Has anyone been able to define well or measure differences between vinyl and digital?


It’s obvious right? They sound different, and I’m sure they measure differently. Well we know the dynamic range of cd’s is larger than vinyl.

But do we have an agreed description or agreed measurements of the differences between vinyl and digital?

I know this is a hot topic so I am asking not for trouble but for well reasoned and detailed replies, if possible. And courtesy among us. Please.

I’ve always wondered why vinyl sounds more open, airy and transparent in the mid range. And of cd’s and most digital sounds quieter and yet lifeless than compared with vinyl. YMMV of course, I am looking for the reasons, and appreciation of one another’s experience.

128x128johnread57

Have you ever asked yourself if you could get another over analytical answer than you can possibly receive on this forum? I would say absolutely not!
 

Which sounds better to YOU! Why do we seem to think we need some long overly technical explanation of why one form of audio sounds better than another. Its your system. Its your room and Environment. Its your ears. 
 

Just listen to what sounds best to YOU! Relax and enjoy your hobby. Listen to the music my friend🥳

@teo_audio

To clarify, an engineer is not trained to commit to the scientific method or invention, they are trained to follow the books, as that is why they are engineers, not scientists who explore and change things as required when required.

I respectfully disagree. Engineering is the practical application of science to solve problems. I went to university to study engineering and made my career of it. I was never trained to “follow the books.” My entire university experience can be summed up as “learn how to think and problem solve, don’t waste precious memory on things you can reference in a book.” My entire engineering career can be summarized as “I am a truth seeker, not a case maker. The data will guide my decisions. We cannot always have all the data we want, but we will endeavor to use reliable data and we will be flexible and adapt as needed.” I am very inquisitive and inventive. My work and personal interests straddle the line between science and engineering. My work 100% follows the scientific method.

First of all I would suggest a blind listening, switching from CD to Vinyl. Humans are full or bias, what you hear may be because it is what you want to hear.  For example when listeners listened to music with various speaker cables, they always said the music played thru thicker speaker cables sounded better than thru lamp cord.  However, that was only when they saw that it was thicker cable.  When lamp cord was disguised as a thick cable they thought the disguised lamp cord sounded better than the normal lamp cord.  Also blind tests showed that most people could not tell the difference between music played over You Tube compared to the same music played from a CD. To me I can always hear the difference between vinyl and digital because digital has none of the dust pops or crackle in quiet sections of the music.

On the bench CD and digital blows away vinyl.  Vinyl wins in the romantic, tactile, visual departments.