WookieGR

WookieGR

Full Audioholic
Never mind, I've had it with this forum. Delete this post.
 
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TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Audioholic Jedi
Ok, that was slightly misleading. Let me clarify.... heavy metal and hard rock records are better on vinyl. I pulled 7 albums from my collection and put them under a microscope along with their CD audio counterparts. The video I put together is much more extensive and exposes some CD's as not conforming to the CD Audio spec to gain additional loudness at the expense of sound quality so that was a surprise. I tested several different kinds of digital streaming and HD downloads and confirmed most of it all is garbage when measured. Different genres of music are treated differently, though. Jazz and Classical are rarely handled in such a careless way and my recent testing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on UHQR 45rpm vinyl measures extremely well but still lower than the MoFi CD version.

Below are a couple screen caps from the video followed up by the video link if you want to see all the records and all the test results.

The waveform shows Greta Van Fleet: Starcatcher on audio CD is about as crushed as possible. It's almost the new standard in awful on CD. The vinyl on the other hand is warm, pleasing and full of life.
View attachment 63937

The dynamic range also shows extreme disparity between formats.
View attachment 63938


With Judas Priest's Firepower LP, you can see it's an aggressive recording because it's an all out metal assault. However, it's mastered for vinyl in such a way that it keeps its energy level and sounds three dimensional. The audio CD on the other hand is a smashburger.
View attachment 63939

The dynamic range of the CD isn't as tragic as Starcatcher but still has its horns in the grave. The vinyl on the other hand can really shine on a great sound system.
View attachment 63941

The loudness war has certainly done damage to the state of music, forcing everyone to push further and harder. In turn, it changes the way people listen to music. I know in my car it's impossible to listen to a vinyl rip without a complete recalibration of the whole system.

I also discovered that loudness is so important to the record company's that they strip the frequency response of the recording to boost the signal.
View attachment 63942

If you find any of this interesting, check out my video below for the rest. There's a lot to cover. Oh yeah, I forgot... I give away 18 free digital download codes in the video for some random records. They will likely sound great on a portable device or in your car.

Its not the medium but the ghastly music engineered by cloth eared duffers. They can not do what you describe on a vinyl disc, as it would have hardly any playing time.
If you tested a disc with what would actually pass as music you would get a different result. Listen to music and not ugly annoying noise.
 
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
There are so many variables now to actually know which is audibly superior, or even what we're actually listening for. It's like going down the beer aisles at Total Wine. There are so many selections that I end up buying something more mainstream. The other day at the grocery store, I thought I'd just pick up a box of cheez-its to munch on at work when I don't feel like doing lunch. Well heck, there are like 14 different kinds of cheez-its now and I had to be careful to really read the label on the one marked "original," to make sure it wasn't puffed, twisted or scooped or enhanced in some way. Same with records. I have to research what is on the newer pressings, which revision of the recording it is from, and how/why it was inevitably remastered, by who etc. In other words, I don't trust new vinyl. Newer pressings have left me underwhelmed, compared to my originals. To me they sound like a noisier CD version, instead. No, I was not homesick for dust pops and static.

I still have most of my original CDs from the '80s. Just recently I looked to see why I liked some of my older ones so much better. I had forgotten about those that were not yet converted to DDD. My earliest ones are basically just like the vinyl with the offensive noises removed, and why I initially fell so hard for them, compared to now. With all the remasters and other modern recording practices, all bets are off on which is better, and I have reached the conclusion that I may as well just stream, if not listening to originals.

I'm not buying any more new vinyl. I tried it, and it does absolutely nothing for me, while my 70 or so original favorites are essentially priceless to me. I do go to the same used record store I have been going to for 40 years now. I look for restorable originals if any, and it has nothing to do with value or collectability. Same with CDs.
 
isolar8001

isolar8001

Audioholic Field Marshall
Reminds me of how Randy, thecheapaudioman on YouTube gets all those new speakers sent to him, and then evaluates them with Metallica and other god awful recordings of god awful noise/music.
Can't take a single word he says seriously after that.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Its not the medium but the ghastly music engineered by cloth eared duffers. They can not do what you describe on a vinyl disc, as it would have hardly any playing time.
I agree with this part. It's not a down-to-physical medium but a specific recording/mastering. I'm sure there LPs with horrible DR as well.
Case in point: Metallica's "Ride the Lighting" LP from 1984 had Album DR rating at a whooping DR5 (which is terrible if you can't tell)
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Spartan
To be honest, I’ve had it with posts that are nothing more than adds for somebody’s Youtube Videos.
 

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