Vinyl question

organ

Well, after reading Cliff's TT post and I'm thinking about going there in the future, I have a question.... I found some stuff that I listen to available on vinyl but these are modern recordings that I'm sure was recorded digitally.

If they were digitally recorded and meant to be put on CD, but also did some vinyl pressings, would I still get the magic of vinyl or would it sound identical to the cd version?

Maurice

billbillw

It all depends on how well the mastering and pressings are done. I've heard some vinyl that was digitally recorded and it sounded fantastic. But I've also read complaints that others have posted about poor sounding modern vinyl, even some of the "audiophile" 180-gram pressings.

In my opinion, for modern music, you are better off buying the music on SACD/DVD-A, if available. You can get a pretty nice, high end universal player (on the used mkt.) for $500 or less. Good luck getting anything more than a basic mid-range turntable/cartridge for that price.

For me, the magic and draw of having a vinyl rig is searching out and finding the older music, often very cheap!

So far, since April, I have scored 150+ free albums from FreeCycle and/or family/friends who didn't want them. I picked up a bulk lot of 100 classic rock albums for $35, picked up another bulk lot of 60 for $25, found more than a hundred hand picked selections at Goodwill and/or Tower Records for around a buck each (in multiple trips). Last week, I found the motherload of late 70's/early 80's punk/new wave music, 120 albums for $75! So, now I have probably around 600 LPs and my average price for each is less than a buck each. The most I paid for anything was for a lot of Beatles albums, but I still got those for less than $4 each. Granted, buying these bulk lots of albums has left me with a growing number of dupes, a handful of unplayable albums, and a fair amount of crappy music, but overall, I think its all been well worth it. The joy of finding a Near Mint copy of an LP that you really like (or something you always wanted to listen to) in a discount bin is something you have to experience!

reeltrouble1

organ wrote:

If they were digitally recorded and meant to be put on CD, but also did some vinyl pressings, would I still get the magic of vinyl or would it sound identical to the cd version?

Maurice

Yes you would

No they won't.

One is bits

One is not.

Take my word

Vinyl is hot.

unc2701

Totally depends on the mastering. Most studio gear has higher sampling rates & even more dynamic range than CD's can give you. The studio master is then downsampled for CD mastering, whereas the vinyl mastering _should_ be straight off the studio master, but tweaked, run through reverse RIAA, etc.

The biggest problem with CDs and digital studio gear is that it is really easy to use. Any moron can put out a kinda decent sounding CD and most of them are compressed as all hell and have a noise floor no different than your typical vinyl... Which destroys the two advantages of CDs: greater dynamic range and lower noise. Now- if you took that crap CD mix and tried to throw it stright on vinyl, it'd be almost unlistenable, because you'd basically get the sum of the flaws (I have a few albums where I'm pretty sure this was the case). On the other hand, properly mastered vinyl will frequently have more dynamic range, because a good engineer will know that no one is going to be playing it in a car, and unless you've got two songs on a side, a vinyl master can't be cranked full out for the entire album. You also get the higher sampling rate of the studio gear plus they're going to be using a very expensive studio DAC. The CD will have been downsampled from the studio mix, then run through whatever DAC you've got.

Jim Shearer

Maurice,

I see no advantage in getting modern recordings on vinyl. I was one of those who waited a LONG time before getting a CD player, as I found the earlier CDs sonically challenged. I am now able to find CDs that are the equal (to my ears) of the best vinyl. I think the reason for wanting vinyl now is to get older albums that are either direct-to-disc recordings or limited issue/private recordings: stuff that will never be available on CD.

Cheers, Jim

faster100

Yes i want a TT as well... for me its the nastalgia (sp) of it, finding old cheap lp's that are of great or cool music and cheap enough to pass on if you don't like it...
It's not like if you buy a cd for 10 bucks and wanna sell it and get 3 bucks back..

old records are .50 cents to 3 bucks tops mostly and some stuff isnt available on cd as mentioned..

Maurice its the natural progression to our tube fetish... Vinyl.. its what's next

reeltrouble1

Maurice,

I am able to instantly recognize my vinyl from my cd collection. I dont think one is necessarily better than the other, they are different and I am pretty much equally fond of both, if forced to give one up I would give up the CD player then secretly steal away to some closet and continue listening to the CD's in the dark, with no lights or air conditioning.

I know you love classical and it shines on vinyl, you might give up a tad of dynamics which I feel is ok in exchange for the overall sound of the music. I did find that I had to make a healthy investment into the vinyl components to get some of the magic and even then my rig is just a beginner's.

As with CD there are good and bad recording's the Mecury Living Presence and RCA Living Stereo I have found to be top notch. I much prefer my vinyl recording of Ravel's Bolero to my digital version. Same with the 1812. On the other hand I have a SACD of Heart and the Alone tune will make your hair stand on end and knees tremble, same with a Redbook recording BDT sent me of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, so I say enjoy each medium for what it is.

I have some vinyl recorded "digitally" hell, I cant tell the difference between them and other vinyl. When I read what goes into making a record the actual process I was amazed it sounds any good at all. An amazing process and an amazaing maching the TT.

Unc seems to have a good handle on this mastering process.

RT1

madmax

I have a few "digital" recordings on vinyl and they are quite spectacular. They still have a different sound than CD. I buy any music I can on LP first and then on CD if not available on LP. Actually, my CD player got unhooked over six months ago and I have been too lazy/busy to worry about it. I'm gonna have to go back and re-visit that old CD format someday...
madmax

TroyD

Vinyl is just like anything else..there is good and bad. The digital mastered or direct to disc has plusses and minuses. On the plus side, it's a straighter signal path from performance to the LP pressing. On the negative side, the amount of information was about 2/3rds of what a standard LP would hold. Also, since there was no way to edit the material before it was mastered, some performances were overly polite and reserved so as not to make a mistake (and having to redo the entire performance)

BDT

organ

Thanks a lot for the help guys. I already looked around and found the table that I want to be "my first" for vinyl. I need to start looking for a pre because my system only consist of a linestage.

So hopefully within a month or two I'll have some new toys. But damn, there's also that used SET amp running 300B tubes I saw that keeps calling my name (or maybe I'm going slightly mad). I'll get one of them soon.

Thanks again guys

Maurice