CD v.s LP - When comming from the same MASTER

The LP version would suffer all the degradations and distortions that are inherent in that medium--no stereo bass, limited dynamic range, surface noise, etc. But some of those distortions actually sound good to people, so it's quite possible that the LP will sound better.

There is no comparison in sound quality from an MFSL lp and an MFSL cd. I'm sure the quality of the source being used would make a difference. Vinyl beats digital hands down in my system. Maybe I'm one of those who thinks that the degradations and distortions sound good. Then again I believe vinyl has no equal in sound quality...........

Just to clarify, I was talking about starting from a digital master. A CD should sound exactly identical to that digital master. An LP won't, and the difference is, quite literally, distortion. (And I like the sound of some of those distortions myself.)

"A CD should sound exactly identical to that digital master". Incorrect, because nobody masters at redbook level anymore. It's all done with higher sampling rates and greater number of bits, and then it's downsampled (decimated more correctly) for redbook. So the digital master contains much information that is not on the CD.

But for the record (no pun !) I think on similarly priced turntable / CD player the differences would be very subtle unless you had a very expensive system.

Sorry, Sean, but I must disagree. A 24/96 master tape does indeed have higher resolution, but on a practical level that means only two things: greater dynamic range and wider frequency range. The latter is only important if you believe that people can hear sounds above 20kHz. As for dynamic range, I've never heard of a master tape with a dynamic range greater than 90dB, which CD can accommodate just fine, thank you. And even if you find such a master tape, you'd have to compress it MUCH more to make an LP, which can only offer about 70-75 dB of dynamic range.

As for the sonic differences, they are not subtle at all at any price range. I'd say the difference between a CD player and a turntable at price X will be greater than the difference between CD player at price X and CD player at price 10X.

None of this is meant to bash vinyl, which I love as much as the next audiophile. I'm not arguing that one medium is better or worse than the other--just different. Better or worse is up to your own taste.