5 ms·

Won't the audio that's pressed onto the vinyl be digitally mastered anyway these days?

polshaw 12y ago
Yes, but this isn't a problem. Nothing is 'lost' with the digital stage. Vinyl sometimes has a different mastering, as you cannot increase the loudness of vinyl by compressing the waveform, as well as the fact that it is often marketed at audio enthusiasts. Aside from the unobjective preferences of some, this is how vinyl can sometimes sound better than the released CD. Nothing to do with limitations of the CD format.
laumars 12y ago
Yes, but that's been the case for a decade or so already (longer for electronic music, unsurprisingly). However, aside the tactile arguments, one of the properties of vinyl that many enthusiasts love is the "warmth" distortion that the medium adds - even from a digital master.
- w0utert 12y ago
  I wonder whether the same 'warmness' people associate with vinyl couldn't be reproduced just as easily using equalizer settings or post-processing of a digital source. The 'information' on a vinyl record is for all practical intents and purposes (ie: limits of the human hearing) the same as a digital copy of the same source at typical (CD quality) sampling. I understand that's not the point of playing vinyl (I frankly don't understand what the point is, but then again, I don't understand the point of collecting a room full of shiny discs in plastic cases either), but the audio quality argument sometimes offered by people who like vinyl sounds like the typical justification bias, a bit what you regularly hear from people who buy gold-plated HDMI cables.
  - marrs 12y ago
    Warmth is usually the result of the electrical noise generated by analogue gear. There are plenty of software processing plugins to simulate this, and they get pretty accurate, but it does amuse me that producers spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to reproduce the sound of a valve amp or an analogue synth when they could just go out and buy a valve amp or an analogue synth.
  - laumars 12y ago
    It's not justification bias, but it is a bias none-the-less. I think it's a case of people warming (if you pardon my pun) to the familiar. For many people who grew up with vinyl, the distortion vinyl adds might be reassuring. For some people of a younger generation, they might have the same tendencies towards the artifacting of medium to high bit rate MP3s. This last point might sound weird, but there have been some (informal?) studies that have suggested that to be the case. http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/03/11/153205/young-people-prefer-sizzle-sounds-of-mp3-format http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/03/11/153205/young-people-... Personally I don't like the "sizzle" of MP3s, but I wouldn't say I miss the warmth of vinyl either. I'm someone who have always preferred the clarity of FLAC or CDs. Each to their own though :) I am puzzled why my previous comment got down voted though. Would whoever negative repped me mind elaborating why they considered my post so heinous it deserved to be modded down?
niklasni1 12y ago
I'm into new dance music, and I think very few people will use an entirely analog setup anymore. Some will record instruments to computers, some will use software instruments, or a combination of the two. But I don't buy vinyl for the sound, I buy it because I like having a wall full of it.
mojuba 12y ago
See SPARS Codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code#Codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code#Codes I usually don't trust vinyls that don't indicate their recording/producing/pressing method.
- deutronium 12y ago
  Cheers, I'd not heard of that.

Yes, but this isn't a problem. Nothing is 'lost' with the digital stage. Vinyl sometimes has a different mastering, as you cannot increase the loudness of vinyl by compressing the waveform, as well as the fact that it is often marketed at audio enthusiasts. Aside from the unobjective preferences of some, this is how vinyl can sometimes sound better than the released CD. Nothing to do with limitations of the CD format.

laumars 12y ago

Yes, but that's been the case for a decade or so already (longer for electronic music, unsurprisingly). However, aside the tactile arguments, one of the properties of vinyl that many enthusiasts love is the "warmth" distortion that the medium adds - even from a digital master.

w0utert 12y ago
I wonder whether the same 'warmness' people associate with vinyl couldn't be reproduced just as easily using equalizer settings or post-processing of a digital source. The 'information' on a vinyl record is for all practical intents and purposes (ie: limits of the human hearing) the same as a digital copy of the same source at typical (CD quality) sampling. I understand that's not the point of playing vinyl (I frankly don't understand what the point is, but then again, I don't understand the point of collecting a room full of shiny discs in plastic cases either), but the audio quality argument sometimes offered by people who like vinyl sounds like the typical justification bias, a bit what you regularly hear from people who buy gold-plated HDMI cables.
- marrs 12y ago
  Warmth is usually the result of the electrical noise generated by analogue gear. There are plenty of software processing plugins to simulate this, and they get pretty accurate, but it does amuse me that producers spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to reproduce the sound of a valve amp or an analogue synth when they could just go out and buy a valve amp or an analogue synth.
- laumars 12y ago
  It's not justification bias, but it is a bias none-the-less. I think it's a case of people warming (if you pardon my pun) to the familiar. For many people who grew up with vinyl, the distortion vinyl adds might be reassuring. For some people of a younger generation, they might have the same tendencies towards the artifacting of medium to high bit rate MP3s. This last point might sound weird, but there have been some (informal?) studies that have suggested that to be the case. http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/03/11/153205/young-people-prefer-sizzle-sounds-of-mp3-format http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/03/11/153205/young-people-... Personally I don't like the "sizzle" of MP3s, but I wouldn't say I miss the warmth of vinyl either. I'm someone who have always preferred the clarity of FLAC or CDs. Each to their own though :) I am puzzled why my previous comment got down voted though. Would whoever negative repped me mind elaborating why they considered my post so heinous it deserved to be modded down?

niklasni1 12y ago

I'm into new dance music, and I think very few people will use an entirely analog setup anymore. Some will record instruments to computers, some will use software instruments, or a combination of the two. But I don't buy vinyl for the sound, I buy it because I like having a wall full of it.

mojuba 12y ago

See SPARS Codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code#Codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPARS_code#Codes I usually don't trust vinyls that don't indicate their recording/producing/pressing method.

deutronium 12y ago
Cheers, I'd not heard of that.