Does vinyl really sound better?

The digital formats far, far exceed the overall quality of Vinyl. The header comment about the bass omits to mention that the comment refers to the mixing, and although in theory the vinyl might sound wonderful, the reality is that without a top of the range valve amplifier and matching speakers the sound quality will always be inferior to the same set up with digital.

I speak as one who has a massive library of both digital and vinyl. Most of the vinyl are classical and LP classical pressings were done with more plastic than pop LPs – a fact few realise. Around 25% more plastic was used for Classical LPs.

But the quality of all vinyls is affected by the recording methodologies, transient artefacts, the studios used, the age of the record and more, and the reproduction at home was affected by the turntable quality, position, the types of floors in the house, the mains supply, dust, temperature, dust, sunlight, wine, women, dust and song.

The audiophile community has always comprised the knowledgeable and the impressionable, and the cult of the LP may be a symptom of he latter’s prevalence. But for sheer convenience, ‘pure’ sound – whatever that really means – and ease of use the digital AAC is extremely hard to beat.

I prefer the concert hall. However I clearly have no fine ears as I’m quite happy listening to the music I like – mainly “classical” – on shellac, vinyl, CD, my solar-powered Freeplay radio in the garden surrounded by rural noise, in the car with the calming background of engine and road noise plus conversation…….. If I do sit down just to listen to music I do find the clicks and crackles from vinyl that has been a little mistreated to be distracting. What I also found irritating was a Decca LP of Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto played by Clifford Curzon; it contained one bum note on the piano that I was always anticipating.

I agree with Ian. At the end of the old vinyl era records were quite thin and warped easily. A few also had off centre pressings when manufacturers became careless. The latest versions are better made but the limitations are the same. There is physical contact between stylus and disc. The needle needs care, cleaning and replacing. The turntable needs to be accurate and the arm balanced carefully. Records need a lot of care, they naturally attract static and dust and are easily scratched.
At the beginning, critics told us that CDs would deteriorate and become unplayable. They haven’t and they don’t. The silent background (apart from the recording ambience); the reliability of the disc and player; the detail that can be obtained; the ease of use and programming all make the CD my preferred choice. Through my equipment I get a wonderful experience that satisfies me. Granted, one can spend many tens of thousands on state of the art amps and turntables, and one can enjoy the process of fine tuning everything to the “perfect” sound. I love listening at home either with a score or without distraction, but I also get enjoyment from portable equipment elsewhere and compensate for the lack of quality by listening to the skill of the playing and the melodic flow. Since its inception the CD had transformed music listening, allowing a continuous performance of music, and only music. I would never go back to the vinyl days, though I still have my vinyl collection stored somewhere together with my grandfather’s and parent’s 78’s and Rachmaninov playing his own piano concerto -warts and all – the Queen Of Sheba coming to a staggering halt and George Thalben Ball coaxing an organ and reluctant orchestra to play five minute segments of Handel on to a tortured wax disc.

I have eleven (plus) days worth of “tunes” on an i-player in the car. (According to i tunes each symphonic movement equates to one tune! That’s almost as bad as eulogising about “The World’s Greatest Music.”) but unlike John, with whom I also agree, I have kept my CD collection with the sad knowledge that many will never be played again, but the happy knowledge that I can dip in anywhere at any time. I still buy CD’s now and then when Benjamin Grosvenor produces something irresistible or C.D review on a Saturday plays something I like enough to buy. I have never taken to the streaming or downloading technology as I like the solidity of the CD and am happy to have my shelves stacked with them. Streaming would mean buying more equipment to reproduce it properly. I remember the happy buzz when those discs arrived at random intervals from Soli Dei Gloria and I learned more of Bach’s mastery of the cantata and gazed at the enigmatic and evocative pictures on the front of their black cases. And yes, they do get played.