Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 23rd May 2008 13:02 UTC
Many of us grew up with the idea of the component audio system. A receiver (or a separate preamplifier and amplifier), tuner (radio), record player, tape deck, and later on a CD player. If you were into more fancy stuff, you had a DAT or MiniDisc deck as well. While some of us cling on to this mindset like there's no tomorrow, the real world seems to favour a different method of consuming music. According to Erica Ogg (what's in a name), the component audio system is on its way out - thanks to the iPod and the commoditisation of music.
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Member since:2006-01-23
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Older recordings, on the other hand -- those done before the 1990's, will sound better as vinyl, as long as you buy originals, and not remasters. Remasters have been sitting on a digital shelf, and have been recopied to vinyl, so are digital anyway, and probably lost a lot of their original sound properties in that process. Still, older vinyl beats newer CDs any day simply because of the music on them -- the new stuff is just plain crap, the older stuff is golden.
A lot of the early conversions to CD were poor and they gave audiophiles a reason to complain about digital technology.
Remembering the first two digital recordings using the SoundStream system, the vinyl had to be produced outside the U.S.A. because of the harsh chemicals involved. The typical U.S. vinyl had poor dynamic range and limiting killed most recordings. I have one of those Telarc recordings and it's much better on CD. In fact, almost everything is better on CD--it's a matter of care taken during re-mastering.
There is that whimsical notion that analog components provide atmosphere. They do. They usually hides the fact that there are major flaws. Your ears fill in the gaps, just as your eyes do with bad t.v. If it sounds warm, you feel warm, just like most people feel about their first text editor.
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Member since:
2006-01-10
Most new recordings, even on vinyl, are recorded digitally, then transferred to vinyl, so they sound virtually identical to CDs, maybe even worse, since CDs can be digitally enhanced, while the vinyl must go through the A-D conversion before being enhanced.
Older recordings, on the other hand -- those done before the 1990's, will sound better as vinyl, as long as you buy originals, and not remasters. Remasters have been sitting on a digital shelf, and have been recopied to vinyl, so are digital anyway, and probably lost a lot of their original sound properties in that process. Still, older vinyl beats newer CDs any day simply because of the music on them -- the new stuff is just plain crap, the older stuff is golden.