Another Vinyl Thread! Woohoo!!

Bass_Pedal

A quick question about new vinyl. I know allot more artists are putting out new albums on LP as well as various other formats. The question is, are they ALL recorded digitally these days? If so are they then transferred from digital to analogue to be put onto vinyl? In other words are all new vinyl albums "fake" in that they are not truly from an analogue source?

engtaz

Some are not all are recorded digital, that's if I have my facts straight.

engtaz

honda cber

i can say with conviction that there are many artists still recording and mixing analog. you are almost guaranteed some DSP at least, and as early as in tracking. mastering is very likely done digitally, or at least using one or more digital devices (or plug-ins with the DAW; this is 2008 after all). whether or not there is more digital processing going on between mastering and cutting, it is hard to say.
that said, i have been quite satisfied with new vinyls from brushfire records (featuring artists like jack johnson). 100% analog? probably not. but they do sound good and have good dynamics. for example, JJ's newest "sleep through the static" was pressed onto two albums, even though the 51 minute runtime could have probably been squished on to 2 sides, but it mightve sounded pretty crappy.
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cmy330go

I would say in this day and age almost all music starts off in a hi-rez digital format. It just doesn't make sense for a studio to use tape anymore. But that's not to say that modern records are somehow fake. The mere process of transferring a digital recording to vinyl is going to smooth out the rough spots and will likely create a more pleasant sound.

It's much like audiophiles of old.;) Some may recall when CD started taking over that there were some audiophiles that would actually transfer their new (harsh sounding) CD's to tape in order to make them more listenable.

Bass_Pedal

Remember when CD's first came out, they used to have a three letter code on them telling you how they were recorded and mastered. AAD, ADD and DDD I think. The first letter signifying how it was recorded, the second how it was mixed and the third the transfer which was always digital. A for analogue and D for digital. That would be handy on LPs now.

dcmeigs

The digital standard is now 24 bit and 192 kHz, much higher sampling rate than redbook (7 times). Transfering that to vinyl is going to deliver a great sound. I listened to some studio recordings made in that format and stored to hard drive and then played through a DAC with the same resolution and the sound was like vinyl with out the surface noise.