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The thing is, almost every digital format will have better stereo separation than Vinyl will (and by extension a larger soundfield). The shallower dynamic rang
by Aloha 4y ago
The thing is, almost every digital format will have better stereo separation than Vinyl will (and by extension a larger soundfield).
The shallower dynamic range of vinyl means you must mix much more conservatively, you cant make as loud, you cant transition from quiet to loud as quickly, your high and low levels must be closer together.
Those limitations however, perhaps surprisingly, can actually can make for a better sounding mix.
However a lossless digital format will always exceed vinyl in every technical characteristic, however because of quantization it may not sound quite as good, particularly if the entire recording chain was analog.
That all said, an mix intended for vinyl may indeed sound better than one intended for digital, because the inherent limits of vinyl produce mixes that sound more 'natural' to people, albeit one that is not strictly transparent.
- bayindirh 4y ago> The thing is, almost every digital format will have better stereo separation than Vinyl will. My initial comment about wider soundstage was for 24bit/192KHz and above sound carriers, carrying lossless audio from the source, not for vinyls. :) I listen vinyl not for the detail it provides.
- Aloha 4y agoI actually generally strongly prefer the quieter mix on vinyl, I also like vinyl for that certain... texture? it has. The only time I ever want a very high dynamic range is when I'm listening to orchestral music. Otherwise for casual listening, I prefer the quieter mix of an album intended for vinyl.
- Slow_Hand 4y agoIn your fourth paragraph you refer to digital quantization, which I imagine is you referring to the idea of digital "stair steps" in the wave form's sampling. In reality that's not a thing that actually happens. This stair step visualization is an abstraction that is used to illustrate sampling theorem. The reality is that digital wave forms replicate as perfectly smooth waves when they are converted back to an analog signal, as demonstrated here: https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml That said, I agree with all of your other points.