Fear Inoculum in Vinyl


Anybody else enjoying the vinyl edition of this great album ? I thought the CD was well recorded but to my ears the vinyl edition is much better. My vinyl playback and digital system are very close in sound quality with different presentations. I could do without the extras that pushed up the price but having said that if you like Tool and play vinyl this album is a must listen.

128x128lwin

I own all formats - Vinyl, CD, and digital.  My preference is the vinyl.  Notes on the vinyl boxset state:

Recorded & mixed by Evil Joe on 2" Analog tape

Mastered for CD & Digital by Bob Ludwig @ Gateway Mastering Studios 

Mastered for Vinyl by Chris Bellman @ Bernie Grundman Mastering

Iwin, I have not heard the vinyl release of the album, but I appreciate your opinion on it's SQ. If I see a good price on it, I'll be less hesitant to jump on it.

Yes, trolls like Jackedhifiguy, who have a need to hijack threads to push their limited, prejudiced opinions on everyone certainly detract from the experience. 

One of my favorite bands! Didn’t buy FI on vinyl yet. I will for sure, but it’s not my favorite. It seems like a continuation of ideas from Aenima that got a little bloated. Being a drummer, Danny gets the job done, but in some ways the whole thing becomes a Danny show. 10,000 Years particularly. It’s all good. To the couple of vinyl fools in the thread, they just don’t have the gear to really let the medium shine. Having said that, it is an antiquated tech for sure, but it still delivers with the new tech having the ability to pull out every nook and cranny of the groove. To each their own! 

I think it would be worthwhile comparing the vinyl vs. the CD based on the very different mastering. According to the DR Database, vinyl measures as having extremely low compression which should result in good dynamic range. The source tapes being analogue might make this ADD recording a treat to listen to.

The CD and download mastered by RL has compression that is audible on my system. Even so, the digital is very well mastered. Thanks to @tallnotshort for the background details.

To my ears, even a $1200 table w a $400 stylus surpasses a $5500 cd player in the form of more detail, accuracy of timbre and better tonality balance. Player dynamics has more to do with after the source.

As far as "clicks and pops", unless there is damage to a record, I hear no clicks and pops during playback. Even a cheap record cleaner goes a long way for better vinyl reproduction.