CD vs. Vinyl

This subject has been beaten to death! But it's still fun once in a while. Here are some advantages CD has over vinyl:

* Portable audio - you can cart around your CD in a nice portable/try that with an LP!

*Track access - you can jump from track to track, shuffle tracks and program tracks. With vinyl, you're carefully moving the needle around the record.

*Capacity - 80 minutes vs 45 (roughly). And you don't have to flip a CD over.

*Longevity - You have to baby your vinyl. One tiny nick or scratch on your LP and the playback is damaged. I think we all agree that CDs are tossed around (within reason) and they still end up sounding great every time.

*Size - It's convenient to store and hold CDs. LPs are large and unwieldy. That makes them vulnerable to damage. And back to that portable issue.

*Car - You can bring your CDs along to entertain you in the car. Ever try to rig a turntable to your Buick?

*Durability - CDs play great 20 years after I bought them. LPs wear out from repeated use.

*Care - you have to regularly clean your stylus and records. It's a chore some love but think about the ease of CDs. You almost never have to clean anything unless you are getting food or grime on them.

*Sound? - Oh...I"m going to get lynched! My point here is that without elaborate setups, expensive equipment, or variable settings (tone arm weight, etc) a CD sounds great every time.

Now sure, this can evolve into side arguments on how warm vinyl is (and it IS warm and nice) but in the end, CDs are hassle free, convenient, easy to maintain/store, and portable. They are not fussy or fragile and you can get them almost anywhere for reasonable prices.

The fact that someone has to spend thousands of dollars to get vinyl to sound better (I KNOW it can be done) than a CD is saying something. For CDs, you can get audiophile sound for hundreds, not thousands. And the rig should last you decades without any pain.

In the end, I am like everyone else here. I love to play around with vinyl. I'm always cleaning it, caring for it, and putting it on the platter when I'm home kicking around. It's a hobby I take seriously. But I would never seriously ignore any of the points I laid out above and say that vinyl is *better*. Because lets face it, barring a very expensive setup and a lot of care and fine tuning, it's not very practical.

Oh...one more point. I an a CAD designer. If I brought a turntable to work, my peers would think I'm BONKERS. They already give me a hard time about my cassette walkman (still love to play copies of good vinyl on chrome tapes). With my Sony DEJ925 CD player, I can fly under the radar and it fits in my desk. :)

"For CDs, you can get audiophile sound for hundreds, not thousands. And the rig should last you decades without any pain. "

Is this perhaps part of why many high end audio buffs are so pro vinyl and anti CD? Hundreds of dollars is certainly not high end, right?

I'd also argue that audiophile vinyl can be had for hundreds as well but it does not come as EASY. EASY is the key word. Then again, EASY is not very high end either.

My personal thoughts on this are as follows:

Great Vinyl (player & Record) will always beat 'good' digital.

Great Digital will always beat 'average vinyl'.

Some days I like the ease and convenience of digital. Some days I love the process of putting on a record and reading the cover. So I guess the answer is GET BOTH!!! Great vinyl and great digital.

"Is this perhaps part of why many high end audio buffs are so pro vinyl and anti CD? Hundreds of dollars is certainly not high end, right?" - Mapman

You are arguing about preference and the discussion is about formats. People might prefer french fries over asparagus but any nutritionist will tell you that the asparagus is better in many ways for them. As far as "easy" is concerned, why would higher-end have to be difficult? Doesn't make much sense.

It is a bit more difficult to argue the facts. CDs are more durable, smaller in size, playable in cars and portable gear, more accessible from retail stores (even gas stations sell CDs), and have advanced features like shuffle/repeat/program. Preference doesn't dismiss these attributes.

"As far as "easy" is concerned, why would higher-end have to be difficult? "

Because it is always harder to do anything really well.

Take a look at some of the high end systems on this site and what the owners have gone through to get where they are and it should become clear that high end often means complex and hard. Not always, but I think there is a general case to make based on the evidence that this is an accurate assessment.