I must be old


Listening tonight to Heavy Weather on first vinyl then CD through a Sonica DAC it occurs to me that there are no pops, the stage separation is larger, the dynamics are larger and the instruments are better defined. My record album is not brand new. It has surface noise. My CD does not. I want to love my vinyl but unless I buy perfect new LPs I cannot tolerate the surface noise or lack of frequency limitations for the sake of euphonic sound. Am I crazy?  Misinformed?  Stupid?  I have been an audiophile for 50 years. 
tgrisham

Showing 1 response by audioguy85

"if you want an accurate rendition of the actual recording"....BS! If the recording was an "Analog" recording, then the above is a ridiculous statement. The inherent surface noise on vinyl has "zero" to do with whether it is or is not an accurate rendering of a recording. Vinyl is an "Analog" medium. Some of the "best" recorded sound I’ve heard was via vinyl. Digital is missing some of the information, as it is inherent in how it is produced. The original signal is broken up into 1’s and 0’s and laced back together again. This alone interferes with the "natural flow" of the analog signal. Its like taking someone’s DNA molecule apart and lacing it back together, but forgetting a few strands here and there! No longer original. However, if the recording on vinyl was derived via a digital recording process to begin with, then the cd is essentially the same, without the surface noise. Digital will never sound as good as all analog recordings from beginning to end. I’m talking about when tube equipment was used to record the signal to tape. Some of the very best recordings were made 50 or more years ago, and that is the truth (those days are long gone). Today, most if not all is digitally processed crap.
Do I listen to CD’s? Of course! They are easy and convenient. Do they sound better? Absolutely not. If you have yet to experience that "tubey magic" that well recorded all analog vinyl can produce, then you are missing out. Noise, warts, and all, it still sounds better. JMO