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Is a vinyl rig only worth it for oldies?

I have always been curious about vinyl and its touted superiority over digital, so I decided to try it for myself. Over the course of the past several years I bought a few turntables, phono stages, and a bunch of new albums. They sounded fine I thought, but didn't stomp all over digital like some would tend to believe.

It wasn't until I popped on some old disk that I picked up used from a garage sale somewhere that I heard what vinyl was really about: it was the smoothest, most organic, and 3d sound that ever came out of my speakers. I had never heard anything quite like it. All of the digital I had, no matter how high the resolution, did not really come close to approaching that type of sound.

Out of the handful of albums I have from the 70s-80s, most of them have this type of sound. Problem is, most of my music and preferences are new releases (not necessarily in an audiophile genre) or stuff from the past decade and these albums sounded like music from a CD player but with the added noise, pops, clicks, higher price, and inconveniences inherent with vinyl. Of all the new albums I bought recently, only two sounded like they were mastered in the analog domain.

It seems that almost anything released after the 2000's (except audiophile reissues) sounded like music from a CD player of some sort, only worse due to the added noise making the CD version superior. I have experienced this on a variety of turntables, and this was even true in a friend's setup with a high end TT/cart.

So my question is, is vinyl only good for older pre-80s music when mastering was still analog and not all digital?
solman989
lenny_zwik
259 posts
 
Newly issued material I find almost universally objectionable. That's attributable to the engineering and mastering, not any inherent fault of the medium. For some reason, reissues of older material on CD or SACD is really quite good.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,633 posts
 
When we issued both of our albums we did do digital backups, but the actual master tapes were analog. We did all the mixing analog as well. Now since I am an audiophile and the like you would think that it was me that influenced the band to do this but that is not the case. There was no CD.

I know for sure that we are not the only band recording that way although its probably a little unusual. But here in the Twin Cities I know of a number of very small recording studios; they tend to offer analog or digital. One artist in particular, Paul Metzger, has released all of his work on 180 gram LP and all of it has been recorded analog. A lot of the bands here in town have released LPs- its the cool thing to do.

So you can't count on all things 21st century to be digital. You just have to listen to the LP and see if its worth it or not.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,397 posts
 
Jeff Beck recorded his albums analog thru-out the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Obviously this was his decision and the sound is outstanding. However, his live album (2008) is digital and is the worst example of modern vinyl...compressed to hell with no dynamics.
minormist
1 posts
 
I think dollar for dollar, vinyl consistently beats out CD regardless of when the recording was made. Certainly, I prefer analog recordings to digital, and 30+ years ago, all recordings were analog, but even with current stuff I prefer vinyl. I use a vintage Thorens TD-125 which I've restored and modified, and though its nice, I wouldn't call it a high end table. Still, I'm consistently surprised by the quality of sound it produces, and it trounces CDs over and over again. Sure, a $10K CD rig might best it, but a $2000 one has a tougher time keeping up.
handymann
380 posts
 
It took me a long time to "give-in" to going back to vinyl. I had to circumvent my acoustical feedback/rumble problem. I have a suspended floor and it took a while to figure that one out. Clearaudio's top of the line would be grand, but alas, I will never see it. My front end isn't the quality the rest of my system is, but I have tried a few medium priced tables and think the cart is the most important ingredient in reproducing good sound from records. As long as your TT turns a constant speed, and doesn't pick-up rumble, all is good. I will also wash them on a semi-regular basis, zap them with a Zerostat and I'm ready. Most, if not all of "Mo-Fi" albums are very good, as well as half speed masters, but they are hard to come by. I try to buy 180-200 gram LP's but the weight really doesn't effect the quality-at least I haven't found it to. I have several 120 gram records that sound just as good, but they are 30 years old-at least. As with any medium, some sound better than others. I have purchased new LP's that arrive with a few pops, but the ambience you get is worth it. I had to laugh when I first went back to albums. I was listening to an LP and reached for the remote to skip a song. That was a special moment. Stuck, stuck, stuck, stuck on dumb I guess...
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