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. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Myles did not say that analogue was better than digital - it's just that analogue is all he listens to.
     
  2. kman

    kman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    It's really simple for me right now
    Cd's are for the car and vinyl / lp is for my 2 channel setup in the house
    The loudness wars have killed the cd format for me inside of the house, that's why I went back to vinyl in the home
    In fact my home CD player isn't even hooked up right now
     
  3. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    The "loudness wars" I keep reading about must have bypassed much or most of classical and jazz recordings and groups like Steely Dan. What specific genres are suffering from "loudness wars"?
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  4. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    1. LP is brighter, but in a good way. There is a lot of air around the instruments, and I can hear the sound of a pick against acoustic guitar strings, but without the glare associated with compression or an exaggerated high end boost.
    2. Identical to my ears.
    3. Clearaudio Talisman Gold V2
    4. Clearaudio Ovation, Universal tonearm
    5. Esoteric x-03SE
    6. "Take it Easy". DCC Gold CD. DCC LP.
     
  5. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Much popular/rock/R&B
     
  6. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    I guess that's why I haven't heard it on CD's. But I've got some Doors, Who, SRV, and Moody Blues. None of them seem to suffer from this phenomenon and certainly none of my other CD's in the jazz and blues genre do either. Maybe my taste is different from most or my hearing is more tin than gold.
     
  7. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    1. LP

    2. CD

    3. Benz wood 0.4

    4. Rega P9 with RB1000

    5. Rega Saturn

    6. Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue
     
  8. RickH

    RickH Connoisseur of deep album cuts

    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    Would make an interesting cd-r to have the same tracks back-to-back, one from a CD, and then the same song, needle-dropped from a quality LP pressing.
     
  9. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    I have a very humble set-up, certainly (see profile), but still thought I'd try the test with Jim O'Rourke's Bad Timing (Drag City, 1997) an album that could be interesting in a couple of regards : it's a recent record made by a musician that is also a producer and engineer (explicitly hostile to compression), published by an indie label that's obviously sensitive to artists' needs and visions.The deadwax says the LP was mastered by John Golden, the CD was likely mastered by O'Rourke himself (he's certainly done a lot of CD mastering for others).
    On my humble set-up, CD and LP sound identical.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2014
  10. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I tried the same thing with the title track from the DCC Joni Mitchell Court & Spark. Same results. More top end air (not "bright") on the LP. When the hi-hat closes, it sounds like a hi-hat closing; just more top end, without sibilance or harshness. I like it. Everything else sounds the same between LP and CD.


    1. LP
    2. Identical to my ears.
    3. Clearaudio Talisman Gold V2
    4. Clearaudio Ovation, Universal tonearm
    5. Esoteric x-03SE
    6. "Court & Spark". DCC Gold CD. DCC LP.
     
  11. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    Other than "curiosity," I still haven't figured out why the OP started this thread (he's being rather coy about it, I think), but I do see some value in comparing a CD to its vinyl counterpart, regardless of mastering or playback gear. I put myself in the shoes of a 22 year-old with a modest but decent vinyl set-up and equivalent modest but decent digital set-up. He or she doesn't care about vinyl vs. digital, but just wants the best sounding version within their budget, or best value for the money. This hypothetical 22 year-old probably doesn't exist anywhere in the real world, but for argument's sake, I'll run with this premise.

    So, with the above hypothetical in mind, I compared the new 75th anniversary vinyl reissue of Dexter Gordon's Our Man In Paris, mastered by Bernie Grundman, with the 2003 RVG CD of the same album (I also compared some of the tracks with a mcmastered Dexter Gordon compilation, but that thing is such a piece of **** SQ-wise that it's not even worth mentioning).

    The new vinyl definitely sounds better than the RVG, but surprisingly, they are pretty close. I'd say every quality that the RVG CD has, the vinyl betters by about 10-20%. The other thing the vinyl has over the CD is the original stereo mix (just learned this in the music forum--thanks, crispi)), with drums on the left vs. drums on the right on the CD (though I'd say the average person probably wouldn't give a flip about this).

    Putting myself in the shoes of the 22 year-old, would I spend twice the money on the vinyl for 10% better sound? Probably not if I were just interested in value for the money. That said, the odds of there being a 22 year-old who listens to Dexter Gordon and also has a modest (yet decent) hifi with both vinyl and CD playback capabilities are probably about a million to 1.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2014
  12. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I agree and will go a step further, I hear a lot about the loudness wars on these forums and from audiophiles but rarely hear a problem when listening to a well setup system. Not saying we can eliminate compression once it's been added to a piece of music, but it's perceived affect and sound can be minimalized with the right setup.
     
  13. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    No longer use or need vinyl, though that's as much for practical reasons as anything else. Sound quality for digital is a given and has been for years. Equals or betters vinyl in my experience.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  14. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I still enjoy both and try not to knock either, a difficult thing to do on these forums.
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    No, it can't.
     
    rcsrich and kman like this.
  16. Upinsmoke

    Upinsmoke Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SE PA
    Agreed. Try listening to something really compressed like xm radio. Whofa
     
  17. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I was thinking more along the lines of compression on CD.
    I rarely hear a problem with my current main system, anyone thats in the area that would like to come and listen for themselves is quite welcome.

    You haven't heard my current system. Don't know why but compression is rarely an issue since the last changes. Other club members have noticed it as well.
     
  18. kman

    kman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    I am just curious ( and I am not an advanced audiophile ) what is so special about your system/equipment that the high compression of today's cd format tolerable? Is there a special piece of equipment ?
     
  19. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Nothing that I can put my finger on kman, I'm sure the Audio Research DAC 8 helps as well as decades of finding just the right match ( synergy ). My system profile is available to everyone here.
    I'm not for a minute trying to say that compression has been eliminated or that all my CD's sound equal, but when listening, compression on my number one system is just know longer an in-your-face issue, with the exception of a few really crappy disc's. I have just as many crappy LP's for that matter.
     
  20. kman

    kman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indiana
    Thank you for the info
    Much appreciated
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  21. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

  22. efraley

    efraley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond Va USA
    I'm completely happy with my Opp0, McIntosh receiver and OHM tower speakers. I use my TT only about once a month. I don't like pops and scratches and from the negative feedback I heard about a number of new, overpriced CDs, I'll stick to the used bin for the few I may ever be interested . I agree about overly compressed CDs but usually they are usually not what I have any interest in. I blame mastering for I pods and downloads for that s%$t.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  23. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    If you are blessed enough to have avoided hearing compression in your digital rig, then that's awesome!

    Most all new releases of rock and country are noticeably compressed today.

    I do think some are much less sensitive to this than others.

    My experience is that it sounds worse the higher the dB level but that is to be expected.

    More of something bad is usually worse.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  24. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central
    That would mean your Phono playback is introducing some "Hands down" big changes to the EQ of the master then.
     
  25. Higlander

    Higlander Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Florida, Central

    Just this morning I read some tests of carts, and it was quite eye opening.
     
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