Question regarding new releases on vinyl

I am trying to understand this, so if anyone can educate me it would be appreciated.

Say an album is recorded this year. I am guessing the vast vast majority of times it's recorded digitally.

So when they release that album on CD and Vinyl, is it worth worrying about getting vinyl? To my way of thinking CD would be the logical way to buy it.

Or do they master it differently for the vinyl release, and if it does sound different ( I said different not better) is that just because vinyl sounds different by definition.

I hope this makes sense and I am explaining what I am asking properly.

Thank s

 

In my opinion if the music is recorded digital the vinyl should sound the same as the CD
give or take the colouration in your turntable/cartridge set up. Cutting from an analogue
recording to vinyl is the way to go to fully appreciate vinyl as the new Beatles box set has proved.

 

There have been a number of new releases where the mastering of the vinyl has been advertised as being more audiophile friendly. These should sound better on a good system even if digitally sourced. Examples would be recent releases by Nine Inch Nails and Daft Punk. The standard file may sound better on a portable player, however.

 

Sound quality and sources used for new vinyl of digital recordings have been all over the place. Some have been amazing, with much more dynamic range and warmth as the CD (for example Joan As Police Woman's albums). But there have been terrible pressings obviously sourced from the CD, basically just the CD with surface noise, distortion, wow and flutter (for example Susan Tedeschi's Back To The River). It's sad that the only way to find out what you're going to get is to buy the LP and listen, or hope somebody on this board has already done that and posted his comments here.

 

There's much more to it than that. Also, apart from possible mastering differences, vinyl is usually sourced from higher resolution masters.

 

The difference would reflect the physical media

 

Don't know about each source but recent albums by Robert Plant , Ghost Of the Sabertooth Tiger , Beck, Sinead O'Conner, Chrissie Hynde and Morrissey all sound better on their Vinyl versions over the CD issues.

 

Not every release, but they do master differently and/or use different sources for vinyl, and they've been doing this for over a decade now. Just a sampling of the recent releases from Ryan Adams, Spoon & Tom Petty reveal this. Look at RHCP Stadium Arcadium or The White Stripes Icky Thump as well. That being said, que up a CD and LP of the identical album and switch back and forth. You should notice that the CD sounds like it's trapped in a box and the vinyl doesn't.

 

9 times out of 10, the vinyl sounds far better. That 10% failure rate is likely due to cost cutting from the label, and pressing from CD masters.

 

I would respectfully disagree with this - unless you can point us to specific information confirming that a vinyl release was sourced from a higher resolution master.

If it's mainstream catalog release - outside of maybe the recent Tom Petty - I haven't been able to find any data to verify this statement.

FYI - I am very happy to be wrong here. Especially with the Ryan Adams - which I think is fantastic - would to see the vinyl be more dynamic and open.

VP

 

Done right you should be getting the high resolution files mastered for vinyl - not compressed and brickwalled like the CD, it should sound different in a direct comparison.

 

This has been my experience, for my favorite bands I usually buy both formats, I guess it's hit or miss usually, If I can I wait for forum reviews

 

I have seen in my years on the forum, people attribute characteristics to vinyl, CD, analog, digital, Standard res files, higher res files, MP3 files and on and on.

The only thing that remains constant. The ONLY THING......

No matter what file, media or tape or source is used, NONE of that really determines anything for sure.

Good sound or great sound is not inherent to any one type of media or source, but is something that can only be derived from a great recording session that puts down great sounds to begin with.

I have heard lowly MP3 sound, out of this world great sounding, same with CD and same with Vinyl.

The source DOES NOT matter all that much.

I think Barry Diament had a post about just that a few years back.

That is partially why there is so much bickering over formats.

The final sound "We hear", is much more determined by the original sessions that are first recorded, to whatever format, and the mastering of those sessions.

The rest is small sound color characteristics, and small changes.

 

My gut feel is that too many people are still being lulled into thinking vinyl is being "treated special" when it's actually not. Without definitive proof that two (or three separate masters) are used - to create the formats - I am going to stick with the assumption that money grubbing record companies are too cheap to care and use the same master for everything - 99% of the time.

I simply cannot wrap my mind around the fact that the record companies would foot the bill for a "secret master" and then NOT use it for the high resolution release (If applicable).

Too many so called hi res recording have the exact same DR as the CD counterparts - and if the time is invested to rip the vinyl - the same as that too.

Again - very very happy to be proven wrong here.

VP

 

The funny thing is VP my new standard release vinyl needle drops always match those posted in the DR database, usually 10 or around, yeah I've read all the info and postings here about how inaccurate it is for vinyl and I agree with most of it, I buy em for the simple fact they aren't mastered as loud as the cd counterpart, that's it, I do agree though that just because it's on vinyl it's better is not always the case

 

Thinking about addressing the OP's apparently sincere question makes me feel like one of those dirty, tired, scarred, thousand-yard-stare combat veterans in a movie who looks at the clean, fresh-faced, over-awed recruits newly arrived at the front. One of the kids asks an innocent question about right and wrong, and the vet just skakes his head and says, “Private, you have no idea...”

Format war is hell.

 

The CD and the vinyl records are just physical formats, each with it's own specific limitations. A modern hi-rez digital recording surpasses the limitations of both formats, so same digital recording can sound different on vinyl and CD, depending of how is mastered.

 

The vinyl and CD should have different masterings each tailored for the specific strengths and weaknesses of each format, whether the master is analogue or digital is irrelevant.

 

Mostly. a lot more throw back recordings these days using analog tape.

Both depending on your gear. In many cases the mastering is different and does favor the vinyl. But if you have a TT rig with a sound that you like then even when mastered the same there is that sonic signature that you get with the vinyl.

Yep, your questions make sense.

 

That's a big variable.

 

In fact, there's no way to easily explain to a newbie how big that variable can be.

 

My take on this:

You're obsessing over the wrong things here. Digital, analog - nothing wrong with either of these. And it's perfectly okay to mix-and-match.

Do you prefer CDs? then buy the CD. Do you prefer vinyl? then buy the vinyl.

There's no need to "worry" about which is the more "logical" choice. That's a waste of time.

 

IME worrying about what is the "logical choice" has been the undoing of many an audiophile.

 

When it comes to listening to LPs, it's better to be McCoy or Kirk rather than Spock.

 

As long as the mastering of the original digital recording have to be done by qualified engineer, all depends of his mastering choices - he can chose to made the vinyl and CD editions to sound similar, but he can decide to made them sound completely different. In both cases the original recording have to be "downgraded", and this have to be done by the mastering person - both the CD and the vinyl record are not capable to fully handle all the content of a quality made proffesional digital recording, so real "flat" transfer is not possible.