Vinyls - Beautiful pure sound, the good old fashioned crackle sound, very underrated!

Tapes - Stereo sound, lots of hiss, very flat sound!

CD - Too Clean, no character and way to perfect!


Whats your general views! TIME TO DEBATE:D

EDIT: MP3's dont count in the debate!

Vinyl - Great sound except for the very low end. The little crackles and pops do bother me. I don't like the fact that I'm slowly wearing out my irreplaceable records every time I play them. Inconvenient as hell.

Cassette tapes - Convenient but the sound is crap. The hiss bothers me. The mechanical distortion bothers me. The only reason I ever used them is it's too hard to take a record player with me in the car and at work etc...

Reel to reel tape - HI FI sound. I once had most of my record collection on 1/4" reels with a bit of EQ "remastering" and the sound was ******* amazing.

CDs - Very convenient. Great sound in the bass and acceptable mids but the high end sounds terrible with inherent digital distortion on some sounds, especially cymbols. Symbols always sound "swooshy" on CD.

Higher format CDs - SACD and DVDa are noticeably a LOT better sounding than the normal 16 bit, 44.1 khz CD's. It's too bad so few people are using it. I guess it'll just die out for lack of interest. (Because why would anyone want to switch to a product that's identical to the one they're already used to, only much higher quality?) :rolleyes:

I like CDs of old music that are not remastered. That way you get a convient package and it still has the imperfecions that give the recording charector.

Vinyl is all I buy anymore. I love the ritual of it, the sound, the huge cover art, the joy of a great find at a record shop.

Vinyl is all I buy anymore. I love the ritual of it, the sound, the huge cover art, the joy of a great find at a record shop.


I agree with this statement completely... or errrm +1 as the kids say...


damn kids and their crazy footwear.

I agree with this statement completely... or errrm +1 as the kids say...


damn kids and their crazy footwear.

Kids? Quite ripe at 24 I see.

I collect vinyl. But sometimes its for the cover art as much as the music itself. I've bought records many times where I've never heard of the artist. That's the fun of it, discovering some old stuff you haven't heard before. Or, finding a Rolling Stones record on Decca (their USA records were released on London, the European on Decca). Or, finding a box of old 1950's 45's and hoping there's a rare Rockabilly record in there. And, there is surely a lot of music on vinyl that hasn't been, or will never be put on CD.

I usually pass on records with a bunch of scratches and fingerprints, unless I know another copy would be hard to find.

Although vinyl is fun to collect, I've been listening to CDs for a long time. I'm not a sound connoisseur. CDs sound OK to me, records sound OK, except for the snap, crackle, pop. Tape, especially cassettes and 8 track, deserved to be obsolete.

Weighing in against the vinyl here. I remember when CDs first came out I got a 3rd generation CD player in 1985 and have never looked back.

I've heard that it's supposed to "compress" the highs and yadda yadda yadda, but I've never been able to discern it. I don't miss the crackles and pops. I don't miss buying a record and having it be scratched at the factory, I don't miss the skipping, I don't miss replacing needles.

Yup CDs are the greatest thing to happen to music since the circle of 5ths.

Kids? Quite ripe at 24 I see.


Sarcasm, I can assure you. But in reality, vinyl isn't really just an "old" thing. Vinyl is making a pretty big come back... in fact I don't know if it ever really went away.

Sarcasm, I can assure you. But in reality, vinyl isn't really just an "old" thing. Vinyl is making a pretty big come back... in fact I don't know if it ever really went away.



You can actually get some vinyl records made of your music for pretty cheap. My friends' band just recorded an album that I mastered for them and they had 1,000 CD's made (about $1200 for the package) and also put up the money for 100 vinyl records (I think that was about $300).

CDs.

I had a chance to listen to vinyl being played through a tube stereo amp. The sound is immensely big and warm. Something I can never get out from the CD. It's like being an audience at a gig with everything being perfect.

Definitely vinyl for me. Yes, inconvenient and at times flawed. They wear out and are somewhat sensitive. And hard to replace. But the magic is there. Playing your favorite record, having it start with a bit of needle noise, then hearing it in all its warm unperfect glory is to me like a big comfortable hug that welcomes you home.

There is absolutely nothing like seeing and hearing a master turntable DJ work a party with crates full of vinyl. To me, hearing his/her collection is just as cool as seeing when and how he/she plays the songs. The doorway to the soul. It's like when people check out each other's sports card or comic or stamp collection. What fun is it collecting and displaying your stuff if you can just make copies of everything? The fact that you can only physically have or bring a limited amount of what you got is what makes (or used to make) a vinyl DJ's job so special.

Sorry I went off on the deep end there haha. My undying respect to vinyl collectors and DJ's still proving that it takes skill, talent, and taste to rock a party...not just a big hard drive.

:hiding:

Vinyl is my choice, but the expense of having a 'good' hifi setup has moved me mostly to CD.

Every time I get a decent turntable, something happens to it, and it stops working. I also made the mistake of buying a home theater receiver that does not have a phono preamp.:hmm:

Prerecorded cassettes were junk, but the media was fully mature when it was retired. I have a Kenwood deck that is 20-18,000 hz with normal bias tapes. With metal, it is 20-20,000 and gets 70 dB s/n with Dolby C. Good luck finding metal or Cro2 cassettes these days!:( I used to love buying the newest cut by one of my favorite bands and making a cassette that sounded as good as the LP.

CD's are a compromise. Yes, they have very good bass. With a good set of loudspeakers, the treble is unbearably shrill and distorted. But with an average home system or car stereo, they sound OK. And the durability and portability factor beats anything except mp3's/wma's/ogg's.

I prefer vinyl for listening, and cassette tape for recording. The reality is that I usually compromise quality for convenience.

CD's for me please.

vinyl=all info in signal but noise as well
cd=convienient
tape=dynamic range sucks and noise reduction = butcher the content

best hifi i ever heard was using vinyl as the source but for convenience cds got to win.

As the movement changed to CDs, the movement also changed in the recording process...

Do any of you think the sound differential is not as much due to vinyl/CD as it is to newer recording methods that invoke huge compression and sterility?

That's a good point. I guess the argument is that vinyl isn't missing info. But can our ears really pick it out.

What about analog laser disc. eg laser reading an analog groove and not using a dac.

Best of both worlds at least for audio?

Vinyl - Great sound except for the very low end. The little crackles and pops do bother me. I don't like the fact that I'm slowly wearing out my irreplaceable records every time I play them. Inconvenient as hell.

Cassette tapes - Convenient but the sound is crap. The hiss bothers me. The mechanical distortion bothers me. The only reason I ever used them is it's too hard to take a record player with me in the car and at work etc...

Reel to reel tape - HI FI sound. I once had most of my record collection on 1/4" reels with a bit of EQ "remastering" and the sound was ******* amazing.

CDs - Very convenient. Great sound in the bass and acceptable mids but the high end sounds terrible with inherent digital distortion on some sounds, especially cymbols. Symbols always sound "swooshy" on CD.

Higher format CDs - SACD and DVDa are noticeably a LOT better sounding than the normal 16 bit, 44.1 khz CD's. It's too bad so few people are using it. I guess it'll just die out for lack of interest. (Because why would anyone want to switch to a product that's identical to the one they're already used to, only much higher quality?) :rolleyes:

Have you seen the price of DECENT SACDs? It's 50 to 150 bucks for a decent Mingus SACD. I'd rather buy a well mastered CD, rip to lossless and play it on the computer via an ASIO output sending it to an external DAC. Sounds alot better than a 20 dollar SACD which was poorly made in the first place.

As fr your vinyl problem with pops and crackles, theres ways to flatten your vinyl, clean it, and give it back the kick it had when it was brand new. If you get a decent turntable (if you dont have one already) with a decent head and diamond, you shouldn't be bothered by pops and crackles any longer.

As fr your vinyl problem with pops and crackles, theres ways to flatten your vinyl, clean it, and give it back the kick it had when it was brand new. If you get a decent turntable (if you dont have one already) with a decent head and diamond, you shouldn't be bothered by pops and crackles any longer.


What I should do is get myself another 1/4" reel to reel player and transfer my vinyl to that for listening at home. It'll be damn expensive, though.

Think I'll check Craigs and evilbay on my lunch break for a reel to reel player....... :cool:

All y'all can keep the vinyl and magnetics... and I'll continue keeping all my CDs in storage bin in my closets.

I've found my ideal....

320bit max Variable Bit Rate LAME encoded MP3s ripped from CDs
Windows XP pro
Foobar 2000 (media player)
M-Audio Delta 44 (sound card)
Sony STR-6800 SD
MK Goliath II (passive sub)
pair of Koss Dyna-Mite M80 (satellites)


CD -> High quality MP3 exactness and purity -> Vintage HiFi warmth and richness that only huge transformers can achieve -> Tried and true late 1970s - early 1980s (beginning of modern tech) speakers.

http://www.myselfalone.com/images/stereo/sony.jpg

http://www.myselfalone.com/images/stereo/mk_goliathII-01.jpg http://www.myselfalone.com/images/stereo/koss_m80-01.jpg

Kinda like my basses.... Boutique -> Vintage -> Early Modern :bassist:

I use a Reel-to-Reel because I'm cool :hiding:

I don't use CDs as I find that I leave them lying around and they get destroyed, and subconsciously I take better care of my vinyls. After I listen to them I slide them back into the case, do the anti-static treatment. etc etc. So I tend to have a lot more vinyls.

I also find that, when I'm out, I don't listen to music for the most part. I don't own a portable CD player or MP3 player. I usually find that the radio is just fine for me.

The deeply hidden romantic in me went for vinyl. especially heavy... audiophile... vinyl.. mmm...

All y'all can keep the vinyl and magnetics... and I'll continue keeping all my CDs in storage bin in my closets.

I've found my ideal....

320bit max Variable Bit Rate LAME encoded MP3s ripped from CDs
Windows XP pro
Foobar 2000 (media player)
M-Audio Delta 44 (sound card)
Sony STR-6800 SD
MK Goliath II (passive sub)
pair of Koss Dyna-Mite M80 (satellites)



sweet setup James, but where does the digital/analogue conversion occur? If it's on the sound card you run the risk of the PC's internals interfering with the DAC process.

I run a cheapo M-Audio sonica (think it's called a transit now) from usb out of the PC and audio into a Cyrus 1 amp and Jim Rogers JR 149 speakers. not massively powered (it's the study system) but sounds alright. Powered by Foobar & EAC/Lame ripped mp3s also.

I'm waiting for lossless digital direct from the labels though, that'll be the thing.

- adam

No media form, past, present or future will ever sway me from vinyl.

Where's the all-digital poll option? I'm done with physical media.

Coming from growing up with vinyl, I found records don't last longer than a couple of plays before they start to go bad/ dirty etc. I dont care how careful you are, they scratch, skip etc.

Record noise should not be part of a musical experience.

I voted tape as 1/2 or 3/4 still gives you that warm sound without the noise.

8 TRACKS ALL THE WAY!

http://www.oaktreeent.com/web_photos/Stereo_8-Track_Decks/Panasonic_RS-806US_8-Track_Stereo_Tape_Cartridge_Deck_web.jpg

:D