You may think you can hear more than CDs are giving you. But you probably can't. And over time, engineers have come to make better use of those Scott Metcalfe, director of recording arts and sciences at Johns Hopkins's Peabody Institute, explains that engineers have taken to "oversampling," making digital files that use a much higher rate than Metcalfe brings up another problem with this line of CD criticism.
Even if an actual recording method can hold frequencies above 20kHz, that doesn't matter if there isn't a microphone capable of capturing them in the first place, or a speaker capable of playing them back. And most studios don't have microphones that record above 20kHz, and it's very rare for speakers to play frequencies above that.
Indeed, most playback systems feature low-pass filters, which specifically cut off anything above that marker.
Simply as a matter revealed preferences, the fact that Americans buy digital copies of songs at a much greater rate than alternatives suggests that they'd rather listen to digital music or CDs than vinyl. Taking both actual albums and track sales into account, the equivalent of Given that compressed digital audio is considerably lower in quality than either CDs or vinyl, consumer certainly seem to care a lot less about audio quality than convenience.
But that's kind of an unfair comparison, given exactly that convenience differential. You can't fit thousands of tracks' worth of vinyl in your pocket and listen to it while jogging.
So what happens if you set all else equal, and have people compare digital and analog audio in a controlled setting? Unfortunately, no one appears to have done a double blind listener test comparing vinyl to CDs, but there is a good study from Florida State's John Geringer and Patrick Dunnigan doing that with CDs and high-quality cassette recordings.
While cassettes sold to consumers often featured lower audio quality than vinyl records, there's nothing inherent to magnetic tape requiring that, and the format doesn't suffer from the frequency limits imposed by the risk of vinyl skipping.
It's not a perfect test for our purposes, but knowing how people feel about high-quality analog stacked up to high-quality digital should tell us something about comparing vinyl to CDs. Geringer and Dunnigan used identical microphone and mixing board setups to record four different concerts, each time using both a digital record and a high-quality analog cassette recorder the MR-3 from audiophile favorite brand Nakamichi. They then had 40 music majors listen to the recordings, either with loudspeakers or headphones, while letting them switch between each recording at will.
The test subjects were not aware of which was the digital recording, and which was the analog one. They were then asked to record their preferences. It turns out that the music majors had a significant preferences for digital.
The results were weaker on some points than others recordings of string orchestras were a particularly close call but in no case was the average rating of the analog version higher than the average rating of the digital one. The most analog-generous thing to be taken away from the study is that there are some types of music for which people have no preference. But there were several where people had a real, noticeable preference for digital.
Record enthusiasts rapidly search through boxes of vinyl records on the opening day of the annual WFMU's Record Fair, which benefits that noncommercial radio station based in Jersey City, on November 22, in New York City. Although there are no advantages in measured audio quality, vinyl can offer some sonic benefits when the source material is subjected to proper mastering. Mastering is the process by which the final mix is prepared for the delivery medium.
It gives albums consistent levels, appropriate gaps between tracks, and an overall sound profile that will translate well across playback systems. Over the past few decades, due to the removal of the physical limitations of vinyl media and the spread of digitized music, songs have become increasingly loud. A shift occurred in the mids, when artists and their labels wanted their tracks to stand out, based on the simple premise that louder equals better.
This was achieved in practice by making more excessive use of dynamic compression and limiting at the mastering stage. Roman Kraft Vinyl is very much a physical medium. This means that the overall amplitude of the sound wave becomes compressed, forcing the quieter parts of a song to become relatively louder, with a reduction in the amount of dynamic range being used within the context of a song. The average level of the audio signal is raised whilst limiting the peak value at or to close to 0dBFS, the maximum level that digital media can represent.
It became noticeable that the increased use of compression and limiting resulted in a loss of detail and nuance in the end product. Some people prefer vinyl for this reason: music properly mastered for the medium is fairly immune to the effects of the loudness war, meaning proper dynamics are left somewhat intact on releases carefully mastered for vinyl.
Steve Harvey. Some listeners just prefer the experience of dusting off the record, lining it up, dropping the needle, and kicking back, instead of just scrolling and tapping a screen.
Listeners are more likely to engage in the listening process, and the medium encourages consumption of a complete album as a piece of work.
What matters most is supporting your favorite artists. Whether you choose to listen to CDs, MP3s, FLAC files, vinyl, or cassette tapes, it all comes down to making sure your hard-earned cash contributes to those creating great content. The reality is that analog audio is now prized more for its imperfections than its accuracy. Check Price. Name: Subject: Message:. SoundGuys is reader supported. The band's legacy isn't what it could be.
Another friend tweeted, "I still own the first CDs I bought back in With streaming, your favorite recording might be deleted overnight.
CDs allow you to decide exactly how to build up your library. With streaming you must wait for the service to make a deal with a label, which might never happen. Someone else said, " When you stop paying for your music subscription, you have nothing. Buying a worthwhile music collection has intrinsic, lasting value. I still have a large vinyl collection and still enjoy listening to it. Not sure I agree with spending thousands for it to sound nice though.
If you have a half decent amplifier and speakers and then add a record player or CD of a similar price point the record player will sound nicer than cd. I do put my mp3 player through the system occasionally and the sound is so disappointing in comparison, if convenient. The music posses that, not the medium that carries it. I last bought vinyl in , when I had given up trying to listen to Peter Gabriel 4, because of the incessant crackling in the background. I took that album back five times and every replacement was the same, vinyl pressings, irrespective of whoever did the mastering, were utter crap, so I bought said album on CD, despite not owning a player.
Like I said, the emotion and feeling is in the performance, not the medium that carries that performance. The missed notes and other human imperfections are there whatever the media is but in this modern age few come out of the studio. I recently got a rega turntable off eBay — I quite enjoy buying cheap 2nd hand vinyl of discogs and owning old records. But I only buy stuff for a couple of quid or so.
My sentiments exactly. Also, how do you listen to your vinyl on a train, in a car, on holiday, sitting in a coffee shop? Record onto a Chrome C90? This topic has 27 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by CountZero.
Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 of 28 total. Posted 8 years ago.
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