Vinyl - does it sound better?

Just got myself a record deck for probably the first time in 20 years, got sme of my fave albums off eBay and a few classics which to be honest I had never heard before on Vinyl like Pink Floyd's 'The Wall', and I am amazed at how rich they sound compared to CDs.

The sound is very warm and seems more honest. Yes of course there is the odd crackle but this adds a sense of reality. The other bonus is actually hearing an album all the way through in the order the artist intended. No track skipping or shuffling with vinyl.

Does anyone else agree? Does anyone think my hearing has been clouded by nostalgia?

Another great thing of course about vinyl is the artwork. Got to love those gatefolds!

Agree with everything you say.

I too recently 'went back' to vinyl buying a Rega turntable, the nicest I have ever owned and heard. You might have to increase the volume but there's no doubt about it: the music breathes and sounds so alive compared to the compressed sound of CD.

Being a slightly more expensive turntable it plays my 25+ year old singles better than my previous ones. Less crackles but definitely a better sound.

And like you say, there's more to the whole experience from putting the record on, hearing the warmth of the crackles and enjoying the artwork of the cover (and label).

Two Tribes on 12" sounds out of this world. I have started buying vinyl albums again and quite simply it's so much more FUN!!!

I've got a 1962 Rock-Ola Princess Jukebox (My Birthyear)...and a 1966 Bush Record Player...so I play vinyl pretty much everyday.....I do also have a Pioneer 25 disc CD Changer for all my newer styles of music......but call me "Old Fashioned" I still prefere my beloved vinyl.......There's no better sound than an old Jukebox playing in the corner....or sat playing a record player and manually placing those cherished records on the turntable and enjoying your music at its very best while having a beer......"Pops & Crackles" and all .......I love it

unlike some i never gave up listening to vinyl, been listening to it since the early 80s, maybe late 70s, definately been listening to my own records since 1980 / 81

i have maybe a thousand lps, 12"s and 7"s, maybe more, even tho i have hundreds of cds too i always prefer a nice bit of vinyl. i have all different genres of music from classical and jazz right through to hardcore punk, hardcore techno and death metal.

playing wise ive always prefered the seperates way (early wise tho i played on a mono radiogram and later crappy midi systems lol), these days i have two proper direct drive dj decks (they even play in reverse, useful for death / black metal lol) and a mixer

every now and again i like a bloody good blow out, get ****** and blast out various records

No, it doesn't. Every technical feature of CDs equals or betters the performance of vinyl. Signal-to-Noise ration, frequency range and dynamic range are better on CD.

The main reason why some vinyl sounds better than CD is, as Ousetunes alludes "the music breathes and sounds so alive compared to the compressed sound of CD", is actually nothing to do with the format, but is a creative decision by the producers. CDs can accurately reproduce a wider range of levels than vinyl, it just doesn't get used much of the time. Read up on the Loudness Wars if you're not already aware of them.

See also here: http://www.macfh.co.uk/JavaJive/AudioVisualTV/Vinyls/VinylVsCD.html

depends what you mean by "better"

Music on vinyl sounds more rounded and warmer and certainly is less convenient to play than mp3's or digital but that could also be perceived as a strength. Vinyl has more depth than digital which by its very nature is either on or off so there can be much more to the listening experience.

Theres also a bit of a vinyl backlash going on at the moment. Sales are up, bands are now releasing on vinyl again, sometimes they aren't releasing on CD but are releasing on vinyl only. Audiophiles love it for its warm, tactile qualities.

DJ's love it and some refuse to mix on nothing else especially since you can now buy home vinyl pressing equipment so even if you get digital tracks you can make a vinyl pressing of it at home

depends what you mean by "better"

 

Music on vinyl sounds more rounded and warmer and certainly is less convenient to play than mp3's or digital but that could also be perceived as a strength. Vinyl has more depth than digital which by its very nature is either on or off so there can be much more to the listening experience.

 

Theres also a bit of a vinyl backlash going on at the moment. Sales are up, bands are now releasing on vinyl again, sometimes they aren't releasing on CD but are releasing on vinyl only. Audiophiles love it for its warm, tactile qualities.

 

DJ's love it and some refuse to mix on nothing else especially since you can now buy home vinyl pressing equipment so even if you get digital tracks you can make a vinyl pressing of it at home

i was just gonna say

niether of dos's links deal with the main arguement that audiophiles give, despite how scientifically technical those links are.

vinyl = analogue

cd = digital

vinyl is a lot warmer in sound and sounds more "real"

as has been said in previous posts too, the sleeves are bigger and better and more comfortable, plus any extras

and the touch of vinyl, and the smell

i agree mixing with vinyl is so much better, just the touch of vinyl, the moving backwards and forwards to find your spot with your fingers on the record

What is this "warmth" you speak of?

There is a "warm" sound, but that's not affected by digitalness (an acoustic guitar [probably the warmest instrument I can think of] will sound identical through a properly set up analogue system as through a properly set up digital system). But I don't think that's what you mean (and it's not what most audiophiles mean when they say warmth*).

Almost all vinyl released today has been through a digital system of some sort or another, so there must be another source of this vinyl-exclusive "warmness", and I have to admit, I've never heard it, despite hearing vinyl through some ridicuously expensive systems.

I have however heard several vinyl albums which sound far better than thier CD counterpart, but that's entirely down to the excessive amount of post-processing that's applied to the CD master, but often not the vinyl for some reason. Likewise, I've heard some CD recordings which absolutely knock the socks of the same stuff on vinyl, especially classical music, or live recordings of gigs, both things where the processing on the CD recording is minimalised.

Basically, from a technical perspective, CD is far superior to Vinyl. You can recreate exactly the vinyl sound (if you wanted) on CD, but you couldn't do the opposite. However, from a personal perspective, when taking into our own individual hearing, and our perceptions of sound (and a healthy dose of preconceptions!), what sounds best to one person could be completely opposite to someone else's opinion. We're all unique!

* most audiophiles like to talk about non-measurables. Actual things like SNR, dynamic / frequency range all get forgotten about, and things like space, seperation, clarity and temperature get brought up. Things which only exist in the particular listeners head.

I think that vinyl sounded great until albums began to clock in at over 50mins or so. Narrow grooves produce terrible sound quality with poor bass. First LP I bought which sounded so bad that I bought it again on CD was U2's Achtung Baby, which has very deep bass which just vanished on the original LP.

One question though. There is a trend for LPs to get remastered these days on heavy "virgin" vinyl. (ie not recycled and thicker) Anyone tried these? How much do they improve the originals?