LPs .... Are LPs REALLY BETTER THAN CDs ???

[Music Madhu]

It’s strange people talk high about LPs ... especially so called AUDIO PHILES ..
are they really that good???
now a days they are not manufactured any more.
moreover in Olden days all the LPs were producing more HISS than music.
But audio files talk about PHONO STAGES IN AMPS, CATRIDGES costs runs in to 5 digit numbers.
Old audio gear ( some times scrap sellers) Quote used LPs prices as if they are GOLD !!!
Is all this justifiable in digital era??

I AM HAPPY IF I am WRONG !!!
And BIG SORRY IF I am WRONG !!!

cheers
Madhu Gopi Joshi

 

[madman29]

To truthfully answer this is to throw a stone at hornets nest

 

[plasmoid]

Here we go...

 

[Dr Sarkar]

I’m all ears for some audiophile dose !!!

 

[robin3989]

I don't own a TT nor have i listened to one. But, basically different people perceive music differently. Some people get rid off distortion, some find distortion as a flavor that you add to your icecream.
After all, the entire point is to reproduce the original recording in the best way possible.!

 

[superczar]

It’s strange people talk high about LPs ... especially so called AUDIO PHILES ..
are they really that good???
now a days they are not manufactured any more.
moreover in Olden days all the LPs were producing more HISS than music.
But audio files talk about PHONO STAGES IN AMPS, CATRIDGES costs runs in to 5 digit numbers.
Old audio gear ( some times scrap sellers) Quote used LPs prices as if they are GOLD !!!
Is all this justifiable in digital era??

I AM HAPPY IF I am WRONG !!!
And BIG SORRY IF I am WRONG !!!

cheers
Madhu Gopi Joshi

LOL
You aren't wrong or right in a conventional way.

Every once in a while, I enjoy playing back a LP because of the nostalgic value associated with the sound..

Is it objectively better - No
Does it sound better - No (most of the time)
Does the fuzzy, sometime scratchy sound feel more real than the crystalline feel of a well recorded FLAC - sometimes yes
Does the tactile feel of a record placed onto the turntable as you place the arm on the record feel more satisfying than selecting a virtual stream - Hell, yes!

 

[firearm12]

Haha, short and sure answer is 'no'. Lp is not better than cd technically. But sound reproduction through lp can be better as it wont have digital artefacts and distortion. Any analog dource such as LP contains analog signal only whatever was fed at the time of recording. Cd will contain data in digital format which has been converted from analog, and it requires conversion back to analog for playback. So it suffers the contamination of signal. An analog signal can never be purely converted to digital signal only approximated, same is true for conversion of digital to analog. Now decide which is better. Our brains are very smart and sensitive and the world works on analog only, so it can make out the difference in approximation and reality. Maybe in future we can improve with hi res and dsd but 'but' it is still there.

 

[murali_n]

It’s strange people talk high about LPs ... especially so called AUDIO PHILES ..
are they really that good???
now a days they are not manufactured any more.
moreover in Olden days all the LPs were producing more HISS than music.
But audio files talk about PHONO STAGES IN AMPS, CATRIDGES costs runs in to 5 digit numbers.
Old audio gear ( some times scrap sellers) Quote used LPs prices as if they are GOLD !!!
Is all this justifiable in digital era??

I AM HAPPY IF I am WRONG !!!
And BIG SORRY IF I am WRONG !!!

cheers
Madhu Gopi Joshi

Mr.Madhu,
,
Point wise reply,
Its not strange
They are really good
No they are still pressed, even lot of Indian films are released now a days
No hiss in LPs, only tapes,
Yes
Yes
What is justifiable?, Do not compare both the formats, Digital is good on spec, Vinyl is good for the ear.
Still there are good CDs and Bad LPs.

You can be happy that you were wrong.

Hope this helps.
N.Murali

 

[Music Madhu]

Since I have extensively used both LPs and CDs, I think I can say an honest opinion. I would say, some LPs,.... repeat some...., sound very good compared to cds. In fact, they sound great. The feel is so good. The depth in the sound is something we can't get from a cd. But again, some LPs. I've had a Disco Dancer LP, which sounded terrific on one side and was pathetic on the other side. LPs come with a host of disadvantages.
1. Only old ones available
2. People who sell them, ask out of the world prices, never never never justifiable considering the outcome.
3. You get lots of free hissing, fluttering etc with the music.
4. For skipping tracks, you have to get up and move the arm.
5. Handle with care or you will end up getting a scratch on the vinyl which will cause all sorts of trouble.
6. Storage is difficult, WAF (Wife Approval Factor) is nearly as low as zero.

When it comes to cds, if you have a good cd player, the sound is as good as, or even better than most available LPs. As for other advantages, it is just the opposite of the demerits of LPs.

To give you a clear idea how good a cd is ...I will quote what a Vinyl fan/freak/fanatic once said to me. 'Most of my LPs sound as good as a CD"

Great!!! You are quite realistic. WIFE APPROVAL FACTOR is ZERO.

Mr.Madhu,
,
Point wise reply,
Its not strange
They are really good
No they are still pressed, even lot of Indian films are released now a days
No hiss in LPs, only tapes,
Yes
Yes
What is justifiable?, Do not compare both the formats, Digital is good on spec, Vinyl is good for the ear.
Still there are good CDs and Bad LPs.

You can be happy that you were wrong.

Hope this helps.
N.Murali

Agreed Mr. Murali.

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

It’s strange people talk high about LPs ... especially so called AUDIO PHILES ..
are they really that good???
now a days they are not manufactured any more.
moreover in Olden days all the LPs were producing more HISS than music.
But audio files talk about PHONO STAGES IN AMPS, CATRIDGES costs runs in to 5 digit numbers.
Old audio gear ( some times scrap sellers) Quote used LPs prices as if they are GOLD !!!
Is all this justifiable in digital era??

I AM HAPPY IF I am WRONG !!!
And BIG SORRY IF I am WRONG !!!

cheers
Madhu Gopi Joshi

Who are good, audiophiles or vinyls? Just kidding. Well records have some advantages and disadvantages just as the CDs. The vinyls sound very good to my ear but the CDs do never give me such feelings. You are right that the sellers of preowned vinyls demand a hefty amount. But why do they demand? Simply because the vinyls out do any other formats. Though all the vinyls don't sound good but most of them by far surpass CDs in my opinion. As regards new production of vinyls, one can have the Bollywood titles and Indian classical both on line and off line. I have been listening to music in various formats for near about 45 years and I always prefer the vinyls.
NB Hopefully the WAF is not zero in my case. My wife likes vinyls and encourages me to buy those.
Regards

 

[aeroash]

You are right that the sellers of preowned vinyls demand a hefty amount. But why do they demand? Simply because the vinyls out do any other formats.

Prices are high because enthusiasts crave for them, and not necessarily because one format is better than the other.
Same with cameras, good analogues demand a far higher price in the used market, because enthusiasts crave to own them, and not necessarily because analogues are better than digital.

 

[firearm12]

Prices are high because enthusiasts crave for them, and not necessarily because one format is better than the other.
Same with cameras, good analogues demand a far higher price in the used market, because enthusiasts crave to own them, and not necessarily because analogues are better than digital.

People only crave for something for which they find better or best. No one craves for old nokia phones which were a rage once. New technology does not always mean better. Even old cds are considered better than recent ones. Same with vacuum tubes. I cannot say LP is better than cd, but analog is clearly better than digital.

 

[Sandesh]

Technically no. They just sound different. If you are looking for a more analog/warm sound to your music, Vinyls are a great listen. You will find much higher quality stuff from older presses (not modern ones, unless they've been pressed either analog to analog or have a Full Dynamic Range with no compression applied in mastering from old analog tapes, betamaxes etc). I highly recommend listening to Scorpions "Love at First Bite" (first few presses) on decent system to find out what I am talking about (You will hear the "live" sound/ musicians playing in your room feeling)

Prices are high because enthusiasts crave for them, and not necessarily because one format is better than the other.
Same with cameras, good analogues demand a far higher price in the used market, because enthusiasts crave to own them, and not necessarily because analogues are better than digital.

It's not just that. It also depends on the pressing and the release. Although it's true that 90% of Indians who sell their vinyls greatly conflate its value and call it rare without a rhyme and reason.

 

[aeroash]

People only crave for something for which they find better or best. No one craves for old nokia phones which were a rage once. New technology does not always mean better. Even old cds are considered better than recent ones. Same with vacuum tubes. I cannot say LP is better than cd, but analog is clearly better than digital.

Using 'old Nokia phones' is a terrible analogy. Phones have evolved into much more than just texting and phone call.

 

[arj]

It’s strange people talk high about LPs ... especially so called AUDIO PHILES ..
are they really that good???
now a days they are not manufactured any more.
moreover in Olden days all the LPs were producing more HISS than music.
But audio files talk about PHONO STAGES IN AMPS, CATRIDGES costs runs in to 5 digit numbers.
Old audio gear ( some times scrap sellers) Quote used LPs prices as if they are GOLD !!!
Is all this justifiable in digital era??

I AM HAPPY IF I am WRONG !!!
And BIG SORRY IF I am WRONG !!!

cheers
Madhu Gopi Joshi

This thread is 230+ pages long, still active and I am pretty sure everyone there is not retired or with plenty of time on their hands.
This is about having a Passion for something and trying to make it better for oneself and investing the time so it makes it good for oneself.

Whether you just read articles on the web, form an opinion or actually listen to it and then form an opinion is purely your own choice ! if you do listen to old indian movie songs you will figure out that the CDs/Digital reproductions are really sad in a majority of the cases, so if you like that music, vinyl might be your best choice to enjoy those to the maximum, but again that does not mean you will not enjoy the cd .

The moment you understand that there is something to improve in music reproduction and try to make efforts to improve it , you are an Audiophile..and part of the "So called Audiophiles "!


CD ,Vinyl etc are not an Either Or scenario and one listen to both and enjoy all formats depending on the Quality of the recording ( and you definitely Dont need to clean a record everytime you play so i hope that piece of misinformation does not bias you. )

I would have ignored this thread but since you are new and my guess is trying to learn something, thought Ill post my personal view as i listen to Vinyl/CDs as well as computer based Digital formats

 

[TD150]

I think vinyls are good only for retired people who have lot of free time. These people have time to clean the records before each time you play it, to remove the dust accumulated in the channels of the vinyl. For me, I never had the time. By the time I clean a LP to listen, I lose interest in listening. CD on the other hand, just open the case, play the disc, enjoy the music, put it back in the case...forget it.

Sound quality is really subjective. There are people who like only vinyl sound, some still use tapes. All are free to use whichever format they like accepting both its merits and demerits. Just go through an article I found.

CDs are still better than vinyl

Today's Record Store Day, a great occasion to go out and discover new music. But let's not get snobby about vinyl in the process.

www.vox.com

Nobody has free time. Time needs to be taken out to enjoy listening to music. For each has his own priority. Some find cutting time on loading a song/album convenient before listening to music & some find it to enhance it's listening experience, connect to the time or circumstances when the song/album was recorded, the situation prevailing during those times, etc and also enjoy the artwork, reading the information on it, etc.

Coming to the sound of music through vinyl or cd is one's own choice. For me I have been listening to music on CD, streaming and vinyl for more than two decades and have almost equal number of lps & cds, but whenever I listen to music I prefer it on vinyl most of the time and on CD when I do not have the specific album on vinyl.

 

[rsjaurr]

Poorly recorded vinyl will not sound better than a cd with good quality recording and vice versa.
Recently I bought around 15 new LPs from amazon and these do not sound as good as same label cd. I'm still evaluating them and will post my opinion when I'm done.

But then older LPs do have a very characteristic sound signature that many of us love. Unfortunately all sorts of problems of LPs like his, damage, maintenance etc are a huge challenge for someone who has busy schedule.

Back in early 90's I had a custom made cassette deck and custom made speakers and i used to love two Bollywood titles, Zaanbaaz/Qurbani and Ek Duje Ke Liye. That rich warm analog sound still reverberates in my ears even after 25-28 years. But now same titles on cd do not sound as good on a much higher end equipment.

But CDs are easy to operate, maintain and even share this is the biggest factor imo that I will continue using cd as source rather than tapes and vinyls. Tapes were better than vinyls though in this regard.

 

[rsjaurr]

CDs of old titles are recorded either from old cassettes or LPs. So sound quality will definitely be bad.

And vinyls of modern titles are recorded from digital source.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

I feel I have roughly equal quality digital and analog systems. This is based on my own assessment of how a few LPs and matching CDs sound on my rig. But I have to say that in some cases, while the LPs sound better, especially compared to the Super Bit Mastering CDs, there are a few cases where the CD sounds better. The best sounding CD I have is one by Ghulam Ali, produced by RPG group, and it is from 1985. I have the matching LP also, but funnily produced by a different house, and also in 1985. It is the same recording, and the singer makes a few announcements in the beginning from which this can be seen. The CD beats the LP by such a big margin that it is not funny. Do lookout for this particular series of CDs (and if you have duplicates, give me those...).

 

[Music Madhu]

This thread is 230+ pages long, still active and I am pretty sure everyone there is not retired or with plenty of time on their hands.
This is about having a Passion for something and trying to make it better for oneself and investing the time so it makes it good for oneself.

Whether you just read articles on the web, form an opinion or actually listen to it and then form an opinion is purely your own choice ! if you do listen to old indian movie songs you will figure out that the CDs/Digital reproductions are really sad in a majority of the cases, so if you like that music, vinyl might be your best choice to enjoy those to the maximum, but again that does not mean you will not enjoy the cd .

The moment you understand that there is something to improve in music reproduction and try to make efforts to improve it , you are an Audiophile..and part of the "So called Audiophiles "!


CD ,Vinyl etc are not an Either Or scenario and one listen to both and enjoy all formats depending on the Quality of the recording ( and you definitely Dont need to clean a record everytime you play so i hope that piece of misinformation does not bias you. )

I would have ignored this thread but since you are new and my guess is trying to learn something, thought Ill post my personal view as i listen to Vinyl/CDs as well as computer based Digital formats

Your are spot on. I am striving to LEARN.

I feel I have roughly equal quality digital and analog systems. This is based on my own assessment of how a few LPs and matching CDs sound on my rig. But I have to say that in some cases, while the LPs sound better, especially compared to the Super Bit Mastering CDs, there are a few cases where the CD sounds better. The best sounding CD I have is one by Ghulam Ali, produced by RPG group, and it is from 1985. I have the matching LP also, but funnily produced by a different house, and also in 1985. It is the same recording, and the singer makes a few announcements in the beginning from which this can be seen. The CD beats the LP by such a big margin that it is not funny. Do lookout for this particular series of CDs (and if you have duplicates, give me those...).

Great !!! This is the kind of first hand experienced answer I am looking for.
can you please share the GULAM ALI CD title if possible a pic of it
Thank you.

Using 'old Nokia phones' is a terrible analogy. Phones have evolved into much more than just texting and phone call.

thats the point. people can judge what is better and follow the better whether it’s a phone or a CD or an LP. check this. Well I don’t say follow this guy but he talks sense to me.