Recommendations for a jazz record which demonstrates vinyl superiority over digital
I have not bought a vinyl record since CDs came out, but have been exposed to numerous claims that vinyl is better. I suspect jazz may be best placed to deliver on these claims, so I am looking for your recommendations.
I must confess that I do not like trad jazz much. Also I was about to fork out A$145 for Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" but bought the CD for A$12 to see what the music was like. I have kept the change!
I love the jazz in the movie Babylon, which features local Oz girl Margo Robbie (the film, not the jazz).
So what should I buy?
"Cartridges / phono-stages should honour the RIAA equalisation curve." The RIAA curve has nothing to do with cartridges, it is compensation for some of the shortcomings of the vinyl mastering/playback system. The mastering side of the curve is applied when the record is cut and the phone stage is supposed to supply the inverse. |
"I have several audiophile copies of Kind of Blue. The streaming version sounds the same and only costs $14.99 a month and includes half a million other high resolution albums and ten million red book CD quality albums. Much more cost effective than CDs. So, you have another step to lower your music cost and increase your library size." So I have a high end DAC and a high end LP system. Also numerous tape machines. My original 6 Eye Kind of Blue or the UHQR 33 & 45 best a high res stream or even my 24/96 download. If you think they sound the same then there is an issue somewhere. They most assuredly do not. Sincerely, Robert |
" @robob I can't let this stand- sorry. The RIAA curve is based on the 'constant velocity' characteristic of magnetic cartridges and also magnetic cutter heads. Magnetic cartridges are constant-velocity devices: the signal is proportional to the velocity of the stylus. High frequencies cause the stylus to move faster, so there's more signal level as frequency rises. The cutting head used to make the master is also a constant-velocity device, so a magnetic cartridge "matches" the characteristics of the cutting head. The RIAA pre-emphasis is applied when mastering to restrict excessive groove excursion (bass cut) and to reduce surface noise (treble boosted in record, rolled off during playback). The EQ is not to overcome a shortcoming IOW. FWIW, the mastering process can produce undistorted grooves that no pickup has a prayer of playing; its designed to be impossible to overload. The limit and distortion sources are mostly due to playback, not record. I learned this the hard way by owning an LP mastering setup for about 30 years." I mentioned that the curve is used to compensate for deficiencies in the playback of LPs. Thanks for the additional clarity. Problems exist both on the cartridge side and the characteristics of a vinyl record. My point is the cartridge does not involve it self in applying the inverse of the cutting curve. The phone stage does that. Y'all be cool, Robert |
