Why do some music enthusiasts prefer vinyl records over CDs?
February 7th, 2010 | by admin |I listened to some of my dad’s old 33’s and I can’t help but wonder what the fuss is all about. I find CD’s to have a much clearer sound quality. The records always have clicks and pops, and it sounds very hollow sometimes in comparison to CDs. So why do people love the 12" so much?
A LP record played on a DECENT turntable (not your dad’s old player from the 70s that probably has a worn stylus) can sound a lot better than a CD of the same album.
A decent turntable doesn’t have to be an expensive turntable – just not a totally cheap plastic thing or a clapped out piece of junk from the dark ages.
It’s not because the vinyl format is inherently superior, but because some CDs are just badly mastered. Especially CDs of albums from before the 1980s. If you had a CD like this, and then made a CD recording from the vinyl album (using a decent turntable as described above) it would sound better than the original CD.
The Steve Hoffman web forum (Hoffman is a hugely respected mastering engineer) contains a lot of discussion about mastering problems and how to find the best mastered version of a particular album. Obviously, if you’re a true music enthusiast, you want to find the best sounding versions of the albums you love, whether they’re on LP, CD, Blu-Ray or 8-track. And a lot of albums just happen to sound better on vinyl. Simple as.
Oh, and if you care for your records properly, keep them in the sleeves, and don’t drop or scratch them, or spill beer on them, they don’t have clicks or pops.
Records just don’t stand up to bad treatment as well as CDs, but it really isn’t difficult to keep your records in clean condition provided you don’t just toss them around or leave them out of the covers where they can get damaged.
2 Responses to “Why do some music enthusiasts prefer vinyl records over CDs?”
By Ruby Izayoi on Feb 7, 2010 | Reply
Vintage-ness. Collector music. Old music on an old disc gives a cool feeling.
References :
By RichB on Feb 7, 2010 | Reply
A LP record played on a DECENT turntable (not your dad’s old player from the 70s that probably has a worn stylus) can sound a lot better than a CD of the same album.
A decent turntable doesn’t have to be an expensive turntable – just not a totally cheap plastic thing or a clapped out piece of junk from the dark ages.
It’s not because the vinyl format is inherently superior, but because some CDs are just badly mastered. Especially CDs of albums from before the 1980s. If you had a CD like this, and then made a CD recording from the vinyl album (using a decent turntable as described above) it would sound better than the original CD.
The Steve Hoffman web forum (Hoffman is a hugely respected mastering engineer) contains a lot of discussion about mastering problems and how to find the best mastered version of a particular album. Obviously, if you’re a true music enthusiast, you want to find the best sounding versions of the albums you love, whether they’re on LP, CD, Blu-Ray or 8-track. And a lot of albums just happen to sound better on vinyl. Simple as.
Oh, and if you care for your records properly, keep them in the sleeves, and don’t drop or scratch them, or spill beer on them, they don’t have clicks or pops.
Records just don’t stand up to bad treatment as well as CDs, but it really isn’t difficult to keep your records in clean condition provided you don’t just toss them around or leave them out of the covers where they can get damaged.
References :