Vinyl or CDs?

[moob]

Whats the deal? Does vinyl really sound better? I am often amazed to hear a CD recording that I had on vinyl and hear nuances or entire freaking notes that I never heard before. OTOH I have a coworker audiophile that insists that vinyl sounds "warmer." What I remember most about vinyl was the annoying hiss and occaisional cracks (and the many returns for skipping or warped records). Any authoritative opinions on this?

[BigOleChet]

Ever play an LP in your car?

[7070]

if warmth means hiss and pops, then there is a certain warmth to vinyl

[ronin]

Originally Posted by 7070

if warmth means hiss and pops, then there is a certain warmth to vinyl

Agreed

[Castanza]

I have noticed that there are a large group of people who do appreciate vinyl. I myself prefer Cd's, and can do without the warm hissing noise, which may be what they like. I guess its kinda of nostalgic in a way. I think one of their arguments is the fact that after everything is sampled, and compressed that you lose certain things as opposed to analog. Even if that is true, you can only play vinyl some many times before it starts to lose some of its sound qualities. I guess my ear isn't that great anymore, so I am satisfied with cd's & dvd music video's.

[jefslat]

Vinyl will sound beter the first time you play it. However, the stylus will begin to deteriorate the vinyl on that first play, a process that will continue every time the album is played ustil the sound has degenerated into the infamous pop and hiss.

A real fanatic, I suppose, would buy vinyl, record it to DAT, then listen only to the recording...

[archmage]

Originally Posted by 7070

if warmth means hiss and pops, then there is a certain warmth to vinyl

For the people who feel this way, you should really have a listen to a good vinyl player and properly cared for records. I also used to think vinyl equals hiss and pops, but then once I got the opportunity to listen to Michell GyroDec (with, if I remember correctly, a Rega RB300 arm, and I've forgotten what the cartridge was), and there were no pops. The hiss was only audible when the music stopped. And somehow, the sound was very involving and easy to listen to.

Whether vinyl or cd sounds better, I think it's more of an personal opinion for each one to make themselves. The term 'sounds better' is such a personal thing that in my opinion no one can say what sounds better and what not for someone else. It's like food, drink, or cigars - there is no truth about it, everyone has their own opinion, and nobody is more right or wrong than anybody else. And for my opinion about vinyl, I think that with some old recordings, vinyl is just more 'proper' format, while the new recordings I gladly listen on cd.
[/i]

[7070]

I guess theoretically if you have a record player that uses a laser instead of a stylus, and you can find LPs that are mint with no flaws in manufacturing, it is possible to have an almost perfect playback, but once a needle touches the record it will begin to degrade.

[Renaissance Man]

I can't handle the closed-in and (to my ears) harsh highs with CD's, so it will probably come as no surprise that I prefer vinyl to CD's. I also prefer tubes to transisters. IMVHO (30+ years as an Audiophile) a properly set-up turntable will sound better than a properly set-up CD player given a system of even minimal resolving power. There are actually sound engineering reasons for this. I really don't, however, want to get into a long dissertation regarding CD Red Book standard and Nyquist, though, because YOUR ears should be the final arbiter of which system YOU prefer.

I collect jazz from the 50's, blues, classical from the 50's and rock & roll from the 50's to the mid-70's. I've got many records that I've personally had for more than 30 years that still sound great.

[Castanza]

I strongly agree with the last 2 posts. It's what you hear that matters.