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Old 01-05-2018, 01:24 AM
Mouse Mouse is offline
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Default How does vinyl compare to HD digital?

How does modern vinyl (probably recorded digitally in studio) compare to HD tracks, FLAC, and Tidal?

I get the vinyl vs CD debate, but I don't know how this applies if the analog Vinyl's source was digital anyway. I don't really know the sources, but I'll assume modern pop/indie/rock/alternative started out on a PC or a Mac.

I'm thinking of buying a record or two to go demo with at my local stores. Some of my favorite artists aren't sold in HD Tracks or FLAC, but they do have low quality itunes , CDs, and LPs .
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Old 01-05-2018, 02:27 AM
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they are both good and compare well. Nothing beats HD digital ease of use and endless libraries. Vinyl sounds quite good as well when set up right however changing album sides every 15 to 20 minutes is a bit of a drag.

I like both and play both regularly, depending on my mood depends on which I choose.

Classical is noticeably better via HD as the quiet passages are indeed dead quiet. Mind you I have some very very nice pressings of classical performances which I love to spin after a long day at work.

One of the big benefits for myself with vinyl is I am learning a lot more and listening to a lot of new stuff which has greatly expanded my horizons due to the included materials with most albums coupled with the fact I am listening to artists I would not have normally made an effort to.

hope this helps
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Old 01-05-2018, 02:32 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mouse View Post
How does modern vinyl (probably recorded digitally in studio) compare to HD tracks, FLAC, and Tidal?
What's the point of listening to vinyl that was mastered from digital? Not only are you missing out on the whole point of listening to analog in the first place but chances are, with all the variables that go into setting up a great sounding vinyl rig, your final result is worse than it would be if you listened to that same music in digital.
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Old 01-05-2018, 03:17 AM
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Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
What's the point of listening to vinyl that was mastered from digital? Not only are you missing out on the whole point of listening to analog in the first place but chances are, with all the variables that go into setting up a great sounding vinyl rig, your final result is worse than it would be if you listened to that same music in digital.


If you've got a dialed-in vinyl rig and like the way it sounds, why not?

For me, I like the added distortion I get by playing digitally mastered vinyl. That, and the added inconvenience makes it a no-brainer.

Seriously, though, there is a certain enjoyment to be gained in the ritual of playing a vinyl record compared to playing a digital file. It doesn't have anything to do with the sound though.

If I hadn't been playing vinyl for 50 years and put together and uber-tweaked vinyl rig, there is no way I would start now. Modern DAC's are so good they eclipse all but the very best analog mastered vinyl.

My 5 year old son said it best: "Dad, could you play one of those big black CD's?"

Sure.
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Old 01-05-2018, 11:23 AM
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Originally Posted by W9TR View Post
If you've got a dialed-in vinyl rig and like the way it sounds, why not?

For me, I like the added distortion I get by playing digitally mastered vinyl. That, and the added inconvenience makes it a no-brainer.

Seriously, though, there is a certain enjoyment to be gained in the ritual of playing a vinyl record compared to playing a digital file. It doesn't have anything to do with the sound though.

If I hadn't been playing vinyl for 50 years and put together and uber-tweaked vinyl rig, there is no way I would start now. Modern DAC's are so good they eclipse all but the very best analog mastered vinyl.

My 5 year old son said it best: "Dad, could you play one of those big black CD's?"

Sure.
Tom, I get the fun part. I also loved my brief vinyl phase with a few rather nice turntables such as the SME20/IV arm/DynavectorXX2 which sounded great with the analog master tape vinyl from Blue Note for example. I started buying more vinyl without paying attention and expanding my collection and noticed the sound was much worse on some, the analog smoothness and ease was absent. Of course they turned out to be the digital to vinyl transfers. Ehhh, no thanks. The vinyl industry simply got on the gravy train and It’s just another way to make you part with your money. Well I personally can’t be bothered going through all the cleaning rituals to listen to vinyl that sounds actually worse than digital itself because of mastering from digital to vinyl.
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Old 01-05-2018, 11:29 AM
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By far the most impressive sound are the newer recordings done natively in high resolution. When listening to the native resolution and not so much the upsampled version, I can finally see some real potential in digital. We will see more of it in the future.

As far as great vinyl? Well, there are only so many original master tapes left in storage vaults and most of them have already been done.
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Old 02-16-2018, 02:23 AM
2fastdriving 2fastdriving is offline
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Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
Tom, I get the fun part. I also loved my brief vinyl phase with a few rather nice turntables such as the SME20/IV arm/DynavectorXX2 which sounded great with the analog master tape vinyl from Blue Note for example. I started buying more vinyl without paying attention and expanding my collection and noticed the sound was much worse on some, the analog smoothness and ease was absent. Of course they turned out to be the digital to vinyl transfers. Ehhh, no thanks. The vinyl industry simply got on the gravy train and It’s just another way to make you part with your money. Well I personally can’t be bothered going through all the cleaning rituals to listen to vinyl that sounds actually worse than digital itself because of mastering from digital to vinyl.
I have to agree with you. I think vinyl made from digital sources is terrible. May as well listen to the cd or file.
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Old 02-28-2018, 03:20 PM
Timobi Timobi is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W9TR View Post
If you've got a dialed-in vinyl rig and like the way it sounds, why not?

For me, I like the added distortion I get by playing digitally mastered vinyl. That, and the added inconvenience makes it a no-brainer.

Seriously, though, there is a certain enjoyment to be gained in the ritual of playing a vinyl record compared to playing a digital file. It doesn't have anything to do with the sound though.

If I hadn't been playing vinyl for 50 years and put together and uber-tweaked vinyl rig, there is no way I would start now. Modern DAC's are so good they eclipse all but the very best analog mastered vinyl.

My 5 year old son said it best: "Dad, could you play one of those big black CD's?"

Sure.
I still smile when I read this post...True and yet very witty.
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  #9  
Old 07-21-2018, 01:56 AM
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Jerome W Jerome W is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
What's the point of listening to vinyl that was mastered from digital? Not only are you missing out on the whole point of listening to analog in the first place but chances are, with all the variables that go into setting up a great sounding vinyl rig, your final result is worse than it would be if you listened to that same music in digital.


Serge...

In theory I would agree with you. Makes no sense to listen to a vinyl that was digitally mastered.
In practice it is an other story.
I keep buying lots of vinyls and at least in France, the vinyl departments get bigger everyday.
In my system, most vinyls even mastered from digital sound "better" to me than the digital file even with HD recordings. I do not know precisely what is going on. Maybe the special sound "massage" is given by the Koetsu Urushi Vermillion. A bit like what happens with Shindo electronics. It is not really "better" to speak precisely. It is more involving, it attracts you deeper in the listening. It transforms the experience of listening to music into a deeply focused meditation.
To speak simply : nothing in my system is more musical than the Verdier with the Koetsu cartridge. No matter if the vinyl is a pure analog one or not.
Maybe you will hear it one day !
[BTW, I am replacing my inspired from Petite Latour speakers with speakers inspired by the Latour but using TAD 2001 compressions instead of the Westrex ones. And of course still the fabulous Altec 416 drivers....]
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Old 01-05-2018, 07:08 AM
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The first and last digital mastered vinyl I purchased were the Beatles and Rolling Stones. I did this because the vinyl was recorded from the 24 bit master not the 16 bit cd master hoping it would sound better than the cd version . The new masters had slightly better bass which sold me but in reality they both sound good so I hardly ever play the vinyl and they sit on the shelf with the rest of my vinyl collection . Since I purchased my D1100 and Aurender N100H I listen mostly to digital. A few weeks ago I did a short demo for someone and they asked to compare the tidal streaming version of blues song TinPan Alley to my vinyl version which is over 30 years old. The vinyl sounded better, imaging was much more palpable in depth and width, the digital streaming version was good but compare with vinyl was like a color filter over the lens of a camera in comparison to the vinyl. My point is I now buy vinyl that is recorded analog and remaster digital recordings I download or stream and skip buying on vinyl.
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