Why would someone chose buying a record over the HD Audio counterpart?

Do you prefer Records or HD Audio Files?


  • Total voters
    26
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
vinyl LP is the most durable medium ever introduced.
Definitely more so than streaming, say Tidal!
There are several of my favorite songs (Too Mutz Blues Band) on Tidal that has been taken away and now seem to be unavalaible through streaming platforms, so much for reliability with Tidal streaming services
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
That is absolutely true, at least the part about reground vinyl. They did not even take the label off and ground it into the mix. Over time this paper comes to the surface, causes pops, and also can get the stylus stuck in the same groove. This process continues for years. I still have some discs from that period, with paper still coming up and protruding. That was a bad time for the LP. It was much worse on US pressings. I have to admit a few UK pressings were prone, but they stopped. I made a habit in that period of only buying imported European pressings. The Germans and Dutch did not get involved in this practice. US EMI Angel label pressings were very bad for this.

I have never heard of the compressed air, and I suspect this may have been thought by some to be the cause, but it was paper in the mix.
I had one LP with a piece of corrugated cardboard that left a hole when I poked at it. The stereo store where I worked also sold LPs, so I just returned it and grabbed a different copy. This was in 1978.

How would the paper move if the plastic has cooled? I know the definition of 'plastic', but if that can move so much, it's a wonder that the whole LP doesn't end up looking like the clocks in Dali's 'Persistence of Memory' painting.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
to TLS's comment of LP quality and care of, just played my 50 year old copy of Steely Dan's 'Aja', still sounds superb with nary a pop or crackle ! :)
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
to TLS's comment of LP quality and care of, just played my 50 year old copy of Steely Dan's 'Aja', still sounds superb with nary a pop or crackle ! :)
Hate to rain on your parade, but Aja was released in 1977.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
LOL, ok, I was off by 5 years , regardless, still sounds great !

Regarding the album, it was remastered/re-released 30 years later(Geffen/Cisco) and I bought it, again, sounds no better than my original
 
Last edited:
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
I had one LP with a piece of corrugated cardboard that left a hole when I poked at it. The stereo store where I worked also sold LPs, so I just returned it and grabbed a different copy. This was in 1978.

How would the paper move if the plastic has cooled? I know the definition of 'plastic', but if that can move so much, it's a wonder that the whole LP doesn't end up looking like the clocks in Dali's 'Persistence of Memory' painting.
I have no idea how it migrates, but it certainly does and still is!
 
cpp

cpp

Audioholic Ninja
I like my LP's and streaming, and even my CD's, SACD's. Enjoy them all. And I pretty don't care what others think.;)
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
I purchased close to 90 LP's this year and my experience with them has been so underwhelming and heartbreaking that I have decided to abandon records for good. I've been collecting high resolution flac and DSD files ranging in quality from 24bit/96Khz, all the way up to DSD128 & SACD for the last 5 years or maybe slightly more. The majority of today's records are pressed from these exact digital sources. Mostly, gone are the days of high quality record pressings with a pure analog audio path. You need to buy records pre 1990's to start getting the lack of a digital audio path.

I hate to break the news to you but the majority of the music listening public is not doubling down on Jazz, Classical and Blues.

To me, the entire reason to buy a record is to listen to the artists unaltered pure analog sound without much or any manipulation. Yes, it's purely psychological. I want to live in that experience for the moments I have with the record because it's an even to play a record with all the cleaning and flipping required.

However, I just bought Neil Young's 180gm reissue of Harvest that is supposedly all analog. Great, that to me seems like the perfect reason to buy a record. Except... the record is mostly plagued by static and crackles. I gave it something close to an hours long wash in the Degritter Ultrasonic record cleaner and the noise is still there. The crap is in the pressing.

Same with several other records I bought this year. One in particular, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil's Tattoo was supposed to sound incredible due to it's recording and pressing but has far too many crackles and pops. Again, scrubbed the sh!it out of it for a long time in the Degritter and still sounds trash.

Other records are pressed off center causing them to swish in crackling.

Unfortunately, the bulk of my collection sounds this way. Not every single one, but most. All are new and sealed with no used titles at all. I can say that my equipment is not to blame since I have the 180gm Led Zeppelin titles pressed in Germany and they are fantastic. Clean and dynamic. The latest remaster of KISS - Destroyer on 2LP 180gm is amazing as well. So too are some others.

But not nearly the percentage of successes I need to justify keeping this hobby alive.

What irks me most about this is, I have the HD Audio versions of nearly every record I own and they are all superior to the records in every way. So what's the point really? Why would anyone today buy a new record when the 24bit/96Khz or greater edition can be bought on any of the several online stores for cheaper and sound way better with the proper gear?

With the amount of money people invest in turntables, stylus' that wear out, analog playback gear, tubes... I'm convinced that money could buy an amazing DAC and give you just the same or better results, especially considering LP's limited dynamic range. There's irony in those records you buy because they are already sourced from the digital files you can buy cheaper than the record probably cost and still not sound as good. There is this placebo effect that limited dynamics somehow creates a smoother more analog sound. The lack of clinicalness in the recording somehow sound more natural. Wrong

Who is still buying new records and what's your justification for listening to the vinyl pressing of that digital source file?

Please understand, this poll is about HD Audio with a minimum of 24Bit/88.2Khz, not MP3's or CD's. Technically, if one where to debate things to death, an audio CD could be considered lossy due to the fact it is the baseline minimum recording at 16Bit/44.1Khz and theoretically, could, under the proper circumstances sound inferior to it's vinyl counterpart.
Ditto’s. I am done with new LPs because all and I do mean all I have purchased in the last 4 years have been defective, mostly pops and ticks which distract just too much to enjoy the music presented. It’s a conundrum for sure because I typically perceive vinyl to sound more life-like than other media, but now all of my money is going into stereo and 5.1 SACDs.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
I like my LP's and even my CD's, SACD's. Enjoy them all.
Me too and given the fact, like a few others here, I've been into 'black pizza' for well over 50 years my LP's that I have are (for the most part) all analog through and through. I've mentioned this before, for those that enjoy David Rawlings and Gillian Welch they still employ an all-analog path.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Ditto’s. I am done with new LPs because all and I do mean all I have purchased in the last 4 years have been defective, mostly pops and ticks which distract just too much to enjoy the music presented. It’s a conundrum for sure because I typically perceive vinyl to sound more life-like than other media, but now all of my money is going into stereo and 5.1 SACDs.
I have not bought any new LPs since the mid eighties. Nearly all my LPs are from the analog era. There are a few from the DASH tape days prior to the CD. I have bought a very few used LPs over the years. I can not see any point in buying a newly recorded and produced LP. To me that seems totally pointless, and you all know how much I value my turntables.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
I have a good number of new LP's, probably 60 to 70 of my 452 current total, pressings from several different labels. Remarkably, none have had to be returned or refunded, and only a couple have needed a cleaning on my ultrasonic machine to be pristine, mostly because of excess static (and I haven't yet bought a Zero Stat.)

Yes, I have 3 now which are the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Ultradisc One-Step records. They state right on the packaging that the source is DSD. The pressings are exquisite in quality, on Supervinyl. That's the stuff that's black but when you hold it up to light it's translucent. They play dead quiet, and with my new Luxman direct drive PD-121U turntable and Hana ML moving coil cartridge, they're a joy to listen too.

My DAC, a Gustard X16, is capable of converting DSD up to 512, but I own no disks and no transport or other player for them. I can and DO play digital PCM files through my Bluesound Vault 2 out to that DAC X16 from my own ripped library of 570+ CD's and downloaded FLAC files, or stream Qobuz and Amazon Music HD.

Playing records, good clean ones with barely any clicks or pops, is part of my engagement with the music and the artists who performed it. That interaction of getting the LP out, placing it on one of the 2 turntables, giving it a quick dust-off and setting the stylus down is all part of the experience for me. When using digital media I'm far too likely to poke at something else on the tablet in my hand, skip around, rarely playing the full album. The vinyl record experience is far more likely for me to sit and listen to the whole album, as the artist and their label chose to produce it. In most cases that was the artist's choice and I want to enjoy that.
 
F

flippo

Full Audioholic
I Still use my Thorens TD320 That I bought At the Rhein Mein Audio Club in the 80's. Don't use it a lot but do have albums that are not avail as cds
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
I have a good number of new LP's, probably 60 to 70 of my 452 current total, pressings from several different labels. Remarkably, none have had to be returned or refunded, and only a couple have needed a cleaning on my ultrasonic machine to be pristine, mostly because of excess static (and I haven't yet bought a Zero Stat.)

Yes, I have 3 now which are the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Ultradisc One-Step records. They state right on the packaging that the source is DSD. The pressings are exquisite in quality, on Supervinyl. That's the stuff that's black but when you hold it up to light it's translucent. They play dead quiet, and with my new Luxman direct drive PD-121U turntable and Hana ML moving coil cartridge, they're a joy to listen too.

My DAC, a Gustard X16, is capable of converting DSD up to 512, but I own no disks and no transport or other player for them. I can and DO play digital PCM files through my Bluesound Vault 2 out to that DAC X16 from my own ripped library of 570+ CD's and downloaded FLAC files, or stream Qobuz and Amazon Music HD.

Playing records, good clean ones with barely any clicks or pops, is part of my engagement with the music and the artists who performed it. That interaction of getting the LP out, placing it on one of the 2 turntables, giving it a quick dust-off and setting the stylus down is all part of the experience for me. When using digital media I'm far too likely to poke at something else on the tablet in my hand, skip around, rarely playing the full album. The vinyl record experience is far more likely for me to sit and listen to the whole album, as the artist and their label chose to produce it. In most cases that was the artist's choice and I want to enjoy that.
Yeah, I get it. That’s to say I understand your passion for vinyl. I prefer it just because I think it sounds better than other media which has digitized the analog tape production. But thing is I am very sensitive to pops and ticks. They distract me from the pleasure of vinyl. So, I just don’t buy it any more.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
Yeah, I get it. That’s to say I understand your passion for vinyl. I prefer it just because I think it sounds better than other media which has digitized the analog tape production. But thing is I am very sensitive to pops and ticks. They distract me from the pleasure of vinyl. So, I just don’t buy it any more.
I'm rather averse to that as well. And I have NONE.
 
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
My vinyl does impart a very powerful effect via it's however you want to classify it, SQ. It's like comfort food compared to gourmet. I reconditioned all of mine and revisited them recently. I really thought I would be unmoved by it because I love CD. But now they were all like brand new again and it was so ultimately and intimately familiar, 30 years on since I last went thru them. These were old friends and I knew them still like that back of my hand. I found a pic of my ex in a bikini from 1988 in a SRV album when we were in our 20s. We have been divorced 20 something years by now and this really stopped me in my tracks in a most melancholy way. With the added sound of the album. . .the experience just can't be replicated or bought, anywhere else.

War's "The World Is A Ghetto" on original vinyl is just something to behold if you are from that time. As far as posing to be trendy or something, meh. I understand people who have their original collection. That and FM radio are all my oldest bro listens to and yet listening at his house is still worth doing. We both know where we have been with all of this and these records are so much of what enriched us, when nothing else could.
 
WookieGR

WookieGR

Full Audioholic
I've answered my own question on this subject. If you bore easily, good luck with this one.

I have been discovering so much lost or ignored information regarding the subject of vinyl vs digital that it's so painfully and embarrassingly clear why in many cases LP's are the superior format for true audiophiles. Before I get into it, I've been listening to records all wrong. I've been handling them all wrong and I've based my buying decisions on them all wrong. I feel I have a better handle on it now but they are a lot of work but the payoff is much nicer. There's a whole method to playing a record I have overlooked. Simply wiping a record with a big fudge or whatever brush is not good enough. I have to first wash all records whether new or used in the spin-clean with a mix of distilled water and tergitol. Then wash them in a second spin-clean of just distilled water. Once dried, stored in brand new anti static sleeves. When played back, I discovered my non slip mat was causing static on the records creating a ton of static. I have retired the mats and work strictly with the acrylic platter on my turntable. WIth that, I use an anti static grounded brush. Which is a miracle that everyone should have. It took a record that I thought was defective and made it perfectly silent. It was static!

51ZLeGfZHjL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

Yes, digital is "clearer" without any of the background noise and "can" provide far better resolution and dynamic range but in so many cases, digital simply doesn't pass the test and fails to deliver on that true high resolution experience thanks to the loudness wars b.s.. However, vinyl pressings can be total garbage too, like for example, the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's vinyl pressing of "Beat the Devil's Tattoo". It was pressed exclusively on recycled vinyl from several sources and not a single release of that record on vinyl is listenable. It's plagued with background noise and non stop static. I always assumed that when a record sounds like trash, it's because some cheap bearded hipster douchebag decided to use recycled material claiming it's "environmentally friendly" as the excuse but in effect ruining that release forever to save money. I have a few other records than no matter what cleaning methods I deluge them with, they sound like a roaring campfires. Again, I have to assume recycled materials are to blame. If after a two stage washing and using the anti static brush shown above they are still a mess, then they are poorly pressed and hopeless. So yeah, in this situation the vinyl is a bad choice. Unfortunately, there is no HD Audio version of "Beat the Devil's Tattoo" for sale so the masses are stuck with the average and uninteresting horribly compressed audio CD or streaming. And for the record, I refuse to consider audio CD's to be "lossless". They are too often compressed all to hell with no dynamic range are should be considered simply as "lost". To contrast that, you have the more recent release of the excellent Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" 200gm clarity vinyl pressed at 45rpm from Analogue Productions. It is quite literally the best edition of this recording currently in existence and if played under the best circumstances, you will be there in the room with them. It's mastered directly from the original tapes with no digital detours in the pressing process. (Although, in the testing I did for my forthcoming review video, I did discover the left and right channels are reversed and the company Acoustic Sounds where I bought it from absolutely refuse to comment on that little discovery. An $150 audiophile LP release with the channels pressed backwards is a huge problem to deal with. I think they prefer to sell more old Jazz records and pretend it never happened.)

Another aspect of vinyl that I particularly find the most important is the sanctity of the original analog recording. Most modern releases are indeed digitally sourced but there are some exceptions when the original analog master tapes are used for pressing and the record label makes certain to advertise that on the hype stickers. I have been more interested in finding used LP's that were the original releases to get that purer original mix and recording. So many albums have been remastered and overly blown out losing their dynamic range and the subtleties over the years that the original productions are lost. I recently obtained some 40+ year old used Alice Cooper records for dirt cheap and after the two stage cleaning process I do on all my record buys, they sound absolutely fantastic. I believe there is a psychological need to know that what you are listening to on your expensive gear is the original recorded work. A oversaturated CD or stream is the exact opposite of that. I can deal with a few pops and clicks knowing that sound is actually what people first heard in the 1970's or early 80's and it's what the artist gave us. Their voices, their instruments, but to tape then to the vinyl record in my hands. That is how I feel closer to the artist. Not some remashed loudness war remix screaming for the attention of new listeners that think streaming is perfectly fine. Most albums are simply ruined thanks to streaming services and that's why so many records are seeing "remasters" these days. They're not real remasters, they're being funked up so they sound alive when streaming on the go. Over compression on the music makes it easier to encode and decode for streaming in low bandwidth situations. On the flip side, a digital recording mastered specifically for LP will retain much more dynamic range than the digital version. It has to, otherwise the stylus may start skipping or nasty simblence will occur. The vinyl recordings have to be tamed down to a more realistic listening experiences because the recording can actually damage the pressing and playback equipment. In addition, that record is likely to be sourced through a higher end DAC than most of us will ever have in our homes. I know many records in my collection have what appears to be a wider and more open soundfield than the 24/96 digital counterparts played through my $3000 DAC. It's always a joy when you have a guest over and they ask if those are the only two speakers they are hearing.

To determine why someone would argue the virtues of digital over vinyl we must consider the types of people out there. We have three ranges of audio listener as far as I can tell and absolutely yes, I am oversimplifying things:

First type, those that listen to music causally through a variety of ways such as CD's, basic streaming services, listen through headphones like Sony or Beats or any sub $500 type headphone that invests more in marketing than actual performance, car audio systems no matter how expensive still have road noise and imaging problems, potables etc... these listeners roam around and never stay stationary in a sweet spot to experience the production. They're not consuming the experience, they are simply listening to the music and with several interruptions and distractions along the way like their phones, kids, pets, whatever.

Second type, you believe you prefer a more refined listening experience and stream in HD thinking you are getting the superior version of the recording either through your home stereo receiver or dedicated music equipment that is what you consider "expensive" but is still only in the few thousands of dollar range combined. There's no doubt that things do still sound pretty good. These folks have compared HD Audio formats and regular CD's and MP3 files and are convinced there's no difference because they refuse to acknowledge they do not have the equipment or the DAC's or the listening range to fully give an educated opinion on it all and have concluded that MP3's are exceptional.

Lasty, the "audiophile", prefers to sit down in a specific sweet spot and get lost in the recording. Upon first glance of these individuals, they appear to just be listening to music, perhaps with their eyes closed but in fact, they are sitting in a massive throne in the center of an auditorium where you, the viewer of this, no longer exist. They listen to the ambient room noise on Jazz record, try to gauge how far away one musician is to another on the stage, waits to hear the squeak of a hinge on a foot pedal hitting a bass drum or that gross sound that someone's lips make when separating just as they are about to use the mic. My favorite is the creek a chair makes when listening to classical. What most people earn in a year, these audiophile types casually spend on seperate power amps and turntables that look like steampunk time machines without batting an eye, own speakers that cost more than an average SUV and have custom cables and power supplies to prevent any interference from the neighbors microwave. In other words, they take music listening to the extreme and are f^ck!ng serious about it with no debating it. I don't have any friends like this but I wish I did. I know they feel alone and I am here for you. This is not gear given to them by manufacturers for review, they are real buys with real money by real fanatics that have never posted a single youtube video and probably couldn't use TikTok if their life depended on it or have ever mounted a TV on a wall without paying someone else to do it for them. So maybe I just burned my bridges... but I know better than to tell them MP3's are perfectly fine.

These people, those people, you people, me, the always drunk on what use to be Bud Light but is now Black Label beer people, can also be categorized in "dynamic range" folks. People that are not affected by low dynamic range and could care less about it because louder is better.

The general types of audio content that's consumed these days is mostly in the dynamic range of less than 6 out of an ideal range of between 10-14. None of that makes any sense but several online do use the dynamic range meter as a way to determine the compression level of recordings. One such site called dr.loudness-war has spent years cataloging recordings for the sake of noting which versions of what albums are actually good quality or not. If the data they gather is legit, it's depressing to see how bad the music industry is truly devolving.

In my testing, I've discovered that modern recordings released in HD audio formats and on lower resolution CD test to be crushed with extremely low dynamic range due to the ever present loudness war. Using an Acoustic Spectrum Analyzer I can see that the digital releases sold on sites like Qobuz and HD Tracks blow out the dynamic range in favor of producing the loudest possible presentation creating the illusion of an exciting and modern sound. In reality, you are losing the subtleties of the artists creation because it is mixed out. Naturally, the outlets selling and streaming digital content do not autor the material, it is provided to them by the record companies and they are the ones to truly blame.

For the sake of analysis, I have gathered three categories of a recording for testing below. I used a basic audio CD, the official 24Bit/96kHz HD Audio track from Qobuz and a higher resolution audio capture of the LP using top end equipement (not recorded by me but obtained online from torrent). For this example I am using the latest release by Metallica. The album is 72 Seasons and the track is Lux Eterna. I don't care if you're a fan or not, this is fact finding and data collecting of what the industry is selling us today.

To start, I have scanned a "lossless" version of the track directly from the CD using the Acoustic Spectrum Analyzer and you can see it's completely crushed with virtually no dynamic range. It's maxed out and of course, will playback loudly with the possibility of clipping and distortion on some systems. The real problem with recordings like this is the fatigue one can experience at louder volumes for longer periods of time as well as harshness on the ears. The report is showing this file with a Dynamic Range of 5. Categorized as some of the worse.
06. Lux Eterna.CD.png
Screenshot 05-20-2023 17.39.25.png


Next we have the same track again but scanning the 24/96 HD edition. It shows an incredible amount of improvement and it does sound absolutely remarkable. Never fatiguing or harsh with no distortion that I noticed. Not every HD release is as genuine as this and some I have scanned were literally just the 16bit 44.1 kHz edition upscaled into the 24bit/96kHz container or that original master was limited, its hard to know for sure. Again, even though it will be less harsh on the ears it's still limited because it maxes out the available format.
06. Lux Æterna.24-96.png
Screenshot 05-20-2023 17.41.50.png


This is an 24bit/192kHz audio capture directly from the LP. You can see the dynamic range expands just slightly beyond that of the HD release. To play this back or any other well mastered record on the highest of end gear in a controlled environment must be a joy. Having a dynamic range of 10 after being analyzed shows that the vinyl master is superior mix for records and for higher end systems.
B3. Lux Æterna.LP 24-192.png
Screenshot 05-20-2023 17.45.55.png


Just for sh!ts and giggles, here is the Spectrum of an MP3 created at 320kbps max settings from the same 24bit 96kHz file shown above. A notch below that of CD of course. However, I admit that I convert all my 24bit 96kHz files to MP3 for my car audio thumb drive. There is a purpose and a place for all sorts of formats. The dynamic range analysis on this one is a split hairs away from being identical to the CD audio version. Not worth showing.
06. Lux Æterna.mp3.png


As far as "lossless" audio goes, it's seems to me that there's no reason to archive straight CD flac files when the MP3 320kbps is nearly identical. If you are in that category of listener, there's no chance you will tell the two formats apart because you have already accepted 16bit/44.1kHz as your lord and saviour and may as well consider physical storage space as your determining factor. If you have a super high end system, you should be ashamed to be streaming or using CD audio so why haven't you upgraded to HD Audio yet? I get it you spend billions on high end DAC to make CD's sound better but... whatever. The CD audio format is low enough on the spectrum audio quality wise that, yes, MP3's are indeed just as good and that's only because CD's are just that bad. I have been searching for older CD pressings of some albums because they were mastered more maturely and sound better with real dynamic range before the loudness overlords took over and remastered everything. In fact, there is a stellar high resolution 7 1/2 ips (magnetic tape) capture of Ozzy's "Blizzard Of Ozz" from 1980 that blows away the modern HD remaster. If you are so inclined, search AudioPhil editions on your favorite site to find more of those.

The verdict here, for me anyways, is that I will continue to buy vinyl for my more desired releases based on the packaging, the nice 180G or 200G pressing and the hope of a quality pressing. All else will be HD Audio whenever possible. Nothing in this post is definitave or meant to convice anyone of anything. Your own ears are your guide. I just prefer to have the best of the best whether I can fully experience today or not because someday when I can truly appreciate it, I will be prepared.

The problem with CD's is that they were developed by Sony to store the longest recording they had and it was Wilhelm Furtwängler's glacial 1951 recording which ran to a length of 74 minutes. The specs all revolved around getting that one recording on a single disc, not because the CD was an audiophile format or it was the best they could come up with. It was supposed to be much more, and it was at first, but would store less and thus we are left with 16bits and 44.1kHz as our "standard". It's not lossless, it's what would work.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
I think that depends on how you interpret "superior". I have heard CD versions of LPs that do sound much worse than the original, but there are also some fine remasters out there. It's in the hands of the engineers and mixers. I will agree that the "loudness war" is absolutely horrible for music fans. There are rock bands whose music I really love but I get frustrated at how bad the engineering is. The mix seems targeted at the earbud and car stereo crowd as the music is highly compressed. In those instances a good hi-fi system brings out the worst in the recordings and they are indeed fatiguing. The jazz and classical crowd have it lucky as I don't think they have been plagued by this issue nearly as much as pop, R&B and rock.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
I find these discussions to be like

1687133473076.png


I've heard all the same arguements from both camps. Its one discussion I no longer take part in. I'm media agnostic and like it all because it ultimately about the music, not the media nor the equipment. Happy listening :)
 
M

MrBoat

Audioholic Ninja
I just listened to vinyl again these past two weeks and was instantly hooked into a listening marathon with it. That mid-bass slam seems much more apparent on vinyl, at least with some records I own. Boston's debut album, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," Deep Purple's "Machine Head," Rush's "2112," and the Emerson, Lake and Palmer "Trilogy" album are all full of this mid bass fire, among others.

Vinyl with subwoofers now in the mix is even one step higher than it ever was before. While I don't have an absolute preference, I certainly will keep using it periodically, and am always glad I did it. Just talking about it makes me want to listen to it now.
 

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