There are built in problems with using vinyl as a data encoding mechanisms that have no cd equivalent.
Is vinyl better than cd reddit.
Cd s should be able to sound as good better than vinyl but business decisions often lead that to not be the case.
Sales of vinyl records have been soaring although they still represent only a tiny fraction of the music industry s revenues.
The main reason to collect records is for music that hasn t been released on cd not sound quality.
That question depends entirely who you ask.
Hi rez audio greater than cd quality is snake oil.
Cds and vinyl records are both audio storage and playback formats based on rotating discs from different times in music history the cd audio is digitally encoded and read by a laser while analog vinyl audio is physically read by a needle.
The only reason hi rez or vinyl ever sounds better than cd quality digital from a technical standpoint see my comment above is when the cd quality version of a track or album has been raped by the sound engineers to make it sound louder.
But is it better than digital music.
Cd quality digital has a signal noise ratio that at worst is about 18 db better than analog master tape.
If you ask me it s just like trying to figure out how you want your pizza.
The mastering is different between cd and vinyl often favoring vinyl for quality.
Comparing compact discs cds to vinyl or gramophone records is the musical equivalent of comparing digital photography with film photography.
The analog format stokes the passions of many music lovers and it s an enjoyable experience.
The sound from a vinyl record is so rare and authentic that audiences can t get enough.
I actually listen to my vinyl rips more than the actual vinyl i prefer the ease of digital but many digital releases have butchered audio.
Vinyl is back no doubt about it.
Vinyl records play an analog recording while cds play a digital recording.
Is this growth because as some respected sources breathlessly state i m looking at you wired magazine vinyl sounds better than digital media.
A digital recording is a snapshot of the analog signal at a certain rate.
Or is there some sort of retro hype going on.
Vinyl is quite a bit worse than that.
About 2 percent in 2014.
In fact i have a lot more better sounding cds than i do better sounding lps.
I have many cds that sound better than the vinyl.
I think vinyl and analog recording in general sounds better than digital stuff but it s not that those formats necessarily sound more accurate world class tape machines and world class analog mastering studios can certainly produce something that competes with the accuracy of modern digital formats but accuracy itself isn t always the.
Cd is a higher fidelity format than lps but it all depends on mastering.
So why does vinyl sound better than cds especially since cds are a newer technology.
On a theoretical level there s just no reason it should be the case that vinyl sounds better.
