vinyl records VS Digital Media

[oldSock]

hi Everyone,

 

Just the following before i start.

 

This post is intended for my own curiosity and my conclusion is only based on my experience. 

I do not mean to trigger anyone in any way. I am not a professional just a user of the technology.

 

If you feel triggered in any way, please click away now.

 

 

 

LP records or "long play records" also known as vinyl records "generalization" was around for a long time.

My first memories are that of Vinyls just playing in the background and to date i really do enjoy the listening experience.

 

 

I personally enjoy music a lot and listen to music all the time, fact is something is always on or playing in the background.

 

My favorite device is my phone Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro 2017 I use this device alongside JBL in ear headphones. I honestly don't mind Bluetooth as i also have a JBL Bluetooth set that i use with my laptop.

 

But that said i enjoy vinyl records as they tend to deliver a real to analogue listening experience. That said not all players are equal and not all amplifiers produce good clear sound. My personal system is just old and i have kept it going for the better part of a lifetime. I am not a electronics expert but i know enough to repair the basics and yes even did some rebuilding at some point. 

 

Now my other device is my old iPod and i use it extensively trough out its life BUT again Spotify i have to admit helped me replace my iPod with my android device.

 

I do like to buy music as well "both Digital download, DVD, CD and when available Vinyl.

 

So Yes at night i like to sit on my "listening chair" and just listen to music.

 

The music selection comes down to how i feel mostly.

 

Why write all of this?

 

I have a real love for technology both new and antiquated, it is only seconded for my love for music.

 

So I was just wondering if any of you enjoy the same kind of thing, If so, what do you do to increase your listening experience?

 

I would really like to know.

 

Thank you for reading

 

peace       

 

 

[Noah0302]

Honestly I think its just preference.

 

Vinyl has a certain charm to it, but I prefer the convenience of digital media.

Once you use a service like Spotify with high quality audio, or even Tidal uncompressed Hifi like I do, there is next to 0 difference quality wise.

[Mitko_DSV]

   I too enjoy new and old technology. Almost awlays have music playing, whatever and whereever I'm doing something.

   I do listen to vinyl records, but quite rarely. The reason? Well when I was a kid (like 1-2 years old) I used to go to my grandfather's record player, take a record out and play it, but I could barely stand and walk at that point in time, so I scrached almost all of the records, some I even broke. I did find the record I wanted to listen to, turned the record player on, set the right speed and played it all by myself, at the age of about 2. Nowadays, at the age of 21, I have only that record player and the records that are left. I need to buy a new cartrige for it, since the needle is almost gone. And if I find records in good condition with music I like it'll be great, but I haven't found any yet (haven't done any extensive research). So trying to preserve what's left and the record player being in a house I go to once a week, I rarely listen to it.

   I listen to cassette tapes as well. I have a few cassette players scattered between houses and a cassette deck with receiver setup in my room. My dream/project car (I have my dream car, but it's not in roadworthy condition, so it's a project car as well, I'm learing how to fix cars on it basically), so it has a cassette player, I can change it, but I don't want to. When I get it roadworthy and registered, I will record new tapes for it, as well as listen to the ones I have now.

   Listening to MP3s? Yes. Streaming services and buying music? No.

  While I'm not against buying music, I used the buy cassettes and CDs, nowadays it's easier to just find a song I like on youtube and download it for free. Then I manually copy the MP3 file between 2 PCs, 2 laptops, a smartphone I use just for music and the USB flash drive in my daily-driver car (it's got a CD/USB aftermarket player, a Sony one from like 2008? but it came free with the car). I don't use streaming services, because that requieres constant Internet connection and that is a problem for me.

  CDs I used to use, but nowadays I don't really use them, though my dad uses them in his car, because he refuses to change the original car radio with an aftermarket one.

  And listening experience? For me it's enough to have something producing good sound and I'm happy. I sometimes play a cassette and lay on my bed to listen or while listening to music from my PC I just lay back in the chair and enjoy it. That's basically it, nothing very interesting or fancy.

  The record player I mentioned above is made in Bulgaria in the early 1970s by the company 'Resprom' and the exact model is 'Lira 68'. I also have two tube radios from the late 1960s by the same company and they are 'Melodia 16' and 'Melodia 106' (melodia [мелодия] in bulgarian means melody in english). The latter of the two radios is 'upgraded' with a cheap chineese USB,SD,MP3,Bluetooth,FMradio thing (I have no idea what's it called honesly) and it is used outside to listen to music, sounds nice.

[Mark Kaine]

I do have (in fact) better hearing than most (which isn't always great trust me) and the difference of vinyl or even old redbook CDs (when they still cared about quality) to mp3 etc is stark...

 

I can tolerate mp3 (etc) with the right equalizer settings but I certainly do prefer vinyl or CD (there's a difference between those too, but both are pretty much "good enough" in my opinion)

 

newer CDs or anything with "remastered" on it are usually trash and barely above mp3 standard...

 

 

Also if you didn't know, maxi vinyl "singles" generally have much superior sound to "LP" format.

 

Also the materials can make a huge difference (colored vinyl, the sound differences, and quality thereof vary wildly, but generally colored vinyl is of superior quality)

[oldSock]

Me personally, I love music and sometimes i find that old amplifiers with correct components added to them really brings music to a new level.

 

There is something about valve amplifiers especially that really brings music to another level. It really is an experience and not all valve amplifiers produce this. The one i have is "Frankensteined" so it shares parts from very early days and i am still adding to it. I mostly do it for fun BUT i have to admit once those valves are warmed up and you figured out how to get rid of that humming it brings to the table a lot more. 8 track tapes is damn near impossible to get where i live BUT i will say this. The sound on them is absolutely epic compared to anything else. If you look into why that is, you will notice that a lot of care went into 8 track recordings a lot more then most media of the time. For me personally they are the best BUT i will agree that many digital systems today WILL kick it hard. 

 

What i found strange of some high end CD players was there very low bit rate and yet they produced really nice sound. CDs are not so bad i personally enjoyed them and still do. But i found it strange how very low the bit rate was compared to the sound i am getting. There is something to be said for the parts that went into Cd players they sometimes have to make do with very little and yet produce a lot.

 

 

Also thank you for reading this is a fun post i really am enjoying this

 

 

[PlayStation 2]

I'll give a full disclosure here: I was raised right in the heart-throb of the digital era - the early 2000s. So if my opinion sounds distorted, well there you go. 

But when it comes to vinyl, let's look at what it is: an analog audio format that stores audio signals on a PVC disc. It may sound warmer, but that's not anything you couldn't do digitally. What you can't do with vinyl (at least without a lot of effort) is removing any sort of analog audio flaws, namely dust and noise in very quiet portions of the audio. 

Digital audio, even regular ol' 16-bit sample size 44100hz sample rate CD audio, can offer a whole lot more objectively and even subjectively than what vinyl can if there's effort put into mastering. Which, that leads us into another issue with modern-day audio mastering that I don't feel like talking about right now, but it is a relevant issue with any form of audio regardless of what it's put on. 

 

I dunno. This argument's all academic because personal preference and objective mastering quality matters greatly to all of this. I will sing the praises of VHS Hi-Fi audio, but I'll concede on all of its drawbacks, especially when digital audio is objectively better, tit for tat. 

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

Well, I've been DJing on and off for 25 years and have amassed a huge collection of vinyl...so yeah, I love it.

 

Modern controllers and CD decks are definitely better for mixing, but they lack something - both in a tactile sense but also in the sound quality.

 

Digital is too clean, too sterile - it lacks any layers...for me, anyway. 

 

Its convenience is its only advantage. 

[kelvinhall05]

Spoiler

 

[tikker]

9 hours ago, handymanshandle said:

What you can't do with vinyl (at least without a lot of effort) is removing any sort of analog audio flaws, namely dust and noise in very quiet portions of the audio.

Funnily enough for me this contributes a big part of the charm of vinyl. Plus the process is fun and relaxing (until that terrifying moment where you accidentally drop the needle or scratch the record ).

[Mark Kaine]

16 hours ago, handymanshandle said:

I'll give a full disclosure here: I was raised right in the heart-throb of the digital era - the early 2000s. So if my opinion sounds distorted, well there you go. 

But when it comes to vinyl, let's look at what it is: an analog audio format that stores audio signals on a PVC disc. It may sound warmer, but that's not anything you couldn't do digitally. What you can't do with vinyl (at least without a lot of effort) is removing any sort of analog audio flaws, namely dust and noise in very quiet portions of the audio. 

Digital audio, even regular ol' 16-bit sample size 44100hz sample rate CD audio, can offer a whole lot more objectively and even subjectively than what vinyl can if there's effort put into mastering. Which, that leads us into another issue with modern-day audio mastering that I don't feel like talking about right now, but it is a relevant issue with any form of audio regardless of what it's put on. 

 

I dunno. This argument's all academic because personal preference and objective mastering quality matters greatly to all of this. I will sing the praises of VHS Hi-Fi audio, but I'll concede on all of its drawbacks, especially when digital audio is objectively better, tit for tat. 

btw... you *cannot* simulate analog sound digitally, at least not to any satisfying levels.

 

 

And yes, you can indeed filter out imperfections from a vinyl record... you do need the right equipment (an analog mixer) but it's possible.

 

 (also those "imperfections" are usually what makes it sound "better" ironically. digital is too clean, it doesn't sound "natural", that's the whole issue with digital, other than insufficient compression rates maybe)

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Mark Kaine said:

btw... you *cannot* simulate analog sound digitally, at least not to any satisfying levels.

 

 

And yes, you can indeed filter out imperfections from a vinyl record... you do need the right equipment (an analog mixer) but it's possible.

 

 (also those "imperfections" are usually what makes it sound "better" ironically. digital is too clean, it doesn't sound "natural", that's the whole issue with digital, other than insufficient compression rates maybe)

No, but you could always record and mix something in an analog form then put it onto a digital format. That's how audio mixing used to be up until the late 1990s and the early 2000s, frankly. 

I did mention that you could filter out analog audio imperfections. Something like dbx could achieve satisfactory results on a vinyl record, while Dolby analog noise reduction was a popular choice on tapes... until they stopped licensing for that. 

[Mark Kaine]

7 hours ago, tikker said:

Funnily enough for me this contributes a big part of the charm of vinyl. Plus the process is fun and relaxing (until that terrifying moment where you accidentally drop the needle or scratch the record ).

they're also sampling those crackling noises to make it sound  more "lively" usually in popular music... btw!  I mean I hear it a lot, but I'm not sure how obvious is to most people.

[Mark Kaine]

31 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

No, but you could always record and mix something in an analog form then put it onto a digital format. That's how audio mixing used to be up until the late 1990s and the early 2000s, frankly. 

I did mention that you could filter out analog audio imperfections. Something like dbx could achieve satisfactory results on a vinyl record, while Dolby analog noise reduction was a popular choice on tapes... until they stopped licensing for that. 

that's true. I just remembered how I've never heard those imperfections (during silent moments) when a good dj was playing it, whereas I knew there were some things (crackling) because I had the same record... it's just a proper settings thing , built-in in those mixers usually.

 

Edit:

 

 

Also this will never not be funny to me (I think also why all my CDs still work no matter how old)

 

 

 

 

Especially because I have the vinyl record and it sounds way better lol... tho the CD is "fine"  also...

[aleclee]

Veteran DJ here.

 

Vinyl > Digital

 

Few main reasons why. Vinyl has more frequencies than digital. Vinyl has a wider sound spectrum than digital. And vinyl has more "sound/data" than digital. (thats the best way in can describe with my poor english). Vinyl always out performs digital.

[straightchase]

I am 17 but I am lucky at home, my dad has a huge cd and tape collection so we have always had a hi fi set up. Recently I have started collecting records from my favorite artist Oasis, collecting vinyl isnt just about the music for me but its also about collecting unique bootlegs and rare records which is most of the fun.

About a month ago the amp gave out, it was about 40 years old at this point anyway so we invested in a new hi fi system with a new record player! We found my parents old records and now we have almost 80 records.

Vinyl is not just about the music, its about the experience of putting a record on and enjoying it fully.

My favorite record I own is the bootleg 1995 Oasis at Glastonbury called Englands Dreaming, the quality isnt great its a bootleg, but the experience is something else. 

[Fatih19]

Imagine listening to recordings.

 

- This post is made by live music gang.

[tikker]

19 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

they're also sampling those crackling noises to make it sound  more "lively" usually in popular music... btw!  I mean I hear it a lot, but I'm not sure how obvious is to most people.

Really. I didn't know that.

 

19 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

Especially because I have the vinyl record and it sounds way better lol... tho the CD is "fine"  also...

CDs never really did it for me. Even though putting up an LP is more of a hassle technically, CDs always felt as the biggest hassle.

[Mark Kaine]

11 minutes ago, tikker said:

Really. I didn't know that.

 

CDs never really did it for me. Even though putting up an LP is more of a hassle technically, CDs always felt as the biggest hassle.

re: CDs it really depends a lot on the mastering... they can sound just as good imo...

 

I do have some really old techno CDs (Rotterdam Records rotmix01 for example) and it just sounds as you'd expect it to sound in a club or rave (pretty rough lol)

 

 

[Snowmnason]

I recently acquired a turn table and a whole Cabinet  from a repo house, and they are straight from the 70's I genuine love listening to older genres on that, but that's a once in a while thing. it allows me to go back in time to that era and feel like I am part of that time, you just can't get that with digital man.

^{I thought I would share}  

[mao91]

Vinyl is desirable because it’s fully analog and is the general standard people think of when someone mentions “vintage.” Vinyl is a very imperfect media and has minute but noticeable flaws that many find desirable (namely, that vinyl scratching sound). Vinyl can sound better or worse depending on the quality of the press, the condition of the record itself, the quality of the needle, the quality of the electronics in the machine, etc. Two of the same record on the same machine can sound just ever so slightly different if you listen extremely carefully. See the above reasons for why. Vinyl is difficult to master for vs digital because of the way the physical material responds to different frequencies. This is why a lot of classic rock has been remastered for modern radio and digital storage.
 

Digital has different tiers of quality. Most people today would think of mp3, but CDs are also digital. CDs are typically 1411kbps, 44.1kHz, and stereo. CDs will largely sound the same across the board. They’re read with a laser and are decided to your stereo. This means really the only audio quality between cd listening boils down to your sound system. 
 

MP3 was created because it’s a viable way to store a lot of music on a small space. When early MP3 players came out, the idea of storing 100 songs on something the size of a large lighter was profound. MP3 compression became popular for storage purposes but introduced the artifacts people from 2004-2008 knew well (and people who listen to Spotify today *cough*). MP3 can be 44.1kHz or 48kHz, and can range from 96kbps all the way to 320kbps. 

 

WAV is considered lossless. It can be 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz, or 192kHz, and bit rates can vary wildly. Tidal HiFi streams WAV 44.1kHz 1411kbps CD quality. 
 

OGG is a digital format that isn’t popular anymore. 
 

FLAC is popular among audiophiles and engineers. It can get to be clearer than WAV, thanks to more effective encoding. It can also use considerably more storage than other digital formats.

 

Back to analog: Tape is often overlooked, but it IS fully analog. There is a resurgence of tape enthusiasts. This is cool for a few reasons: 1. Tape has a flatter frequency response vs vinyl, so it’s easier to master for and can typically sound clearer. 2. Tape is more portable than vinyl and uses a smaller footprint. 3. Tape can do neat things to sound depending on the type. But (as those of us who grew up during the 90s remember well, hitting that record button to capture our favorite songs from radio) tape needs to be cared for. Most modern studios will either print a mix to tape before mastering, or use tape emulation (like myself) to add a bit of “old school sound” to a recording.

 

 

[Roswell]

20 hours ago, aleclee said:

Veteran DJ here.

 

Vinyl > Digital

 

Few main reasons why. Vinyl has more frequencies than digital. Vinyl has a wider sound spectrum than digital. And vinyl has more "sound/data" than digital. (thats the best way in can describe with my poor english). Vinyl always out performs digital.

CD’s cover the entire range of human hearing and have a superior dynamic range by an order of magnitude (70dB vs 90+). Not really sure what you mean by your last point.

 

You also run into issues of wow and flutter with analog formats as well as wear. Every time you play a vinyl, it’s going to sound worse than the last time.

 

CD’s are objectively the more accurate format. Preference for the less accurate format (vinyl) is absolutely valid, but subjective. 

[PineyCreek]

Here's a moderately decent article on it.  https://www.soundguys.com/vinyl-better-than-streaming-20654/

 

I'm good with FLAC myself.  320 CBR MP3 if I can't play FLAC.  I lived through the days of LPs through now, including the advancement of digital music.  I'm alright with whatever at this point...I just choose the best option I have at the moment.  I have LPs and singles..from the 60s and 70s.  I don't buy new LPs.  I'm not sure I'd care one way or the other, but I would have to get a decent stereo system and turntable to properly enjoy a more modern vinyl these days.  Also, considering how many books I have, I don't have enough shelf space for more records (or floor space where I'd want to set a crate).

Let's be blunt, digital music files 20 years ago were garbage compared to what they can be now.

 

In reference to @Vitamanic's point about CDs, I agree, but it's highly dependent as well on the person mastering it.  You can have some truly garbage masters.  It's also going to be subjective to the person listening, what they're listening on (hardware, speakers), etc.  Lots of variables.

 

Do what you like.  Buy what you like.  Live with the consequences. The market will adjust.

[mao91]

21 hours ago, aleclee said:

Veteran DJ here.

 

Vinyl > Digital

 

Few main reasons why. Vinyl has more frequencies than digital. Vinyl has a wider sound spectrum than digital. And vinyl has more "sound/data" than digital. (thats the best way in can describe with my poor english). Vinyl always out performs digital.

This is false and grossly misleading. Vinyl can go about 7Hz to 50Khz (theoretically). Digital can go 0.1Hz all the way to infinity, depending on what software you are using. 
 

But these statistics are misleading and pointless anyway. Human hearing generally ranges from around 25Hz to 18kHz (some people’s hearing cut off around 15kHz or less, too). Microphones generally have a range of about 20Hz-20kHz depending on the specific microphone. Speakers vary greatly. Your iPhone is very rich in the highs and very weak in the lows, with a relatively balanced 800Hz-1500Hz range. Lows tend to taper off quite a bit below 180Hz. My HS8s have a fairly flat response from about 25Hz-20kHz, but steeply taper off below 40Hz. 
 

Most songs you listen to cut off around 25-30Hz on the low end and 16-20kHz on the high end because the engineers who mix and master them do so intentionally. 
 

Vinyl also has a considerably lower dynamic range than digital, being about 60dB vs 96-196dB for digital. This is also a mildly moot point as well, since your average ambient noise level is typically 30-40dB and anything over 105dB can damage your hearing depending on specific dB level and exposure time. 
 

As for “bitrate”, it’s a moot point. Bitrate only applies to digital. However, modern records (even modern remasters and re-presses of older records) are cut from digital sources and could therefore only be equal at best and lesser on average in terms of possible clarity.
 

Vinyl is a cool media to listen on because mastering for vinyl generally sidesteps the “loudness war” an extent and offers a retro experience to modern recordings. Digital is a cool media to listen on because the fidelity can reach a clarity vinyl is physically incapable of. Modern recordings can sometimes sound a bit mushy on vinyl because of more elements going on that the vinyl can have a difficult time conveying clearly. Older pre-digital remastered recordings can sound a bit empty and lifeless on modern digital playback because the clarity of the digital can make it pretty clear what’s actually going on (and not going on) in the recording. 
 

Vinyl has its place, but the music industry at large is digital. And your point about frequency range only illustrates your ignorance on this topic. 
 

source: have degree in music tech, am professional audio engineer and audio forensic analyst. 

[Metallic-Lighght]

On 10/8/2020 at 11:26 AM, Maury Sells Wigs said:

Well, I've been DJing on and off for 25 years and have amassed a huge collection of vinyl...so yeah, I love it.

 

Modern controllers and CD decks are definitely better for mixing, but they lack something - both in a tactile sense but also in the sound quality.

 

Digital is too clean, too sterile - it lacks any layers...for me, anyway. 

 

Its convenience is its only advantage. 

I personally don't understand this, why would you not want 'clean' sound as a DJ? Isn't it better for mixing?

 

I'm a complete noob, so I don't really know. 

[Intergalacticbits]

When I was young we listened to Vinyl records.

The thing I remember about it and the reason I don't care for it now was that it got progressively worse from use.

So the sound quality for people who used it hard like we did had a short life.

 

I just use all digital now for the convenience but the streaming music trend bugs me.

I feel it is being forced on me.

I don't know why but I find that on my iPad now the music quality is way less unless I turn on the show Apple music.

I love apple stuff but the thing is for me I don't buy music like that, paying a subscription every month.

I listen to the radio and if I hear something I like, I buy it.

I mean who wants to pay another subscription fee every month to listen to music I already bought?

I don't live like that.

So for somebody like me who likes that amped up sound it sucks because I won't turn on that show apple music thing.

So my music is always dim sounding. If you know what I mean.  

 

It bums me.