2. analog
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Vinyl vs high def audio i.e. 24bit / 96 or 192khz

I was born to the world of cassette tapes and soon digital music. My only experience with Vinyl was the one rather audition I had recently. It wasn't feasible at the time for us to try a blind fold A/B test. So my question for anyone has experienced both, is that is it worth it to buy a turntable? 

The entry level ones are not really expensive compared to the gears I currently have. However, it's my habit to not keep things that I would not use. That includes thing that is a hassle to use or requires a lot of maintenance. The shop owner where I auditioned a Rega turntable kind of insinuated it falls into both of the aforementioned categories. For instance, the Vinyl doesn't hold many songs so swapping is pretty much a necessity. Upon some research, I also found that vinyl albums recently issued are likely produced from a digital master anyway, some are even just slightly above CD Quality. I have a large library of songs from HDTracks that are at least 24bit / 48khz and honestly I cannot tell a difference once they hit 24 bit / 96khz. 

With the above said, what's so great about Vinyl in your view? Thanks for the feedback. 
angelgz2
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,606 posts
 
“Actually its kids that are driving vinyl sales these days- not older audiophiles.”

I respectfully disagree, I have yet to witness ‘kids’ buying the vinyl. My local vinyl stores (the two I frequently visit) , the typical crowd is 55-60plus. I was at AXPONA this weekend and witnessed the same trend. 

Unless you call 50plus crowds ‘kids’ then I concur with you wholeheartedly 😊

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,898 posts
 

In line waiting to get into Music Millennium on Record Store Day, I saw all age groups represented, from the man-bun (what a hideous "look" ;-) and bearded 20-something year old dudes (they’re everywhere in Portland), lots of girls and women, middle-aged men (some with their kids), and old hippies (they too are everywhere up here in the Northwest. In L.A., they are extinct).

When I frequented Music Millennium back in 2010, the LP bins were up on the mezzanine, the four rooms on the street-level floor devoted to CD. Now, two-thirds of the street-level floor space is devoted to LP’s (there are thousands and thousands and thousands of them, all genre except Classical---they are all CD), and half of the mezzanine. Somebody is buying LP’s!

Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,103 posts
 
Dear @bdp24  : So what?, that's no fact that the LP is superior to the digital alternative. Only histories/tales that means nothing on that specific regards and that proves nothing.

Please don't make the same mistake that millercarbon and thousands of LP lovers. This is not about what you or me like it more but facts that can tell us which is superior and till today no one of you posted any single true fact that proves the LP superiority and you know what: no one can prove it because that technology is really limited against the all days growing up digital technology/alternative.

Have you common sense or not even know what means common sense?

A market " trend " can't shows that LP superiority to you or any one: are only sales.

Come on I know you are not stupid to follow supporting " histories ", you are much better than that: or not?.

Let the other people whom posting about are only showing its very low knowledge levels.

Not because some one thosands of times repeat to him self : I'm living in Venus planet he is really in true living in Venus. No, he lives in the Earth planet ! ! ! ? ?

R.


jkreidler's avatar
jkreidler
20 posts
 
This guy ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼 is so much fun at parties. CD parties at least. 
angelgz2 OP
43 posts
 
@folkfreak Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely check those out. 

I think I got some pretty helpful suggestions here so thanks all for that! I want to point out two things though:

One, I am not a fan of specification based decision making. My ears are the only judge. This is mainly because everyone has some level of preference or let's say a certain "characteristic" that his brain accepts as "great sounding music". For instance, I've had several co-workers and friends came listening to the same track repeatedly on my Parasound Halo A51 and McIntosh MC275 (tube). The amps are closed in a cabinet and are not disclosed to the listener. I found that except 1 of them who says he couldn't hear any difference, the other 4 individuals all said that the MC275 sounded better to their ears and they were able to pick up some subtle instruments in the background. Yet, many science articles seem to suggest tubes carries more distortion. 

Secondly, similar to #1, I think most of you who prefer LP had some experience with LP, perhaps before digital ever came to existence. I think our brains perhaps are conditioned to accept the norm as "the best". An analogy can be made for the choice of food. What taste good for one culture may be "inedible" for another or vice versa. As mentioned above, one may prefer a single characteristic in music and as soon as that  characteristic is missing, your brains notices immediately and thinks "WTF this isn't music". However, that characteristic or set of  characteristics may only be appealing to the one specific listener and is not universal. 

So in the end, there's no double blind test that could resolve this because individual preference will still exist regardless whether the person knows what gears are playing. I think the best is for me to visit local boutiques and actually listen and find what my ears like. 
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