Compare your cd playback to vinyl and post here. Please participate!

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by JazzPolice, May 15, 2014.

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  1. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    No.
     
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  2. MichaelXX2

    MichaelXX2 Dictator perpetuo

    Location:
    United States
    I'm going to stretch this definition a little bit and talk about my SACD playback capabilities.

    1 Which is brighter? LP or CD?

    The CD, marginally.

    2 Which seems to have more fullness/bass/low end energy? LP or CD?

    The CDs. The bass doesn't have to compete against the turntable rumble, and it just seems to go lower. DSD in particular seems to have a very velvety lower midrange that makes everything sound great.

    3 What cartridge are you using?

    Formerly, a Denon 301 MKII. I downgraded to a Shure M97XE once I perfected my DSD playback, just so modern music on vinyl wouldn't sound as bright.

    4 What is your turntable/tonearm?

    Technics SL-1200 MKII, stock tonearm.

    5 What cd player do you have?

    Marantz HD-DAC1, usually being fed DSD through foobar2000.

    6 Which title(s) did you use for the experiment?

    Pretty much exclusively MoFi titles. The Cars, Abraxas, Highway 61 Revisited, Desire, Idlewild South, and the two Hoffman-mastered CCR records I have versus the 2002 SACDs: Cosmo's Factory and Bayou Country. Hoffman's CCR SACDs and the LPs sound almost identical, so close that I doubt I would get a blind test right. That means the SACD wins by default because of convenience and noise floor.

    All my two cents of course. SACD made me see the light regarding what digital playback is capable of. :love:
     
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  3. saturdayboy

    saturdayboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Vinyl is better because it is an actual analog signal, something digital has been trying to approximate for thirty years. That being said, digital playback has really improved and become more affordable in the last five years or so, not sure if the same can be said about vinyl rigs.
     
  4. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Right. And also, this is the main reason that I needle-drop vinyl. If the cd sounds better than the vinyl pressing that I have, I will just play the cd.
    But, usually the record is better sounding (for whatever reasons, I don't particularly care). The Mofi, DCC and Audio Fidelity cds usually win, but they
    are the exception.
     
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  5. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Big changes=Master or playback alterations.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2018
  6. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Vinyl is analog, but analog is not Vinyl.
    CD and Vinyl are trying to approximate a master tape.
    CD is quite neutral.
    Vinyl is not all that neutral, as there are a dozen things in the chain that introduce changes to the signal, some very small some not so small.
    (Mostly in playback) Ever read a cartridge test review?


    I like my vinyl as much as you perhaps, but I realize it is not the epitomy of accuracy.
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2018
  7. mertoo

    mertoo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Turkey
    1 Which is brighter? LP or CD? CD

    2 Which seems to have more fullness/bass/low end energy? LP or CD? LP

    3 What cartridge are you using? ORTOFON 2M BRONZE

    4 What is your turntable/tonearm? PROJECT 2XPERIENCE CLASSIC/PROJECT CARBON

    5 What cd player do you have? SONY CDP-XE310

    6 Which title(s) did you use for the experiment?

    APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION - GUNS N'ROSES (US VINYL 1ST PRESSING/JAPANESE CD 1ST PRESSING) *NOT THE SAME MASTERING PERSON BUT THE CD IS HIGHLY REGARDED IN THE FORUM SO IT SHOULD COUNT I GUESS.

    PASSION AND WARFARE - STEVE VAI (US VINYL 1ST PRESSING/US CD 1ST PRESSING) *BOTH MASTERED BY BERNIE GRUNDMAN

    VINYL VERSIONS OF ABOVE TITLES WIN, ACTUALLY THERE WAS NO CONTEST!

    HAVE DONE THIS TESTING MANY TIMES AND USUALLY VINYL WINS ESPECIALLY IF THE ORIGINAL RECORDING IS ANALOG. MOST OF THE TIME IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A FIRST PRESS, VINYL BEATS THE CD COUNTERPART EASILY. TOTO, JEFF BECK, LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, RUSH, PINK FLOYD, VAN HALEN, MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, STANLEY CLARKE, QUEEN, JIMI HENDRIX, YES..............FOR EXAMPLE, LED ZEPPELIN II BARRY DIAMENT CD AGAINST AN 2ND JAPANESE VINYL PRESSING.

    SHOULD THESE TESTINGS PROVE ANYTHING??? I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT TECHNICAL STUFF, I ONLY CARE ABOUT HOW LIVELY, MUSICAL AND DETAILED THE SOUND IS AND MOST OF THE TIME IT'S VINYL.

    IT WAS SAME WHEN I HAD THAT CHEAP SHERWOOD TT AND THE ORTOFON RED/BLUE CARTS AGAINST THE CAMBRIDGE CDP SE500 WITH AN BUILT-IN 24/192 DAC. MAYBE AN HIGH-END CD PLAYER WOULD YIELD DIFFERENT RESULTS BUT I DON'T HAVE THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY.

    BUT I REALLY LOVE CDS, I THINK THEY'RE WONDERFUL AND I CONTINUE TO BUY THEM. IF THE ORIGINAL RECORDING IS ANALOG THEN I GO FOR THE VINYL, IF DIGITAL AND MASTERING IS GOOD THEN I BUY THE CD, SIMPLE AS THAT. I ONLY CARE ABOUT THE MUSIC NOT THE FORMAT AND WE LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD WHERE YOU NEED THEM BOTH IF YOU WANT THE BEST VERSION AVAILABLE.
     
  8. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Let alone Channel separation, Phase changes, and Distortion.
     
  9. Mike from NYC

    Mike from NYC Senior Member

    Location:
    Surprise, AZ
    I remember buying albums that came with CDs and mastered by the same person and could not hear much of a difference especially since I upgraded my DAC to a Cary 100TS. For the analog I use a Kenwood 750 w/TOL Jelco arm and a Hana SH or Dynavector 10x5 on a Kenwood KD500 w/SME 3009II improved arm through, respectively, a Nova II pre and modded Jolida 9 II and I used a Fozgometer to get the best possible sound as well as a bunch of other contraptions I have.

    For those of you who believe that digital reproduction is all the same unlike analog - you couldn't be more wrong. Every DAC has a different sound just like carts and preamps and while they may be regarded as being flat they certainly don't sound flat just like speakers and carts.
     
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  10. saturdayboy

    saturdayboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Well put
     
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  11. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    I have heard far greater variations with vinyl and carts though.
    Digital, which can vary, tonally usually is quite close, or more within a much tighter tolerance.
     
  12. delmonaco

    delmonaco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    I did this kind of tests many times, on different equipment and titles/mastering/pressings, and the results are all over the place (that's why I enjoy both formats equally, realizing that none of them is perfect)
    The only almost firm thing I experience is that in general vinyl always create a wider sound stage, BUT I'm not sure if this is due to lack of accuracy and/or less than perfect cart/arm alignment (and I would be happy if someone more knowledgeable can elaborate on this). What I mean is - once by accident I badly damaged the cantilever of one cartridge, and in order to check if the cart can still play, I tested it with one old trashy record. The cart tracked well, the sound of course was terrible (due to the cantilever damage and scratchy record), but the sound stage was huuuge, unnaturally wide). Since then I wonder if the bigger sound stage that vinyl usually creates (and which sounds great to my years) is not some kind of pleasing defect.
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!


    Please do not post in all caps. It makes a lot of people ignore the post. Thanks.
     
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  14. 56GoldTop

    56GoldTop Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nowhere, Ok
    Pass...
     
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  15. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    I don't compare that much anymore. I don't find it that interesting. For most recordings it's the music to me, more and more, the media becomes increasingly uninteresting. I mostly just try to get the original recordings, whatever that might be. Usually it will be an LP. But if this sound different than a remastered one, or a CD, or a download, I find it has little to do with the music per se.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  16. mertoo

    mertoo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Turkey
    :righton:
     
  17. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central

    Interestingly I just read this fairly in depth review of a Cart.
    Shure M97xE Phono Cartridge Review - HomeTheaterHifi.com

    The cart under test is not so much the reply to you, but several things they mention under the section where they measure the cart were quite interesting!
     
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  18. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Very interesting review. I've seen this site's review of the 540ML recently and like their approach with the measurements, though I will admit upfront that is not my area of expertise. Seems more useful rather than the typical "this cart is too bright/too dull" comments I see around the web. One thing I would like to see them try with these reviews is different resistive and capacitance loading, then show the graphs. I realize that would make the review a lot longer and probably bore people, but I personally find that stuff very interesting.
     
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  19. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Yes, most of the reissues of older releases since the 90's are "remastered" with too much compression. It's not only the reduction of dynamic range, the timbre of musical instruments and vocals are significantly altered, and pinched sounding. Most of my original vinyl sounds way better than the later CD reissues. There will always be exceptions of course.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  20. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central

    Not to forget wonky Eq choices. 2 examples I just listened to today.

    1. Fleetwood Mac (the very best of) Rhino 2-Disc.

    2. Bee Gees. The ultimate (50th anniversary collection 2-disc

    Both have this quite obvious, upper mid-range boost of about 4-5 decibels that make certain vocals painful to listen to.
     
  21. efraley

    efraley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond Va USA
    I need to correct my original post. I meant overpriced LPs not CDs (though most are overpriced too). I am not going to pay $25 for vinyl that has clicks and pops. Those days are over for me.
     
  22. enfield

    enfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex UK
    1 Which is brighter? LP or CD?

    The CD because it plays back more faithfully.If the recording is bright it plays it back bright.Analog by its nature will roll-off HF's

    2 Which seems to have more fullness/bass/low end energy? LP or CD?

    CD has more bass energy.LP has a fuller bass because of the analog signature of a softened lower bass and a bloom in the lower midrange

    3 What cartridge are you using?

    Not using one at the moment

    4 What is your turntable/tonearm?

    Had a Linn LP12.

    5 What cd player do you have?

    Philips CD 380

    6 Which title(s) did you use for the experiment?

    Fleetwood Mac original master CD with original master LP..Various Steely Dan original masters.
     
  23. Cliff

    Cliff Magic Carpet Man

    Location:
    Northern CA
    Yes and all those things are created by electronics, speakers, cables, listening room, etc, etc. There is no such thing as neutral. Ever read a speaker review? Or a DAC? CD Player? Cartridge? Nothing sounds exactly the same and nothing is purely 'neutral' - in either format. So it boils down to which one brings you more enjoyment of music. For me, it's LPs 99% of the time.
     
  24. enfield

    enfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex UK
    To be fair CD is far more neutral than LP.But that doesn't mean people always prefer 'neutral' verses a sound signature that many feel enhance the sound away from a flat frequency response.Analog imparting a positive SQ, if you will.. Hell,some people even swear it sounds more natural the more it veers away from neutral.Add even more distortion in the form of tubes and the more natural it carries on becoming.:shh:
     
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  25. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    Absolutely.
    But it creates an audiophile dilemma.
    A preference to some means that is their construct of accuracy.
    Hence they judge based on preference, not an adherence to fidelity.
     
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