CDs Vs LPs

How about this: just won at an EBAY auction two nice LP's of Hendrix's Are You Experienced and Lou Reed's Transformer! $20 + $5 shipping! Original pressings in excellent condition! There are bargains out there!

IMO, there is no better medium than reel to reel running st 15ips. I think they went out of favor, due to inconvenience. When I did my internship at MCA in Nashville, we ran off demos from rtr onto cassettes. The quality difference was unmistakable.  I no longer own a rtr, but if they still made prerecorded tapes, I would be there.  30 years ago, I would buy an lp, transfer it to cassette and put the album away. That's why all my LPs sound like new. However, due to the tape size, there's simply not enough room to get the dynamic range u want on a cassette. I think older pressings of lps, not involved with any digital source, sound the best. Many here know of the better pressings than I. I have bought new vinyl that sounds bad. As far as the pops and clicks, it depends on the vinyl quality and how you care for them. I played a 35 year lp of Justin Hayward and John Lodge today. It was pristeen. 

I failed to mention, CDs definitely have a place in my system. I have a Theta Miles CD player and there’s a huge difference between it and a standard CD player. I’m sure there are much better ones available now, but I love the Miles. I can play a CD at much higher db levels than my vinyl, due to acoustical feedback. CDs are convenient, but they’re somewhat sterile. They lack ambience to me. BYW, I’m running my Miles straight analog (using the built in dac) to my linestage preamp. I have a Kora Hermes II DAC, I’m going to reconnect. All tube DAC and preamps. Very warm sound, but still lacks the ambience of an LP or rtr. 

Picking up on Atmasphere’s comments about lp vs cd’s bandwidth, yes rbcd standard is recorded at 16bit/44kHz resolution, however doesn’t take into account three things; firstly the mastering process, upsampling in the dac, and the quality of the disc itself.

RBCD’s such as XRCD24 and K2HD are mastered at 24bit/100kHz resolution which is then down-converted in the dac. Whilst DXD cd’s are mastered at 24bit/352.8kHz resolution, which again is then down-converted in the dac to rbcd standard.

Upsampling if properly implemented can restore much of the resolution lost in the down-conversion process. My player (Vitus SCD-025 Mk2) utilizes an EngineeRED Q8 upsampling module which is a stereo synchro-upsampler that accepts PCM signal from 32 up to 384 kHz, but also DSD64 and DSD128 (2,8224 MHz and 5,6448 MHz). It delivers a PCM 24/384 kHz signal which is then sent to the two AD1955 D/A converters operating in mono configuration. It is a true extrapolation system, and not just adding 8 empty bits.

Next is the quality of the media. New discs which specifically address inherent issues with disc quality, accuracy, frequency range and longevity have entered the market such as UHQCD, XRCD24, SHM (incl: SHM Platinum) and DXD. Having several of those discs in my collection, I can attest to their stunning SQ, resolution & palpability. Just sayin’.