Vinyl Vs Digital

So over the years I always heard that vinyl has a superior sound. I never really thought much about it, in fact my only thought was well how's that possible when they spit and fart and pop every few seconds but alas over the years I've collected vinyl and in fact can tell you the sound quality is in fact superior.

But I believe from vinyl to cd is a different unique experience altogether so I'm interested in knowing just what others tend to hear differently between the two.

For me the vinyl is a touch fast in comparison to digital music. It seems to have an upbeat tempo. The sound in very different. I find it clearer and I find vocals are easier to understand through a vinyl. Also the music isn't washed out with a drowning bass.

I've got a assorted collection of music from folk, country, jazz, rock, metal and death/black metal and even rap. On every vinyl I find that tempo, sound and lyrics are clearly different from MP3 or cd versions.

What do you hear differently?

 

Vinyl has a warmth and richness you don't get with digital. Vinyl is analog and lossless, and will always be the preferred way of listening for me, though unfortunately these days I tend to listen to way more digital because I sold much of my record collection off years ago. And when I am on the go, most of what I listen to is stored on my phone. Even when I am at home I listen to way more digital, as much as I wish that were not the case. Most of the new music I acquire these days is online, in MP3/rar/zip format.

Digital isn't completely bad, but it has an artificial, compressed sound that you do not get with vinyl.

 

It is way more convenient to AUX your phone or Bluetooth it to a stereo that's for sure and that works out much better for playlists and shuffles.

It can be a pain to constantly turn a vinyl over ever 4-5 songs but when I'm in the mood, it's very entertaining. I'm very materialistic when it comes to music. I love opening up covers and holding the disc or records. It's all fun.

 

I prefer vinyl for rock music, classical and other forms of music that use actual instruments. But for electronic music, which is what I mainly listen to these days, a digital format sounds better to me.

 

I have a fine collection of about 200 LPs in very good shape. But I had not heard any of them since I threw my turntable away about 20 years ago. I never had the money to replace them with CDs and I don't steal music as a matter of personal integrity. However, I just recently bought a nice new Audio-Technica turntable ($250) and I'm enjoying hearing them now. They sound wonderful, but I haven't done any side-by-side comparisons to CDs yet, but I probably will.

I have never believed people who say that vinyl is better, but I'm willing to change my mind as a result of this.

 

im in not in the "analog is better" camp. digital is always better, when the recording is high quality. CD quality, 16 bit PCM, 44,100 samples per second digital recordings sound very good, there are recording formats which encode at higher sample rates, or bits per sample but you would need great ears and very expemsove equipment to be able to tell the difference.

mp3 doesnt always sound as good because it trades file size for quality, i prefer FLAC files which are losslessly compressed and do not throw away any of the audio signal during the compression.

most of the perceived differences between vinyl and digital audio is in the production and equipment used ... digital can do anything analog can though and better ... with digital signal processing you can make it sound the same way, but its something that would really have to be done in thee studio when they produce the CD master which is often a different production than the vinyl version of the same album and not just the same recording on a different media.

 

In my music collection of about 30,000 tunes, there are only about a dozen files that are mp3. 90% are Apple Lossless.

 

like everything else, recorded music was perfect until december 31, 1989, but then digital was created and EVERYTHING WENT DOWNHILL THEN. analog is complete flawless in every possible way AND DIGITAL IS CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

^^^ Yeah... and mac and cheese will never be the same.

 

I always put bacon in my Mac and cheese. If it's got no bacon it's not Mac and cheese. and bacon... >.>

 

Exactly right!!!!! -- DIGITAL IS GARBAGE....... FLAT VOIDLESS TRASH!!!!!!! (No warmth,etc)

Any record I see that has DIGITAL in the recording process,I DO NOT GET (Luckily most list if they do.. (Others I rely on my own ears to tell me)) .... It sounds horrible....... I PREFER ANALOGUE ON MY ANALOG MEDIA!!!!!! (Records,cassettes,etc)

 

lmao well this thread took an amusing turn at the end.

 

When people say "digital is bad" they generally mean "mp3 is bad" which, you know....yeah, it is.

Lossless formats are available, whereas a lot of the new vinyl pressings are shit.

I love vinyl, but I love it for entirely aesthetic and romantic reasons, not because the quality is better. There's shit digital, there's shit vinyl. The advantages of each medium is more than just the clarity of the sound.

 

One thing to note is that speaker technology has come a long way since the days vinyl albums were dominant in the market. Hook up a modern speaker into a vinyl player, and you'll tell the difference.

 

I guess my speakers are modern. But what I have my record player plugged into isn't a proper system at all really just a small two stereo iPod player. I had to get a thingy that would make the vinyl actually be playable through the system. An adaptor or channel thingamagig.

 

Spin those records

Also get 180gram vinyls, they're heavier, and stronger

 

I remember we first bought our player. We put it all on and we just looked at it. We didn't get it. How does this even make music what's going on here, how does this thing turn and then it has music on it?

We must have looked at it for a good 10mins. I still don't even think we know. Actually I know I don't know. but it sure is fun.

 

amplifier designs as well have a large effect on the perceived sound as well as studio equipment used in the production. dynamic range compression can give instruments more "punch" but too much and it sounds too synthetic and artificial. I really like the way the Ramones' guitar sounds.

 

For as much as I am into music, I've barely had any exposure to Vinyl and the exposure I did have was mostly music I had not heard in any other format. Based on that, I may not have the best insight on the comparisons, however from what I recall, I think I can understand the 'warmth' some are mentioning with vinyl, although I seem to recall a sort of fuzzyness in the music too at times.

Most digital music seems more filtered in a way I'd say, where the instruments don't really stand out on their own in the mix. Digital seems more polished though which may or may not be desirable depending on the style of music.

 

Know what I miss about buying records? The covers...reading the covers, the artwork on some of them too.