While Vinyl is considered obsolete by most, the Record lives on

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#1

I just posted the article While Vinyl is considered obsolete by most, the Record lives on.

 Most  consumers who have music on Vinyl from the 90's or earlier typically associate  the word 'Record' as a 33/45/88RPM Vinyl that is played on a turn table.   However, while the Vinyl is...

Read the full article here:  [http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/10519-While-Vinyl-is-considered-obsolete-by-most-the-Record-lives-on.html](http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/10519-While-Vinyl-is-considered-obsolete-by-most-the-Record-lives-on.html)

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#2

There is some misleading stuff in there concerning the “superiority” of vinyl. The “65,535 steps” referred to IS NOT the reasoning behind modern over compression! CDs have a dynamic range of 98dB or so - WAY more than the 70dB of most records (this actually varies a lot depending on pressing & wear). Record companies do this to make their product “louder” to stand out. That’s it. In reality, compression was used (to a lesser degree) on LPs because it HAD to be - CDs don’t have this limitation, but the companies do this because they choose to.

#3

Thanks for the info. :wink: For the Vinyl lovers I came across, the ‘digital steps’ with CD and the warmer sound from Vinyl were the main reasons they claimed their records are still supperior. I asked about the background noise such as from the player itself, dust, scratches and wear & tear, however they said that this is caused by a combination of poor handling, low quality turn-tables and using poor quality needles. I believe you on the dynamic range, however it is hard to get this difference across to some Vinyl record lovers who refuse to leave their 45’s and 33’s behind or take signal-to-nosie ratio into account.

#4

"I asked about the background noise such as from the player itself, dust, scratches and wear & tear, however they said that this is caused by a combination of poor handling, low quality turn-tables and using poor quality needles. That is about right. Vinyl is superior and I have been listening to it for nearly 20 years (I am 30). It has to be handled right to last and looked after along with the record deck . I have played Pink Floyd’s the Wall on average one or two times a month for over 10 years. Even, though the record is slightly scratched, it plays like brand new. There is no hiss or skipping. I have never seen a CD sound better than vinyl yet (regardless of the technical reasons) when using decent equipment. It takes a higher than a average priced CD player to get close to a LP sound. Some DVD Audio and SACD are also close to LP.

#5

“while the Vinyl is pretty much obsolete in most music stores” That’s a funny one - obsolete !!! Marketing can give you good things and it can take them out from you also, but that’s not due to obsolescence!!! just $$$$$$$ laws!!! And about CDs the important is that it is within the 20-20000 Hz only, no matter if it is a choice only. SACD were supposed to give the missing parts, but again - market or interest of the marketers doesn’t allow it to take off And about vinyl sound - just get a record in good conditions, a good system, a CD version and make the proof!!! Dont leave yourselves mistaken by figures, leave your ears to judge…

#6

Come on! CD’s are brilliant!! They take pressing quality, deck quality, arm quality, cartridge quality out of the equation. 30 years ago I owned a fabulous deck, arm, cartridge, preamp and power amp but became “precious” about my records: they were so easily damaged that I was only happy being the sole operator of my equipment. Playing records was almost a spiritual experience! Then I bought a Nakamichi 680ZX cassette deck which gave superior sound in every respect (yes, that’s right, a cassette deck!!!) but that, too, was outrageously expensive. Listening to records or cassettes on other people’s gear became an excrutiating trial because most people want to hear the music (almost) regardless of quality. It took about 5 years after the introduction of CD’s for the medium to be properly understood by the people responsible for recording the music but now I can buy a CD, play it anywhere and it will sound OK. On “good” equipment it will sound amazing, on “average” equipment it will sound acceptable. I suppose what I’m really saying is that CD’s allow you to hear music much more like the final mix in a studio than you’d ever get with vinyl, and with no added background noise! COMPRESSION: analogue compression is a wonderful tool in pop music; digital compression can be good, too, if set up correctly. The lack of dynamics in much modern pop is caused by the injudicious use of brick wall limiting on each of the 20 or more tracks that go to make up a recording. I’m sure someone will be able to make this point more clearly but for me it’s time to sleep.