2. analog
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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
22,457 posts
 
Atmasphere,

I hear what your saying but of course the counter argument is that a test signal is not music so alone it does not completely address the problem.

I suspect there are other tests that can be done where digital would measure better.

There is seldom only one way to skin a cat. That's why that saying sticks! Audio and technology in general is no exception.

Plus, the OP is asking what is worth it or not, so lets assume the two formats do not have the same strengths and weaknesses which is a safe assumption and focus on what is really worth it or not.
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tdaudio
201 posts
 
Its amazing that some out here holding them selfs to be experts can be exposed to have so little understanding of analog. I am not talking about Atmasphere!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,457 posts
 
I don't see how anybody with a serious interest in the music of TODAY can tell someone they should be doing vinyl rather than digital. Maybe if the recommendation comes with an interest free loan it might go over better. Pay more for a more problematic format to play recordings that are mostly digitally mastered to start with. Makes sense to me.

Maybe if digital never happened and the world was still geared around analog technology I would feel differently.

Vinyl is a niche technology today. One with some nice things about but a niche nonetheless. There are many vintage vinyl recordings worth hearing on a good vinyl rig. That the worl today revolves around digital technology and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future is an irrefutable part of the value proposition.

I admire Atamasphere's products and his steadfast willingness to realize his visions but that does not change reality as a whole. Vinyl may sound better sometimes. That is about the extent of it. When the recording is digital to start with, all the vinyl in the world will not make it into something from years gone by that it is not.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Mapman, very well said and true.
Regards,
dover
2,262 posts
 
Mapman,
It is feasable that a digitally mastered recording could sound better through an analogue medium than digital because playing back via digital in the case of CD adds another A/D & D/A conversion, and if played back via computer/dac at least 1 other D/A conversion - each conversion being an inaccurate reconstruction of the recording or file preceding it.
The "value proposition" for analogue and digital are quite different. The value proposition for digital is providing a portable transportable medium for music.
The "value proposition" for analogue is to provide an accurate medium for transporting and playing back music.
Digital is simply an approximation of analogue via fundamentally flawed mathematics, no more no less, with the added advantage of easy transportablility or transferrability.
I hope you dont expect MacDonalds burgers to provide you with a healthy diet.

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