2. analog
  3. 1235722624

Can digitizing vinyl match CD?

I'm digitizing some of my vinyl so that it is transportable. I'll keep the LPs, but I just don't want to buy duplicates of the LPs on CD. I have some LPs not released on vinyl. I'll be sampling at either 48 or 96 bps.

Is it possible for digitizing vinyl to match or exceed commercial Red Book CDs?

Is the commercial process of CD production by definition superior to anything I could achieve since the studio master recordings are fewer generations removed from the original than my LPs would be?

Are my CBS Masterworks Series Digitally Remastered LPs already compromised (compared to original analog releases) because they've departed from the analog production cycle?

Or is it only possible to exceed CD quality if price is no object?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Craig
craig_c

Showing 1 response by restock

restock
831 posts
 
My friend has been "ripping" some vinyl to 24/96 using the Alesis
masterdisc. I did compare the high-rez files to vinyl and CDs if possible and
they certainly are getting closer to vinyl.

I think if the LP outclasses the CD there is a good chance your high-rez files
will as well. When downsampling the 24/96 files to 16/44 they do sound a lot
more like CD, loosing some of the information and nuances.

It was a bit of a surprise at first that a digital file made at home could be
better than what is on CD and I never quite believed Michael Fremer when he
claimed this with his Alesis, but I did revise my opinion on this now.
More to discover