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 rmdmoore

My dad just gave me a bunch of his old records. Some really cool stuff that I've wanted for a long time. Some old Beatles, the first Band album. I cleaned them on my vacuum based record cleaner. Some sound ok but with pops and more noise. Some are unlistenable.

My experience is when the vinyl is in good shape and quiet, I always prefer the vinyl. It's bigger, more airy, more intricate. There are instruments I sometimes don't hear on digital. But if I don't have a good copy of something then digital it is. I can see how the dead quiet background of digital is very appealing and I continue to take steps to get my vinyl front end as quiet. 

For me, analog and digital are just different. I prefer the former but see how others might prefer the latter.