Volume levels

LPs often have wider dynamic range than digital sources, which seem to be more targeted in the Loudness Wars. So, yes, the tendency is to play the LP a little louder. And that's the whole Loudness War problem in a nutshell.

hilde45

Vinyl records have a typical dynamic range of around 70 dB, depending on the equipment used to record the audio and cut the record. CDs have a typical dynamic range of 90 to 93 dB ...

That is completely false. It’s actually very rare for an LP to achieve 70 dB dynamic range and a CD with a 90 dB dynamic range would be even rarer.

If you make your own measurements or refer to the dynamic range database, you’ll see that, in practice, an LP frequently has greater DR than its digital counterpart. Again, this is a consequence of the Loudness Wars.

hilde45

Thank you for correcting the false information. There is a lot out there. E.g., Paul McGowan: "Live music typically has a dynamic range of 120 dB ... So, thanks again for the correction. If was up to the SVS website and Paul McGowan, I would continue to think that the LP medium has a more restricted dynamic range compared to digital media!

You conflate potential dynamic range with the actual dynamic range of commercially released media. That’s why I provided you with a link to the dynamic range database, which clearly shows that in real life, LPs tend to have greater DR than their digital counterpoints. That’s all part of the Loundess Wars, @hilde45, and it explains in part how an LP can sound so much better than a CD.

hilde45

... IF we are comparing good, non-compressed recordings only, then the advantages of digital over vinyl are substantial ...

If you’re talking about commercial recordings, it is an exceptionally rare commercial release that does not include some compression. That’s one of the reasons that I enjoy making my own recordings and - get ready for this - many benefit from slight amounts of cautious compression. Just ask anyone who has experience with recording.

Regardless, LP contains a potential advantage over CD when it comes to HF frequency response. There's a lot of measured data supporting that, so it's dicey to say digital's advantage over analog is necessarily "substantial." It isn't quite that simple, although let's face it - establishing the value of relative differences is really subjective.