iamhe I’ve read that the analog LP only captures 12 or 14 bits of information but in pure wave form. Digital captures sound at different bits and depth. Somehow, they both sound natural and high resolution on my system and some of my friends systems. They each have their own plusses and minuses .
Many of us can relate to Frank Sinatra Capitol recordings. The LPs varied tremendously from one mastering to another, one pressing to another. I have five copies of Only the Lonely, only 1 sounds mellow with Frank's voice warm and centered. The others vary from bright to dull. On CD, the early Capitol 16 bit basically copied the best of the original LP mastering, a little less resolving. The 24 bit Norberg set has Frank swimming in reverb and dulled the transients using excessive noise suppression. The 20 bit British set has Frank way out in front of the orchestra, warm and loud. What a mess the latter two recent remasterings are.
As to CDs being worthless, my Marston and Romophone CDs of extremely rare "78s" are not available or downloadable and strictly copyright enforced. The original discs are rare, difficult to manipulate for playback as to e.q., speed as well as stylus type. Historic recordings have hugely benefited from gifted mastering engineers and modern digitial equipment. I consider an $18 CD with 24 tracks of $100 to $1000s discs properly remastered a real bargain not to be duplicated in the future.
P.S. I am sorry to inform everyone, but even CD pressings from the same plant can sound very different just like LPs. I don't know why a glass mastered CD should sound different when stamped but they often do. Let alone completely different materials (Japanese versus U.S. like vinyl formulation differences).
Many of us can relate to Frank Sinatra Capitol recordings. The LPs varied tremendously from one mastering to another, one pressing to another. I have five copies of Only the Lonely, only 1 sounds mellow with Frank's voice warm and centered. The others vary from bright to dull. On CD, the early Capitol 16 bit basically copied the best of the original LP mastering, a little less resolving. The 24 bit Norberg set has Frank swimming in reverb and dulled the transients using excessive noise suppression. The 20 bit British set has Frank way out in front of the orchestra, warm and loud. What a mess the latter two recent remasterings are.
As to CDs being worthless, my Marston and Romophone CDs of extremely rare "78s" are not available or downloadable and strictly copyright enforced. The original discs are rare, difficult to manipulate for playback as to e.q., speed as well as stylus type. Historic recordings have hugely benefited from gifted mastering engineers and modern digitial equipment. I consider an $18 CD with 24 tracks of $100 to $1000s discs properly remastered a real bargain not to be duplicated in the future.
P.S. I am sorry to inform everyone, but even CD pressings from the same plant can sound very different just like LPs. I don't know why a glass mastered CD should sound different when stamped but they often do. Let alone completely different materials (Japanese versus U.S. like vinyl formulation differences).