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Is a vinyl rig only worth it for oldies?

I have always been curious about vinyl and its touted superiority over digital, so I decided to try it for myself. Over the course of the past several years I bought a few turntables, phono stages, and a bunch of new albums. They sounded fine I thought, but didn't stomp all over digital like some would tend to believe.

It wasn't until I popped on some old disk that I picked up used from a garage sale somewhere that I heard what vinyl was really about: it was the smoothest, most organic, and 3d sound that ever came out of my speakers. I had never heard anything quite like it. All of the digital I had, no matter how high the resolution, did not really come close to approaching that type of sound.

Out of the handful of albums I have from the 70s-80s, most of them have this type of sound. Problem is, most of my music and preferences are new releases (not necessarily in an audiophile genre) or stuff from the past decade and these albums sounded like music from a CD player but with the added noise, pops, clicks, higher price, and inconveniences inherent with vinyl. Of all the new albums I bought recently, only two sounded like they were mastered in the analog domain.

It seems that almost anything released after the 2000's (except audiophile reissues) sounded like music from a CD player of some sort, only worse due to the added noise making the CD version superior. I have experienced this on a variety of turntables, and this was even true in a friend's setup with a high end TT/cart.

So my question is, is vinyl only good for older pre-80s music when mastering was still analog and not all digital?
solman989
goldnagual's avatar
goldnagual
3 posts
 
If it was recorded digitally its compromised forever. A case in point, Abdullah Ibrahim's 'Water From an Ancient Well', recorded digitally, and it shows. Beautiful music but just doesnt quite make it as a fine analogue recording could have. On the other hand, Jefferson Airplane's 'After Bathing at Baxter's' cut in the late 70s is one of the finest recorded albums of all time...of course having Owsley at the helm didnt hurt. I find that if I put on a CD Ill listen for about 5 minutes then find myself doing the dishes, or cleaning up...but not paying attention to the music except as background. Vinyl is a different story. Vinyl rules...CD stands for COMROMISED DIGITAL. End of discussion.
calle_jr's avatar
calle_jr
5 posts
 
I agree it's logical to buy new records in digital formats for those who have a digital player that can match their turntable.
lcd54222
1 posts
 
Some have alluded to it above, but plain and simple one can not categorically state CD is better than vinyl or visa versa, there are some CDs that sound great and some that don't; there are some records that sound great and some don't. It's always a treat to find a new recording that sounds awesome whatever the media.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,179 posts
 
I'm with LCD.

Music trumps format for me every time because I am first a music lover and have fine tuned both my vinyl and digital rigs to enable this. I am currently hesitant to change a thing in my system because dare I say it it meets my expectations essentially perfectly at present after many years of work to get it that way.

The addition of a plush recliner chair to my room was enough to throw that off even recently, but luckily I was able to implement a simple tweak with what I have to correct it.
lacee
811 posts
 
It really depends on what type of vinyl rig you set up.

The better the rig, the less ticks and pops on lps new or used.

I am not saying that all lps will sound better, just that it's too easy to lay the blame of noise on the vinyl medium.

I've had some poor pressing from the late 70's and 80's and some great old mono' from the 50's and 60's.

I've also had a few snaps and pops on my nice new thick re-issue of Ricky Lee Jones-Pop Pop-perhaps this was an inside joke, but it is an imperfect pressing, you can see an imperfection in the vinyl, a ripple type artifact, there from the day it was pressed.

Getting back to the quality of the vinyl gear,on a properly cleaned( and De-magged) LP,I hear less surface noise on my improved Vinyl system than I did on the less costly ones before it.

Not saying you need to pay out big bucks,but I've found that most lower end vinyl set ups seem to also be the most noisy .

That includes new and old pressings.

I have some very old lps that were still in good shape that I bought new in the mid 70's.

I thought I knew them well.

With the new vinyl set up and after a proper cleaning,demagging, I am hearing details that I never heard before with any of my previous vinyl set ups.

For those who think that vinyl systems are all snap crackle and pop, you need to visit someone( dealer,retailer) who has a properly set up vinyl system, with properly cleaned records
and then hear what we die hard vinyl lovers are raving about.
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