Bought CD Vs Needledrop CD-R ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by E.Baba, May 31, 2010.

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  1. autodidact

    autodidact Forum Resident

    I will accept your challenge, but honestly my memory of the original CD is that it was glassy and indistinct. Maybe it was the equipment I was listening on at the time. I'll confess the dynamics might have been better. I gave my original CD to the library, so I'll have to check it out again to listen to it. My memory could be flawed, so I'll check again. In any case, I'll be listening to the needledrop of this album now, so I don't need the original CD.
     
  2. Grant

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

    Hey, can you point me to where you found that about Audactiy?
     
  3. Stefan

    Stefan Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I read about it in someone else's comment on here or else on gearslutz. There was a thread explaining it in an Audacity forum. I've seen the link mentioned here before, but I don't have it. I've never liked Audacity because of it's lousy support of VST plugins, plus I've had Audition and now Reaper and RX.
     
  4. Grant

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

    Thanks!

    I've had the exe for reaper spinning around on my hard drive, but am waiting for a good excuse to use it before I buy it.
     
  5. Pibroch

    Pibroch Active Member

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    Whoever posted the PBTHAL link... THANK YOU!!
     
  6. Stefan

    Stefan Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    I love Reaper. The non-destructive aspect of it for applying effects through rendering works really well and saves lots of time. It takes some getting used to but it's worth it. I like being able to open a file directly from it in Audition or RX for detail editing. Plus it's 64-bit end-to-end internally and supporting up to 64-bit files.
     
  7. Halloween Jack

    Halloween Jack Forum Resident

    I have a Jethro Tull's Stand Up PBTHAL rip. It's from a nice UK pink Island LP.

    What I found strange is that the vinyl rip sounds brighter (not too much though) than my US Chrysalis CD from the '80s. It is like muddier too. I don't know, I like the vinyl rip very much (more powerful than the Chrysalis CD) but the sound was supposed to be flatter than any other edition.

    Does this vinyl sound bright on your turntables, guys?
     
  8. shaboo

    shaboo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bonn, Germany
  9. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I used to do a lot of needle dropping and for recordings that I had both the original 60s, 70s or 80s vinyl and a more recent 90s or 00s CD the needle drop bulldozed the official CD every single time except once -- and that was SH's DCC Pet Sounds remaster (still, the DCC Pet Sounds vinyl beat the CD to my ears -- I have both) . So I concur with those people finding the same thing about needledrops.

    The needledrop can get you a long way there -- I might go 80 percent, but depending on your experience (like mine) you always, I always hear the 'ceiling' -- the walled off portion that limits 16/44 from sounding natural. It's that section of air, or life or however you want to term it that's missing (that begins to return the higher the resolution). You can see the 'ceiling' I'm referring to here on the webpage linked to below.

    http://www.channld.com/vinylanalysis1.html

    That limit on redbook is why, I believe, you miss out on all the fullness and rich tone you get from a good vinyl record. With redbook you have all the harmonic overtones basically shaved off at 22kHz.

    Now I know I'll get the usual suspects coming out to say 'you can't hear that' , or the frequencies up in that range aren't music. Whatever. You go with what you like.

    But there's enough to the theory that frequencies above 22kHz add something to our enjoyment of music that companies like the one I linked to above are supplying hi-rez to the market, as well as research continuing into the hypersonic effect.

    And enjoyment of the music provided by vinyl playback is what prompted me to return to vinyl more than 15 years ago. It just sounds better to me. Still does.

    And let me forestall the nostalgia BS that is sure to come from the usual suspects. I love the music of the 60s and 70s and couldn't care less about nostalgia, nostalgia for the format, what have you. If CDs sounded as good to me, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd never have returned to vinyl. The convenience and durability of CDs are huge plusses.

    But as for me, I'm in it for the sound. I don't have the hard time many of you do in taking care of possessions. So handling a record properly and keeping it clean are not a big deal to me, namely because the reward is as great as it is.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2014
  10. Lucidae

    Lucidae AAD

    Location:
    Australia
    In my experience needledrops are the best way to hear certain albums that are missing their mono mixes on CD.
    For instance, "Surrealistic Pillow", "Are You Experienced" and "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme" have taken on new meaning for me this way.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2014
    EdogawaRampo likes this.
  11. Halloween Jack

    Halloween Jack Forum Resident

    Does that problem still lie in recent versions of Audacity?
     
  12. Harold R

    Harold R Forum Resident

    Either one is fine, whatever's easier.
     
  13. Bertly

    Bertly Senior Member

    who needed uncle meat?
     
  14. white wolf

    white wolf Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I buy CDs, but for the album's that are not available, I do my own needle-drops. I have a couple of albums that I did, that sound better than the officially released CD.
     
  15. Anton888

    Anton888 Forum Resident

    I would like to answer with a quotation:

    "A CD is more accurate, contains greater fidelity, and has less compromises than vinyl LPs. However, there are people that have grown to love the distortion and “sound” of vinyl LPs. They don’t have the dynamic range of CDs, they suffer from excessive crosstalk, and have frequency curves that screw up both the high and low end".
     
  16. Stefan

    Stefan Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    If you're going to quote someone, the least you can do is identify the source of the quote.
     
    shaboo and Grant like this.
  17. Anton888

    Anton888 Forum Resident


    This quotation is from Mark Waldrep.
     
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