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CD's vs Vinyl - Finally hear the difference

About 2 years ago, I decided to get back into vinyl. I had some old albums I wanted to play, so I blew the dust off my 35 year old TT and fired that mutha up. It took me about 13 months to get my accousic vibration problem licked and to put together some decent analog euipment-some new, some used. Anyway, I started listening to ONLY vinyl. I was surprised how well my albums had been preserved and how well the new ones I purchased sounded. I had read the vinyl purist's comments about how much better records sounded than CD's, but I must admit-I was doubtful. I had put together a fairly good Digital system with a tubed Kora Hermes II DAC. Anyway, I had a friend over the other day and for the first time in almost a year, I put on a CD. I have to say-there is absolutely no comparison how much better vinyl sounds than CD's. CD's sound as though they were recorded in an anechoic chamber. There is no ambience, no warmth, no soul. The music is accurate, but it isn't alive. You simply have to hear it to understand. All the years I wasted listening to CD's! I guess they have their place if you're on the go in cars, boats etc, but if you are wanting to really listen to good quality recorded music, there is only one choice.
handymann
rccc
216 posts
 
I prefer vinyl over CD however I feel at least part of that is personal bias and conditioning from 40+ yrs of vinyl listening. I did an interesting experiment. I ripped a few of my favorite cuts on vinyl in both 16/44.1 and 24/96. I level matched my system and compared them to each other and the vinyl. Im not sure that it "proves" anything but it was informative none the less. A difference could be heard between all three. They all sounded good.
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
"Yes, for the most "serious listening"(whatever that means) one turns to LP."

Dgarrettson I agree with you point by point but the thing that always amuses me is this "serious listening" advantage that vinyl has. I completely concur that it is without question more resolving and overall relaxing when all is right but the one thing that I have always had a problem with is the distortions on the recordings, the pressings that vary. Like digital it keeps one in the search for better sounding recordings. While I certainly love to listen to analog recordings I really dislike the fussing and the rituals associated with it. I'm over that but I certainly have a great deal of respect for those that push the SOTA forward in this medium. Isn't it ironic that "perfect sound forever" has pushed vinyl playback ahead to the improvements realized over the past 20-25 years? At the same time digital is also improving to the point that at least in my case I can listen to it without becoming disengaged or distracted, not always the case. We're all the beneficiaries of having both to pick and choose from and you have to love that.
rodman99999
6,128 posts
 
There's the rub: Recording/pressing quality varys widely(whatever the format). Redbook has limitations, independent of that though. XRCD and HDCD both go a long way, to making Digital more listenable. Though many improvements have been made in the process of extracting music from the groove of a vinyl disc, in the past three decades; I can't seem to hear any, with regards to the pressings themselves(disappointing).
ebm
9,311 posts
 
LP more air,stage,depth.
stefanl
296 posts
 
I have another take although some will be familiar with this.I cannot listen to stock store bought cd's ANYMORE!I firstly rip any cd I am going to play with EAC and play the CD-R.I will not even listen to the original cd.To me it is so obvious that standard mass produced redbook is uniformly below par that it actually beggars belief.Not one rip I have ever done has failed to sound better after being ripped with EAC.It is standard practice on good torrent sites to upload EAC ripped material for download.In recent times also,a guy called PBTHAL achieved a world-wide following transcribing mint LP's from an excellent turntable set-up,that people would send to him from all over.He would put these LP's online for free download.Same story,store bought cd's are crap.
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