Why do we love vinyl more than digital?

[Snoop65]

Why do we love vinyl more than digital? To me it just sounds more natural with a greater sense of space especially depth. What are your thoughts?

 

[mep]

Why do we love vinyl more than digital?

Because it sounds better? That's the bottom line for me.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I prefer the sound of vinyl, but I also love the whole interactive nature of the process.

 

[Gregadd]

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?8942-Macbook-pro

This is a quick comparison.

 

[vinylphilemag]

I prefer the sound of vinyl, but I also love the whole interactive nature of the process.

Same here. Plus better artwork, etc. One nod I will concede to digital: convenience (especially portability).

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Same here. Plus better artwork, etc. One nod I will concede to digital: convenience (especially portability).

Ahhh, the artwork! Absolutely, plus I can actually read the liner notes too!

 

[Snoop65]

Because it sounds better? That's the bottom line for me.

LOL!!! Absolutely!!! In what ways does it sound better to you?

 

[mep]

LOL!!! Absolutely!!! In what ways does it sound better to you?

I don't know if I could begin to explain all of the ways that LPs sound better than digital, even really good digital like DSD. To make it simple, let's concede that digital has a lower noise floor than LP. Now every other sonic parameter that you can possibly list, think about, debate, chew on, obsess over, etc. sounds better on LP.

 

[Groucho]

Is it because of the pre-processing that has to be applied when cutting vinyl? (mix stereo bass to mono, attenuate high frequencies etc.)

Do you prefer the outer tracks of the LP, that are travelling faster, or the grungier ones at the inside where they're moving slower?

 

[Snoop65]

I don't know if I could begin to explain all of the ways that LPs sound better than digital, even really good digital like DSD. To make it simple, let's concede that digital has a lower noise floor than LP. Now every other sonic parameter that you can possibly list, think about, debate, chew on, obsess over, etc. sounds better on LP.

That's the best answer I have heard! Excellent!!!!

 

[opus111]

Why do we love vinyl more than digital? To me it just sounds more natural with a greater sense of space especially depth. What are your thoughts?

You're using the wrong DAC.

 

[opus111]

To make it simple, let's concede that digital has a lower noise floor than LP.

Most people's digital doesn't have a 'noise floor', more of a noise escalator. There's only a 'floor' when no music is playing. In the manner that noise matters, i.e. when playing music, LP does better.

 

[mep]

Is it because of the pre-processing that has to be applied when cutting vinyl? (mix stereo bass to mono, attenuate high frequencies etc.)

Do you prefer the outer tracks of the LP, that are travelling faster, or the grungier ones at the inside where they're moving slower?

Yes it must be the 1000+ distortions that vinyl has that makes me love it so. It's better than the 10,000 distortions that digital has that haven't even been named yet. I don't have records with grungy inner grooves. I do have a purity across the entire record though.

 

[opus111]

It's better than the 10,000 distortions that digital has that haven't even been named yet.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Most people's digital doesn't have a 'noise floor', more of a noise escalator. There's only a 'floor' when no music is playing. In the manner that noise matters, i.e. when playing music, LP does better.

with digital there are times when there is the absense of sound. specific digital data can represent the absense of sound. with analog this is not possible. which turns out to be one of the greatest attributes of analog. what goes on musically deep into the supposed noise floor of analog results in a significant amount of information.

if you listen to a recording mastered digitally verses one that is mastered to analog you hear farther into the ambient field with analog. digital has a harder time with low level information.

for example; acquire one of the Reference Recordings titles where you have the same session with twin feeds to both 176/24 digital and analog tape. you can listen to the CD, 176/24 HRx, Lp and Tape Project tape. same session, 4 different media ideally produced. how they represent the quiet passages is very telling on how analog does quiet better on all recordings.

hard to argue that this approach is not textbook for each media.

however science defines noise floor for digital and perceptions of noise floor for Lps, real world reality shows us that Lps trump digital in this area.

i've done Arnold Overtures with all 4 media a number of times and the result is always the same and consistent.

we like vinyl better becuase it tells us more about the real event. we like that subtle stuff. it's natural.

 

[puroagave]

A more vexing question for me, particulary for 'philes over 40 that dont own LPs - what happened? i had a few hundred LPs when i was a teenager well before i discovered high-fidelity or the high-end. ive been through a few sell offs of my Lp collection for various reasons. I've put my money where my mouth is and im buying lots of Lps again.

so did you dump your Lps for the newness of digital and where does the love of music come in, particulary the presevation of the music you grew up with? i could never see myself not owning a tt and at least a few hundred Lps. personally, i enjoy both formats.

 

[mep]

I never sold my records off. I don't take anything for granted with this hobby and I certainly didn't assume that when digital came out it was going to smoke analog. With few exceptions, I think the majority of people who sold off their LPs didn't have a good turntable/arm/cartridge/phono section to begin with. Frantz is pretty much the only exception to that on this forum that I'm aware of. And even Frantz has jumped back in again due to acquiring an LP collection from his family.

 

[opus111]

digital has a harder time with low level information.

PCM as a format doesn't - coz my DAC delivers sufficient low level info to satisfy me. Most people's digital implementations suck at low level - I agree. Its coz they're adding signal-dependent noise which masks this stuff.

we like vinyl better becuase it tells us more about the real event. we like that subtle stuff. it's natural.

Yep. Not lacking on my digital or I'd go back to vinyl.

 

[opus111]

A more vexing question for me, particulary for 'philes over 40 that dont own LPs - what happened?

I dumped my LPs coz I had faith in the PCM format - from my technical understanding of it. Technically it smokes vinyl, and is way more cost-effective.

 

[mep]

I dumped my LPs coz I had faith in the PCM format - from my technical understanding of it. Technically it smokes vinyl, and is way more cost-effective.

Too bad technical theory and specifications never matched reality though.