Vinyl's Noise Floor

consider how science and industry deals with isolation and "noise". at a laboratory or precision machine shop much effort and expense is expended on these issues. nothing is left to chance.

reading the groove of a vinyl record is just another technical challenge that requires first isolation; and then precise reading. in a cost-no-object situation you would first have considerable mass, then some sort of cushion of isolation, then another cushion of isolation for every moving part. then the item to be examined would need to be firmly held for maximum resolution. the reading probe would need to be very compliant and yet controlled for proper measurement at the desired resolution.

whether you are cutting something, useing an electron microscope, or any other precision operation, any deviation from uncompromised solutions to these issues would compromise the result.

turntable designs exist that meet these standards. in these designs the so-called noise-floor of the vinyl format is revealed to be mostly an issue of compromised designs, not an inherent characteristic of the format.

when hitting price targets, turntable designers balance various compromises to offer the best performance results for their priorities. with any compromises there is noise introduced.

this is not voodo, it is science. there are certainly software noise issues that exist, but they are very minor compared to the turntable design contributions to noise. this assumes a comprehensive approach to vinyl care (handling, cleaning, etc.).

if you want quiet vinyl playback, you can have it.

i would also add that once the noise-floor is lowered, there is way more information that is revealed to exist in those grooves.

Viridian, well said. I have been wanting to say just that, but, I didn't because I thought that I would be too confrontational. I am really glad you said it, though, because it needed to be said.

bottom line is this

digital sounds more dynamic because there is no discernable noise, however vinyl is more dynamic from noise floor up.

our ears filter the noise as they hear it and natuarally process the music or sound... that's what it is all about.

digital is a lie and a pure money grab that continues today.

analogue is a relic only because there are 999/1000 lazier than vinyl lovers or they just don't have ears or better yet don't care.

There are two "noise floors." There is surface noise floor, the clicks and pops on a lp, and there is the noise floor that one can hear through to the "quietest of sounds", as Viridan points out.

Referring to the latter, digital (redbook cds) has a higher noise floor because digital does not deal with information beyond 20khz or below 20hz. Analog has a lower "noise floor" because it is able to reproduce a greater range of information- regardless of whether we can hear (through the surace noise) or sense it. And therefore, analog has the potential to sound more complete.

In the best possible analog setup with top quality lps, the surface noise should be a minor concern. Issues of cost, convenience and availability of music should be addressed before spending a lot of money. In all likelihood, a $2000 cd player will sound better than a similarly priced turntable setup (tt,cart, and phono amp) and, of course, will have less surface noise.