Is New Vinyl Exempt from Loudness Wars?

"The Dr database reveals.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=adele&album=

Adele 25 2015 ratings 05 - 04 - 08 lossless CD
Adele 25 2015 11 - 09 - 12 lossless Vinyl
Adele 25 (96/24 LP Needle Drop) 2015
11 - 09 -12 lossless Vinyl

Why is vinyl rated higher ?

Has anyone heard both the cd and vinyl versions ?

Curious....."

I suspect the real question is, why are both formats so POOR? You know, on the Dynamic Range Database the lowest number for a rating of Good Dynamic Range is 14. The number 8-13 are transitional, and 1-7 represent BAD dynamic range. If I'm not mistaken there’s actually a recording somewhere in the dynamic range database with a 0, zero, goose egg for dynamic range.

So for the Adele releases listed above on the Database, both CD and vinyl, the numbers for Average, Lowest and Highest Dynamic Range are what should probably be described as abysmal.

Do yourself a favor pick up good used LP’s even a 4th or 5th pressing from the late 70’s or early 80’s will sound much closer to the master tape then these wonder vinyl’s that are pressed on 180 gram lp’s.
AN LP MASTERED FROM A DIGITAL CD MASTER WHY BOTHER

Cut to meaningfully compare formats you have to compare the best of both.   Quality of individual releases in any format can vary from horrid to the best.  Format alone assures nothing.  

Sound82

amen
i switched my buying to used lps from the era
unless there is a great analog review here

The sound is so much more open
the rare stylus damaged record

even better
finding first UK pressing
sound better than my pristine japanese copies

why do companies put out old reissues that sound terrible?
4 guys
sundazed
the Amy Winehouse releases
the latest Peter Gabriel 45s
etc

Audiotomb,
The simple answer is money. People will buy them because they think that new vinyl carefully remastered must sound better than the original stuff.
Not so.

Now, in most of the cases, the remastered stuff has been carefully remastered by very competent folks. I won’t mention names. The problem, as I have seen it, is HOW GOOD is the original master tape.

Let’s just use an example of one of my fave classic rock bands; Jethro Tull.
I’ve got original first pressing Island Pink,Chrysalis,Reissues by DCC,MoFi. The sound quality is all over the lot. Usually, I prefer first pressing stuff from Germany. Nothing sounds more open and real to me than those pressings. In the case of Aqualung, I’ve got just about all the important varieties including the Classic Records 45 rpm Clarity Vinyl version, and you know what ?

They all sound like shit. Because, in a nutshell, the original master tape is just that. Not good. The Clarity Vinyl version is the best of the lot, but still not good. Sad, because I love Aqualung, and its hard for me to listen to any version.

That said, most of my re-issue stuff ( and I’ve got a lot ), is very good. But there are some bad ones too. It’s hit or miss. The reviews by the major mags can help a little, but they don’t review them all, so you’re taking a chance.

In many cases the master tapes are old and have degraded over time. Remember that the good first pressings were made from fresh master tapes, and the reissues were made from aged master tapes. The stuff from the 60’s and 70’s is now 40-50 yrs old.

As an example, the last Doors re-issues that used the untouched master tapes were those by DCC. After that the master tapes had deteriorated so much that they needed some digital repair. That said, I have one of the box sets made that way and they are quite good.

For the record, I’ve got a fair amount of Sundazed re-issues. Most of them are excellent, but not all. It’s hit or miss with those and any re-issue.

Cheers, Crazy Bill

P.S. I must disagree ( though only a little ) with Raul about forgoing vinyl and going all digital. While I still prefer vinyl over digital, digital has improved. And as Raul has correctly pointed out, to a point where it is crazy good and very real sounding. But be advised that I’m basing my findings on some very high end digital stuff. My stuff is pretty good ( computer source and three DACs: ifi IDAC2, Weiss DAC202, and Auralic vega played back through high end headphone set-ups ) My buddy’s set-up is actually surreal it’s so good, but between everything ( power,source,DAC and headphone set-up, we’re talking a quesstimate of 70-75K ).

Right now, as I write this, I’m listening to the ifi through Sennheiser HD650 w/ Cardas cable, and I’m feeling no need to stop. For a diehard vinyl junkie like myself, that is saying a lot. So, while I myself will never give up vinyl, Raul’s advice could be totally appropriate for many of you.

Cheers again, Crazy Bill