Stuff that sounds better on Vinyl

[Widda]

bought Hotel California on vinyl yesterday...and OMG .......So rich....I have heard it a million times...but this had defo warmth and depth.

 

Anyone else have a goodie that sounds better on wax than CD?

[glam_junkie]

I've always thought the same of Bon jovi - New Jersey. On vinyl it sounds like 'summer', whereas on cd it's a bit to crisp for my liking (when compared to the vinyl).

 

Vinyl definitely has a warmer/richer sound characteristic to it.

[Metal T]

...still like the sound of old VH on the turntable (pops 'n all).

[Rockposer]

All of my Japanese vinyl pressings beat their cd counterparts hands down.

[Nick C]

Vinyl tends to beat CD in most cases easily (but not always) - unless your turntable is some old beat up thing or some badly pressed junk that I'm sorry to say that the U.S. used to press in the mid 80's with depressing regularity! I used to get brand new albums on import on wafer thin vinyl with these kind of super light scratches all over them, I seem to remember the U.S. arm of the Mercury label being especially bad. BUT now I kick myself for all the vinyl I unloaded in the past as I replaced it with CD .

Once I got a decent turntable I was horrified at what I had done.

 

CD is a sound compression system, each disc can only carry so much amount of information so the sound files are cut down to remove highs and lows that the human ear cannot pick up (supposedly) to allow an album to fit onto a CD but the aural effect is obviously lacking as a result.

Suposedly HDCD and SACD (and DVDA too) adressed this compression problem as they could store so much more information so they sound like original vinyl (I'm led to believe) but they never really caught on....although many bands...especially Porcupine Tree are now releasing DVDA versions of their albums.

.

PLUS the vinyl put out these days is especially excellent as there's no longer the huge mass production of it as there was in the past. So most of the vinyl used to do albums now is of a higher quality as they ain't banging loads of recycled plastic into to keep costs down. Plus vinyl these days seems to be the 180g vinyl which is pretty much audiophile standard, so less if any pops or crackles.

 

But at the end of the day CD's are mega convenient and pop and crackle free (well....unless it's been ripped from an old vinyl version haha), and it's so much more up to date getting your music with a laser than scratching some plastic with a bit of rock and they sound great too...maybe not as great as vinyl to these ears but still great. Plus that bit of rock wears your vinyl down a little bit everytime you play it.

Having said that...is the end of the road in sight for CD?

[& then]

bought Hotel California on vinyl yesterday...and OMG .......So rich....I have heard it a million times...but this had defo warmth and depth.

 

Anyone else have a goodie that sounds better on wax than CD?

 

Yep! Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here, D.S.O.T.M & most of early Black Sabbath all sound damn fine on vinyl! One of the few downsides to vinyl as opposed to CD's is havin' to flip the lp over, swipe a cleaner on it before bein' able to continue the vinyl experience. Some releases, at least to me, do sound better on vinyl, IMHO! But there are a few exceptions, too.....

 

EDIT:& then when you listen to some on some excellent headphones.....it's taken to a....whole....'nother....level!

[Geoff]

I can honestly say, without doubt, that for me CD murders the sound of vinyl in every single occasion. I haven't owned a lot of LPs, but each sounds far inferior to the CD. As you Brits would say, there's just no bollocks on vinyl.

[Rockposer]

I can honestly say, without doubt, that for me CD murders the sound of vinyl in every single occasion. I haven't owned a lot of LPs, but each sounds far inferior to the CD. As you Brits would say, there's just no bollocks on vinyl.

 

It does depend on the turntable, cartridge, etc etc.

 

My favorite DVD Audio release is The Beatles - Love

[Glen]

I can honestly say, without doubt, that for me CD murders the sound of vinyl in every single occasion. I haven't owned a lot of LPs, but each sounds far inferior to the CD. As you Brits would say, there's just no bollocks on vinyl.

 

It does depend on the turntable, cartridge, etc etc.

 

My favorite DVD Audio release is The Beatles - Love

 

Yeah Geoff was probably spinning his vinyl on a two bit shite turn table.

 

I used to own a Rega Planar 2 ( with a bloody good cartridge) and it kicked the arse out of any cd player ive ever heard.....by a long way. To say vinyl has no bass or the technical term 'bollocks' is well, just bollocks IMO. My turn table worked the arse out of my Rega Jura floorstanders and sounded bloody marvellous.

 

& bearing in mind I now have an Arcam cd player, im comparing it to the best.

 

Problem is of course (as Nick correctly stated) is that vinyl was a pain in the arse. Cds are way more convenient. Downloads even more so.

 

Cheers

[Rockposer]

Of course there's a huge difference in CD quality depending on the production and mastering.

[Rockposer]

I still use my Rega Planer II

[UGH]

Black Sabbath an Nazareth sounds darker and heavier on an old shit turntable

[Glen]

I still use my Rega Planer II

 

Mine died after about 10 years of continuous playing.....I choose not to replace it as I was already well into the cd buying phase of my life.

[Dave]

I'd take vinyl over CD's any day......IMO music sounds so much better when it has not been over polished......I grew up with them through the 70's and loved it