CD is definitely better than LP*

I was at work in Bellevue Washington when the 2001 quake hit the Seattle area. It was a 6.8. That will get your attention. I was at work. So no chance of having a record playing during the earthquake. I've wondered whether a well isolated turntable on a good isolating base would be able to ride out a quake like that while playing a record. A lot would depend on the ground the home or building is built on. The areas in Seattle that had problems were where the soil liquefied. So a 6.8 or similar quake doesn't have the same amount of shaking and damage everywhere. Depends on the soil and building and foundation.

 

I doubt my turntable would play through an earthquake, but it does fine when 18-wheelers roll by on the street out front (which I can feel in the house).

 

Indeed. I thought "What? Someone on SHF has come to their senses?"

 

I saw that! You beat the 5.7 I experienced a couple weeks ago. Crazy isn't it?? It woke me up, talk about a way to wake up in the morning.

 

I will immediately start designing an earthquake proof TT suspension. I don’t want to be interrupted during my vinyl listening sessions!

 

"And your father's still perfecting ways of making sealing wax"

 

Easy, jack the house up, stick a big shock absorber underneath, and lower back down. Job done.

 

Well then, I guess that you don't buy pressings done by RTI, QRP, GZ, Optimal, Pallas, Record Industry, etc. Guess what kind of turntables they use to evaluate their work.? Oh, and none of them use high-dollar cartridges either nor special styli. Many of the record manufacturers have pictures and videos of their operations, showing the equipment they use. Have you ever noticed that the lathes they use to cut the lacquer discs have just a plain, unimpressive tone arm to check the discs at that stage?

 

So what? Why would they spend a lot of money on a TT just to see if the record plays correctly? High quality sound and performance isn’t necessary in that application.

 

I've had plenty of CD players which skipped with minor jarring. It used to be common that turntables had suspensions. Maybe you are too young, but I remember a Ford commercial where they were driving around while a record changer played an LP and it played beautifully. All jukeboxes had suspensions on their record changers and could take a real wallop without skipping. A couple of my Seeburgs track at 2.5g and I have moved them around the room while they were playing and they never skipped a beat.
To go one thing better than a CD, how about a solid state drive like a thumb drive which has no moving parts and has HD sound files on it, equal to or better than a CD? Heck, you could drop the computer that was playing it and it wouldn't miss a beat either.
Yep, your point is correct, a CD should play through an earthquake without a problem. The higher dollar a turntable is the more delicate it with be and subject to what's going on around it.

 

But yet it is, especially when a record manufacturer is supposedly making audiophile records. They are absolutely concerned with high quality sound, but it isn't worth going overboard to get it, nor is it necessary.

 

The mastering engineers and the people critically evaluating test pressings use nice turntable gear. The QA people in the pressing plant who are just checking that the records play and don't have obvious flaws like no fill and such use more mundane turntable gear.

 

Your opinion not mine. For you it is not worth it, but for many others it is worth it. Vinyl play back can be ok, or it can really be amazing depending on the system.

 

...and you can even run it after the power goes off with a battery (or USB) powered DAC (Chord Mojo, Audiolab M-DAC Mini or Nano, Audioquest Dragonfly Red).

 

Not even your lightweight cd's ? Damn !

 

It is true that CD has the best sound quality of all, however, they do not offer much else that you get with vinyl. CDs just seem so "throw-away".

I LOVE my stereo, however, if an earthquake were to occur, the stereo would be the least of my concerns.

I have an AT-120 (more specifically the updated AT-LP120XUSB) and so far it has treated me well. On most LPs, the IGD is not real bad, better than expected for a $250 deck. The only issue is the tone arm lever has to be handled carefully. At first it would lower the tone arm very carefully but now it just free falls unless I do it slowly.

Almost like those videos about embarrassing sports moments where the thumbnail is of a lady in a "compromising" pose but then that scene is not even in the video.

And you know, you KNOW, that pesky earthquake would start just as the best part of the song starts to play.

 

The adagio is: if it sounds good on a bad TT it will sound out of this world on a good TT !

 

A hard drive media player would continue to play faultlessly long after both CD and Vinyl had skipped and jumped.

 

If they give the best sound quality, then that to me seems a very good reason NOT to throw them away.

As for "they do not offer much else", that's true, but I'm not sure that they ever claimed to. They're a medium for recording and playing back music (and other things). It's a bit like saying "This car is not that great, all you can do with it is drive it around."

 

Only if played very slowly.

 

What I meant was that CDs don't seem to be collector's items like vinyl. Plus, CDs seem to get ruined easier than LPs no matter how careful one is.
CD cases tend to break and scratch easily also.

If one is mainly focused on sound quality, CD is the way to go. With vinyl though, it DOES sound very good, plus the cover art and in some cases, the artwork of the inner sleeve. And if one handles everything with care, everything from the LP to the jacket could last a lifetime. CDs, not so much.

I am not hating on CD, the above are just my observations. I own a few CDs and have a decent deck.

About the car comment, that could be said about Civics, Corollas, and probably a few others. A to B transportation. Nothing to look at or get excited over, just "functional".
Something like a classic or even modern day Charger or Mustang though - much more than just an A to B machine.

 

Exactly. And, pursuing the car analogy, it boils down to why you want a car - whether you want something to drive from one place to another, or whether it's to make some kind of statement.

I'm not a "collector", as you probably gthered by now. If I buy music, it's for one reason only, and that's to listen to it. Anything else is optional extras. Vinyls offer some of those optional extras, but I don't consider it worth my extra expense and hassle to get them.

 

Are earthquakes analogue?

 

Exactly, you have to be careful not to spill your beer.

 

Neither, I just want something thats enjoyable to drive, and a little bit fast.