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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
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,521 posts
 
Like Raul, I have carefully observed bass and most other parameters of sound at live events.

Based on that, I too have reached the conclusion that good digital, even CD redbook, has no problem doing realistic and accurate bass if implement well (always a big if).

Same true for vinyl but there are more challenges getting clean bass out of many records due to issues that are well documented with the format over the years (wow/flutter/rumble, manufacturing and other imperfections that only increase over time like warping over time, etc).

Most people will find it easier to get right with digital IMHO, not to say that it cannot be done very well in many cases as well with records. IT will just in general be harder and also probably a lot more expensive to address with vinyl. A lot will vary from record to record. Part of the expense will be finding a copy of a desired title on vinyl that is relatively free of any defects.
jyprez's avatar
jyprez
241 posts
 
You should read Robert Harley's excelent article on this in the July/August issue of The Absolute Sound.

Like Harley, I agreee the mastering is typically much more important than the medium. I have about 2000 Jazz LP's, mostly from the 50's to 60's.

A great number of these are LP's that never got reissued or only got poorly mastered reissues as Harley describes. The record industry keeps reissuing the same couple hundred "Jazz Classics" in ever "better" reissues. Most of these are, actually, very good. But if you ever want to go much beyond Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue", and the other "jazz classics", vinyl is essential.

P.S. As to noise or pops and clicks on vinyl. I find it unacceptable. 85% of my LP's have no significant noise beyond MAYBE a few light clicks per side on the begining deadwax - and most are 50+ yrs old. The other 15% are either in remediation or on their way out. The way you do this is 1) insist on NM vinyl and send it back if it isn't 2) a very rigorous cleaning process (I clean mine on a Loricraft every time I play and they improve over time) 3) a very good TT - I have a Transrotor Fat Bob with ZYX Airy3 cart and Graham Phantom arm - the TT is the most important for noise. Of course you also have to realize that you can pay 100's to over a thousand dollars for a NM version of an earlier (forget original) edition of a Classic Blue Note while an excellent RVG remaster might be $25. That's why I also have a few thousand Jazz CD's.

Sorry, but there is no perfect answer here. Those who claim "Vinyl rules!" or "CD's are superior because vinyl = pops and clicks" are uninformed.
dover
2,273 posts
 
Raul,
I am absolutely astonished by your post on bass above and its importance to reproduction. Do you only listen to bass ?
Given that your room is not large, the analogue gear sits between your speakers, the miss-match of multiple drivers and amplifiers, I cannot see how your system can possibly deliver coherent musical timing. If it does it must be a complete fluke.
dover
2,273 posts
 
Although I prefer analogue by a long way, I agree with Mapman, it is going to come down to the quality of the implementation.
To me the biggest issue for analogue is the inability for most people to set a turntable up correctly. I can listen to simple music on digital, but anything with multiple instrumentation, eg orchestral, for me, digital cannot cope, and my digital reference system is way ahead of anything commercially produced.
With regards to bass performance, amplification/speakers/room will have a bigger part to play than which medium you use.
As my best mate says - "Nothing wrong with digital, it's only a little bit out all of the time" .
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rauliruegas
13,112 posts
 
Dear Dover: No, I don't listen only bass. Fortunately my system bass is IMHO first rate and realy permit to enjoy the whole music frequency range in a way that maybe you can't even dream.

Yes, it is a complete " fluke ", a stunning fluke/surprise. I respect your opinion but IMHO you can't have an opinion till you can hear it. A " nice and different " experience I can say.

Anyway, other than distortions level what makes a system difference are not only our each one priorities but our each knowledge level and skills to achieve with success our each one targets.

Because your posts here and elsewhere I'm sure that your ignorance level is different from mine, your place in the audio learning curve is not the same that mine.

regards and enjoy the music,
R.
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