replaced movies plastic reeds replaced bamboo (for all you sax players out there) the way digital wristwatches replaced the grandfather pendulum clock the way nylon replaced sable, acrylic, oil (for all you painters out there) the way OSB replaces plywood soybeans, meat trucks/ trains computers/ abacus plastic / brass synthesizers / grand pianos the way the LP replaced the 78 rpm disc......replaced live music the pure sound of the crystal set / hummy radios with power supplies oppressive laws / natural anarchy religion / nature I love the sound of surface noise in the morning....it is the sound of......FREEDOM...... C&S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I'm definitely on the vinyl side of most discussions. I think that the best recordings on vinyl will more often than not sound better than the same recording on CD. If I want to hear my system at its best, I play a record. At the same time, digital media is so much more convenient. I don't particularly like the "ritual" of cleaning and flipping. As Jon pointed out, another side benefit of vinyl is the record sleeves and jackets. I enjoy reading the info, lyrics and cover art and at my age, a CD-sized jacket just doesn't do it for me - too much eye-strain. Even after 30+ years, I can remember facts, recite lyrics and most important, I can even tell which song is which on the records I listened to way back when. I hardly ever pick up a CD box long enough to read through the titles so when someone mentions a particular song from a CD, I have to ask for the track# as that's the only way I can recognize the song. Still, I listen to CDs more than records simply because of the hassle-factor. If I have non-audio friends over or I only have a couple of hours to listen to music, then I usually just drop in a CD. My wife has an iPOD and while its compression is leaps and bounds more than CDs, I can click a button and listen to days and days (literally) of jazz, rock or anything she's recorded from my collection. Its just too easy.... and like CDs did to vinyl 25 years ago, the hard drive will eventually replace the CD. At least that's what the digital boys want you to believe. Have fun -Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Klipsch Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Vinyl is the way to go. synthetic gut vs. cat gut in humid weather you can almost watch it unfurl. Remember the double albums that allowed you to roll your own. Can't do that with a CeeDee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I find myself listening to lps about 80% of the time and if you were to give me the blindfold test, even without the occasional pops and clicks, I could tell the difference. To my ears, instruments, including voice, sound more live and realistic. There are exceptions but they are few and far between. The other day I recieved my 180 gram copy of Adderly/Miles Davis' "Something Else" and a/b'd, playing them at the same time. Even my daughter who has no interest in audio could tell the difference. It's all part of the experience and I enjoy the he11 out of it. I spend more time cleaning, sorting, storing, buying, lending, etc. with my lps then probably all other audio related activities combined (other than listening). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 "Remember the double albums that allowed you to roll your own. Can't do that with a CeeDee." I had to think about that one for a moment. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 ---------------- On 3/12/2004 3:25:30 PM rf3iicrazy wrote: "Remember the double albums that allowed you to roll your own. Can't do that with a CeeDee." I had to think about that one for a moment. Tom ---------------- I got that one right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Anderson Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 For that task, at which I was very handy my two personal favorites were (are?) ZZ Top's Tres Hombres mexican feast or New Riders, Panama Red saga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFinco Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 ---------------- On 3/11/2004 8:14:02 PM D-MAN wrote: There is a technical reason that the analog vinyl is "better" than digital, as the digital signal is not a true analog (it has some gaps somewhat like "steps") and subsequently gets "filled in" during conversion back to analog. Nontheless, this is a real distortion of the true analog signal. Regardless, I dumped my vinyl in the 80's and never looked back. Now at least I have truly DUST FREE listening... DM ---------------- The D-man hit it right there. thats the crucial difference in sound. Digital, no matter how "fine" a scale it goes to can never create a pure curve. there are always jagged elements to it. Analog can create that pure curve. as an example--look at a computer generated curve--if you look close enough you will see, no matter how fine it is, pixelization. you will see a dot intersecting with another dot of the same size. This is the inherent flaw with our CURRENT digital technology. I do offer for consideration that eventually those audible "pixels" will become so fine that the human ear will not be able to pick them up, i.e will not be able to distinguish a digital curve from a non digital curve AND the conversion process will allow for a truer signal. I think then, at that point the discussion between digital and analogue may become moot, or if not moot more about nostaligia and psychology than about sound. I think this may be rather far off however as CDs and DVDs are not capable of creating detail fine enough to eliminate that audable "pixelation". I think the best we have right now is technology that attempts to "round off" the signal that it receives, but that is in the conversion/decoding process not within the actual recording, and it is also priced well out of reach of 99% of the marketplace. For a cd to sound as good as a record the mastering on the CD has to be very well done, and it has to be played on a "CD transport" type unit (Rega comes to mind, as does LINN, or California Audio Labs...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwgorman Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I really like vinyl. Partly due to the ritual (even more complicated now that I own record cleaner) and partly due to memories...like the first time I spun Zep's physical graffiti...or deseeding a bag (oops!) nevermind....Now that I am older and wiser I spin familiar records and this flood of memories comes back...for what ever reason I don't get that with the CDs...I haven't heard the sacds or dvds but I will...anyhow my $.02. nice to be back here in civilization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Ah, the smell of vinyl in the morning! Reminds me of my long-lost youth when life was soft and the women were hard. Nothing quite like that familiar comfort of the old LP playing ritual: carefully extract the album from the sleeve - remember those static crackles as it slides out? - and place it carefully on the spindle. D'ya ever notice how some records were a real tight fit on there while others were loose as a goosed moose? Anyway, then we'd clean the record with some discwasher, and immediately zap it with the ol' Zerostat. "That oughta take care of that nasty static-cling!" OK, time for mus- "Uh not so fast there pard, better check that stylus. Ooh, yuck! Looks like a mouse mitten! Ah, no problem. Where'd I put that stylus brush and fluid? Hey, there it is! OK, dip the brush in the bottle, and...OOPS, hope I didn't hurt anything brushing the wrong direction! Oh well, I guess that's why they make that little bugger so springy, eh? That oughta do it. OK, gently lower the SSSCCRRREEEEEEEEEETTTTCCCHHHHHHHHHH....AARRRRGGHHHH, Man I really hate when I do that. Oh well, that scratch doesn't look too bad. Now, that's more like it! 50dB of dynamic range, and that inner groove distortion, that so - musical! And somehow that constant low frequency woow...woow...woow is almost in rhythm with my heartbeat! How cool is that? Man I just love my old records. Crappy Sound Forever!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 You funny. Wrong, but funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Funny, yes. Correct? Not even. I've played about 6 lps today and didn't have one problem similiar to yours. Yes I zapped and cleaned and brushed the stylus, etc. but the results were much better than you seemed to have. Maybe if you give it another try it'll work out better this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Great post, c7s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 LPs are a pain in the ***. CDs make music listening easier and more enjoyable for me. I threw my LPs out and never looked back. My Thorens sits unused. As long as the music itself is good. Personally I think this LP cultism is just that, a cult of the archaic, there are always people who think old things are better, even with tools which I can tell you is ridiculous. I don't hear a superiority of LPs and it's not because I've a tin ear. But no doubt some LPs sound better than some Cds, I'd take it on a case by case basis; not long ago I heard some kind of super pressing of Sgt. Peppers and it sounded pretty bad. Well the Scott amp didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubelover Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 TBrennan, I firmly believe that you may be one of the most intelligent posters here. LP's do sound terrible. Snap, crackle, pop. And they are a pain in the *** to deal with and store as well. Get out of the dark ages people. Buy a new computer, a PDA, maybe a new cell phone too. Technology lives on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Hell, there are people who think laserdiscs look better than DVDs. And for first generation DVD players that was true. But it sure ain't now. Laserdiscs are analog too you know, you can tell by all the NOISE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Anderson Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 T Thinking about letting loose of your Thorens since you no longer have any use for vinyl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 ---------------- On 3/13/2004 12:22:16 AM Jon Anderson wrote: T Thinking about letting loose of your Thorens since you no longer have any use for vinyl? ---------------- I think he should just give it to you. Sucks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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