Do 45 rpm 12" LPs really sound better than 33 rpm?
Increasingly, one can buy 12-inch 45 rpm LPs. Theoretically, they provide a wider dynamic and frequency range, but I come across a strange effect... Yes, the bass strings seem to be tightened stronger, but in general ... Imagine you have two cars with a power of 250 hp, but one is equipped with an honest atmospheric V6 or V8, and the second has 2 liters turbo.
Tell me, is it just my impression? Or maybe I need to change the cartridge or settings (for example, impedance) of the phono preamp?
Classic Records have some single with 33 and 45 rpm cut on the same LP.. You can easily compare them both.. Like this Look of Love Single https://www.discogs.com/Dusty-Springfield-The-Look-Of-Love/release/1719615 |
I should disclose first that making a 12" at 45 rpm takes the LP feature away, which I don't care for. More importantly, all else equal the faster the speed the more noise will be generated. This can be significant for the stylus tracing the record groove. Everything is a trade off. Some of the gains are offset by the loss due to the inferior signal to noise ratio. The extra vinyl muffin costs pennies and it is actually easier to master at the higher speed so it takes less studio time in most cases. Time is money.
On balance it is a marketing ploy to pry more money out of the consumer for a more profitable product. Sometimes 45 rpm records sound better, but not always.
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Sometimes yes, sometimes no. So many factors go into it. I have mfsl pressings of the Jefferson Airplane’s Crown of Creation at 33 rpm and Volunteers at 45 rpm. Both originally mastered by the same guy, Wally Heider. The mfsl at 33 sounds decidedly better than my original press. The mfsl at 45 is at best a wash. |
Differences that favor the original 33 version over the re-issue 45 version could of course be related simply to the quality level of the respective manufacturing processes. Those are variables we cannot control for, and the data are worthless for saying that 33 is superior to 45, as a general conclusion. Bill, can you amplify on your assertion that "the faster the speed, the more noise will be generated". What kind of noise are you talking about, for one thing? Are there some published data that support your contention? |
Compare a 50-60's 33RPM album to a reissue 45. I likely will hear the period press as more convincing. Typically any reissue-33 or 45 is a let down,IMO. Now, if that period album ALSO were pressed as a 45, that may be noticeable. I'm not aware of a period 45 Kinda Blue or Time Out. I have the 45 of Ella Fitzgerald's "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!" It sounds perfect like a CD. The 33rpm period mono, (1961) is more engaging. |
