2. analog
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Why vinyl?

I understand the thoughts of a lot of you that digital is harsh and bright and has an edge. I know that analog has a warmer fuller sound, otherwise why would so many people put up with the inconvenience of records, cartridges, cleaners, tone-arm adjustments, etc. I used to be there. Of course all I had was a Garrard direct drive turntable. If the idea is to get as close as possible to the original source, why has not open-reel tape made a huge comeback. After all that's how most of the stuff was recorded in the first place. Very few were direct to disk recordings. Why would dragging a stylus through a groove be better than the original? There used to be a company out there called In-Synch that used the original masters and sold cassettes of them, dubbed at 1:1 ratio. I was the happiest person in the world when CD's came out and I could throw out my disk-washer and everything else that went with it, including the surface noise and the TICKS and POPS. Just something I've wondered about.
elmuncy
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,821 posts
 
I'm with you. I love CD's and the digital technology. Once the music is numberized, the possibilities are unlimited! The best vinyl may have an edge (over redbook), but the future belongs to digital. I think vinyl persists because digital takes the human out-of-the-loop. No longer are you required to know how to carefully clean, polish, fuss, etc. It's like car guys no longer having the stick-shift option. Living with an automatic just changes the whole dynamic. If the MUSIC is good (and I'm in the mood) I don't care what box it comes out of...
twl
3,251 posts
 
I was the happiest person in the world this week when I sold my CD player. Now I can only play vinyl. And that's all I want to play, because when I put my CD player on, it sounded like it was broken in comparison to my TT. I will never buy another CD player as long as I live. I am using the proceeds to buy a large vinyl collection. Hey guys! If you aren't using your classic records anymore, give me a call. I know just what to do with them.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
I dabble in both worlds. I also have an SACD player. Elmuncy, to appreciate vinyl you need to clean the LP's with more than disk-washer. I listened to vinyl again about 6 months ago, after about 16 years of 'perfect sound forever'. In a good system, it immediately sounded better than my SACD and CD's. Sure it had surface noise, but a VPI 16.5 w/ Disc Doctor brushes clean the old albums up very nicely. Surface noise is down over 90%. About the only time I hear pops anymore is in between tracks. As for the sound, listening is believing. The LP's are warmer, lusher, with more soundstage depth. It's more 'real'. That being said, I still do listen to cd's. When I'm busy or just plain lazy. CD's are definitely less maintenance. When friends come over and listen, they kick themselves for selling all of their LP's. My $2250 analog setup (that includes the VPI 16.5 record cleaner) easily sounds better than my $3500 cd player.
thorty40
149 posts
 
When CD's sound can match that of a good analog rig then I am all for it. In the meantime, vinyl still sounds far superior when done correctly, I think most who are comparing first hand would agree.
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