System upgrade (part 2)

The cynical might say it's a way to flog you the stuff you've already bought all over again!

It's a shame that some listeners seem to attribute the difference between vinyl and CD playback to be due to bit-depth (noise floor level) and sample rate (frequency range that can be reproduced). People think that they're not enjoying CD as much because it's too noisy or doesn't cover the full range of their hearing?? A fixation on these numbers is nonsensical really... I've heard better mp3 rips than some WAV rips. If the master sucks, it truly will suck no matter what format it is transformed into. So why does the fond interest in vinyl still exist? Well, I'm not an engineer and putting the materialistic preference aside, I have reason to believe that vinyl wins in phase response; the timing that seems to be the key to good musicality. You start to lose the rhythm and timing and you've killed it. I seriously think that this is why many vinyl renditions beat the CD rendition. It's the phasing, not the noise floor level or lack of frequencies outside the clearly audible range.

I’m not entirely convinced by any of the arguments either way on the subject of digital vs analogue or 44/16 vs 24/192 because analogue recording and mastering has involved various levels of processing (i.e. Dolby) since the mid 60’s and progressively more sophisticated digital processing since the 80’s. So who’s to know what we have actually been listening to - AAA, AAD, DDD etc, or perhaps more controversially, who cares?

Why do I say that? Well my listening preferences will always be ‘vinyl’ but that has as much to do with the fact that I grew up with this medium and have lived with it since my teens and I enjoy the whole experience. Yes, a beautifully mastered and recorded LP seems to sound the most natural and life-like but, equally, I own a lot of mid-late 60’s & 70’s records where ’sound quality’ is quite frankly poor - often thin and bass-light  (I don’t believe this is necessarily to do with RIAA curves either). I guess that compromises had to be made either because of limitations of the original tape (clipping?) or because of narrow spacing between the grooves, allowing for a smaller dynamic range so an album could fit within two standard LP sides.

Take original copies of classic rock albums such as ‘My Generation’ or ‘Led Zeppelin 4’ where Moon & Bonhams’ Drums are certainly powerful but by no means as deep, dynamic or ‘realistic’ as found on many recent vinyl releases - predominantly digitally processed and sometimes spread over 3 LP sides or running at 45 RPM.

I will always order a vinyl version of an album in preference to any other medium but am the first to admit that I can get as much pleasure from CDs, SACDs, FLAC’s and sometimes even well mastered 320 MP3s. I have all the Eagles albums both as vinyl and 24/192 FLAC as well as my wifes’ double CD ‘best of’ & I get as much pleasure from all versions if I happen to play them. I don’t listen out for ‘differences’ so I am not in a position to say one format is ‘better’ or that hi-res digital formats are meaningless. Add to this, the fact that most live music these days is digitally mixed or processed so perhaps it is better to just enjoy the music for what it is !

As Jon Berg says in his strapline: ‘open mind and ears’

Andrew,
I couldn't agree more. There are good, indifferent and poor recordings in all formats.
I too have a prference for vinyl, but it is not an overriding factor. Availability (and sometimes cost) also come into my decision as to which format to buy, I don't necessarily seek out HiRes files it is just that they are often all that is available, discounting low rate MP3 versions that is.
Many 70s vinyl recordings were very disappointing when played on half decent systems, but on the very common "portable" record players they sounded just the same as they did on the radio! Two examples that disappoint me to this day are AC/DC For Those About To Rock and The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's. They've both had all the dynamic range crushed, leaving a very flat lacklustre sound, the Deep Purple LP is a compilation, perhaps recorded from7" singles played on a Dansette? As the vocals come and go you can hear Organ, lead Guitar and Drum breaks being brought to the fore in the mix in a quite heavy handed way. Even later in the 90s I have a" DCC Compact Classics Limited Edition" pressing of Red Octopus by Jefferson Starship, a remastered edition of their 1975 album, which is quite lifeless. Much the same can be said for CDs over the years.
I feel that there is no truly superior format that guarantees good quality recordings, as they are all at the mercy of the mastering and production processes.
All so disappointing when we know how good recordings can be.