Can someone go to one source format and be happy?

bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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At times, dynamics on chamber material are in fact compressed on vinyl as well.

At times yes, if it's a bad vinyl not because of limitations of the medium. That's why multi source...
 

fas42

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Jan 8, 2011
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What over-compression does to material is reduce the chance of the mind enjoying the contrast between low intensity, and high intensity passages - it's the equivalent to driving a car with the accelerator glued to the floor the whole time, on a road where such is possible to survive on. Yes, tremendously exciting and revved up initially, but how long do you want it to go on for? If you can't escape the situation, then it becomes diabolical, a curse ...

Pop recordings done this way have that effect - it doesn't sound distorted or wrong, but the constant adrenaline pumping wears you down; you feel exhausted after just one or two songs. The reaction is to switch off the system, and go outside in the garden, to get a break from the incessant energy hype.
 

XV-1

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2010
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Absolutely YES

I listen at home to vinyl 100% of the time. I find no issues in getting new release vinyl and there is so much new music out there on vinyl I never feel like I am missing out. I don't buy a lot of classical, so perhaps if I did I might find digital more enticing as not a lot of new classical on vinyl released - then again is there many new classical artists?

the dreaded compression really is not that much of an issue with vinyl as it seems to be with CD. mastered differently and mostly its more of an art than cd mastering.

I buy about 10-15 albums every month on average and that keeps me young and envigorated towards my hifi as a great tool to enjoy music.

cd is great for the car ;)
 

rbbert

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Dec 12, 2010
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Absolutely YES

I listen at home to vinyl 100% of the time. I find no issues in getting new release vinyl and there is so much new music out there on vinyl I never feel like I am missing out. I don't buy a lot of classical, so perhaps if I did I might find digital more enticing as not a lot of new classical on vinyl released - then again is there many new classical artists?
...

Interesting. Hardly any of the new music I buy, and only a bit more of the re-issues or catalog stuff, is available on LP at all.
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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Absolutely YES!

I listen to music, not the source/medium on which it is stored.
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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tedtag

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Jul 19, 2016
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I've been an audiophile of sorts all my life since college in the early 70's. My friends and I would head down to the record store at least one a week and buy a couple of records then head back to the dorm room and listen to music while playing cards and just hanging out. The records that would routinely show up were unbelievable; CSNY, Steve Miller Band, Hendrix, that Beautiful Day album, and on and on. This was "new music" and it was all good and seemingly endless in its output. Man were we ever spoiled at the time and had no idea how fortunate we were to have unfettered access to all that!

So the vinyl bug was baked into me as sort of a ritual with great memories. The next 30 years or so, I worked my butt off, raised a family, and as I began to enjoy some prosperity, I slowly improved my system. Then about 10 years ago I got very serious about audio and surrendered to my fate of total indulgence in this fantastic hobby. I love it. All of it; the gear, the rooms, the music, the artists, collecting, the discussions, the shows, and particularly vinyl. At this point all I listen to is vinyl.

Its not that I don't enjoy music produced in a digital format, I'm just more comfortable with vinyl, and love all the associated routines and rituals required to get it right. I did't always feel that way and will admit when I first went all in as a full fledged Audiophile 10 years ago, I was scared of turntables and records, mostly because I didn't understand setup. Back in college we didn't pay one lick of attention to cartridge alignment and treated those magnificent LP's like frisbees. We just dropped the needle, listened to entire record sides, and kept flipping albums.

But as I made the plunge to re-enter the vinyl world, it involved a lot of learning and yes, a lot of work. I guess I look at my system as owning a high performance race car. Fun as hell to drive at peak performance levels, but it takes a pit crew to keep the car running the way its designed. So with my system I get to be the driver when listening and the pit crew when dialing in the set up. I've since learned how to do all the adjustments associated with vinyl, and realized along the way that I enjoy that part too. Tuning the cartridge is like tuning the engine or the suspension. And all of this has become a ritual. Records are cleaned and labeled, I check TF and Azimuth a lot, how I handle each record and place it on the TT, the record brush, the stylus cleaning, reading the album covers between records, etc.

So, after writing all this, my choice to go all vinyl is as much because it is a more personally consuming process than dropping a CD in the drawer and I find the necessary involvement to be more holistically satisfying. And no..... I'm not gonna say vinyl sounds better; but.....
 
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Al M.

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