CD vs. Vinyl

"Vinyl has the least compression vs any digital medium." -S23chang

Yes, but if we also factor in artifacts and noise, the vinyl comes up short. Even when I deep clean my records, the clicks and pops are gone but the noise is always there without exception. Sure, it is barely noticeable, but I can hear it very clearly with good headphones.

This subject has been beaten to death! But it's still fun once in a while. Here are some advantages CD has over vinyl:

* Portable audio - you can cart around your CD in a nice portable/try that with an LP!

*Track access - you can jump from track to track, shuffle tracks and program tracks. With vinyl, you're carefully moving the needle around the record.

*Capacity - 80 minutes vs 45 (roughly). And you don't have to flip a CD over.

*Longevity - You have to baby your vinyl. One tiny nick or scratch on your LP and the playback is damaged. I think we all agree that CDs are tossed around (within reason) and they still end up sounding great every time.

*Size - It's convenient to store and hold CDs. LPs are large and unwieldy. That makes them vulnerable to damage. And back to that portable issue.

*Car - You can bring your CDs along to entertain you in the car. Ever try to rig a turntable to your Buick?

*Durability - CDs play great 20 years after I bought them. LPs wear out from repeated use.

*Care - you have to regularly clean your stylus and records. It's a chore some love but think about the ease of CDs. You almost never have to clean anything unless you are getting food or grime on them.

*Sound? - Oh...I"m going to get lynched! My point here is that without elaborate setups, expensive equipment, or variable settings (tone arm weight, etc) a CD sounds great every time.

Now sure, this can evolve into side arguments on how warm vinyl is (and it IS warm and nice) but in the end, CDs are hassle free, convenient, easy to maintain/store, and portable. They are not fussy or fragile and you can get them almost anywhere for reasonable prices.

The fact that someone has to spend thousands of dollars to get vinyl to sound better (I KNOW it can be done) than a CD is saying something. For CDs, you can get audiophile sound for hundreds, not thousands. And the rig should last you decades without any pain.

In the end, I am like everyone else here. I love to play around with vinyl. I'm always cleaning it, caring for it, and putting it on the platter when I'm home kicking around. It's a hobby I take seriously. But I would never seriously ignore any of the points I laid out above and say that vinyl is *better*. Because lets face it, barring a very expensive setup and a lot of care and fine tuning, it's not very practical.

Oh...one more point. I an a CAD designer. If I brought a turntable to work, my peers would think I'm BONKERS. They already give me a hard time about my cassette walkman (still love to play copies of good vinyl on chrome tapes). With my Sony DEJ925 CD player, I can fly under the radar and it fits in my desk. :)

"Is this perhaps part of why many high end audio buffs are so pro vinyl and anti CD? Hundreds of dollars is certainly not high end, right?" - Mapman

You are arguing about preference and the discussion is about formats. People might prefer french fries over asparagus but any nutritionist will tell you that the asparagus is better in many ways for them. As far as "easy" is concerned, why would higher-end have to be difficult? Doesn't make much sense.

It is a bit more difficult to argue the facts. CDs are more durable, smaller in size, playable in cars and portable gear, more accessible from retail stores (even gas stations sell CDs), and have advanced features like shuffle/repeat/program. Preference doesn't dismiss these attributes.

"Because it is always harder to do anything really well." - Mapman

Not always. As a designer, I always strive for ease of use and a great UI. If equipment is difficult to use, consumers gravitate to the competitors. Look at the success of Apple. Quality products, great design and interfaces on their products. I wouldn't say a Dell is higher end than Apple because it's more cumbersome and difficult to use.