LPs vs Cds

[relman]

LP's work for me, especially if they are the original ones. They give you a truer sound without all that digitalized stuff...

[Boplicity]

Guess I have to go with CDs because I haven't had the equipment to play LPs since the late seventies. I also tend to be rough on things. LPS require such great care to keep them from warping. I do think they had much better jackets than CDs have covers. Most CD covers sacrifice legibility to be artistic. Who in heck can read that stuff?

[Ulyanov]

I like CD's. They're compact, they sound good, they don't scratch, and they're shiny. Although, it's true, you can't fit as much art on a CD cover, and there is a fun nostalgic value to vinyl, but I don't think that that makes up for the scratching and warping.

[dawgawd]

vinyl is SO sweet. It seems to me like their is something in vinyl that you just can't get on cds. They sound much warmer. When I'm listening to a record I feel like i'm right there with the musicians. and i'm not talking about old records either. When possible I buy all my new releases on vinyl. Vinyl is awesome. Especially plain black vinyl. I've got a few things on colored vinyl (white, 2 on transparent pink, baby blue, transparent green) and they don't seem to have the same integrity. Records excell in that they put out SO much more bass than CDs. There seems as if no limit to the range that records have. I love them. It seems to me that anyone who doubts that records are great has probably only heard old worn out records on crappy players. But then again, it's an opinion thing, and records DO require more care than CDs, and aren't as practical (i burn most my records onto cds so i can listen to them in my truck). So yeah.

[Tsal]

My first 2 albums that I bought were on LP, it was 1991 and I was.. 8 or 9 at the time. I think I have small softspot for vinyls because of that.

The albums? Oh, they were Jackson's "Dangerous" and the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles 2 Soundtrack featuring such great names as Vanilla Ice!!

[nickis thebest]

i like vinyl becuase its cheaper and my uncle gave me all his original clash records from the 70's

[JMX]

I still have my LPs but CDs have the truer sound (sorry, relman - it's a technical reality

I just wish they'd package the CDs in the old LP covers - I miss the artwork.

...and I'm still waitin' for Maiden's Live After Death to be rereleased in FULL LENGTH!!!

If I want a warmer sound on new CDs I treat them with T-Racks and burn them. Nice tube sound!

[Mike N]

Originally posted by JMX
...and I'm still waitin' for Maiden's Live After Death to be rereleased in FULL LENGTH!!!

Right on.What did we do to deserve getting screwed out of side 4 of the lp version? They could have made it a 2 cd set.I probably paid more for the cd than I did for the lp,too.Criminals,I tell ya.......

[cole]

they both have advantages.

LPs - cheaper. (but this is a very big advantage)
CDs - holds more music, not as fragile, no hissing/popping/skipping/etc.

I prefer CDs, but if I can find something on vinyl, I'll get it on that instead, for the obvious reason.

[JimK]

I'm a guy with 2,000+ LPs AND approx. 2,000 cds...which ones can YOU play in your car? There's my vote.

Cole-
...nowadaze, LPs are NOT cheaper(unless you're buying them in a Used Shop). A certain "Mom & Pop" store(Birdland Records) still carries some vinyl & a "new" album is $17.99(cd of same title is anywhere between $10-$15). Also, if you hit a site like www.mosaicrecords.com, their record/vinyl sets are "up there" compared to the same set in cd form.
Truthfully, I love my old records...gotta give cds the nod, though(a little easier to use & they really can be played anywhere: home, work, car, beach, friends' homes, etc).

I will add this: I really do miss the album art & liner notes found on records!

[djproject]

I think I've explained this before in another topic posting but I'll be glad to repeat myself!

COMPACT DISCS:
You can't go wrong with the portability and the sound is clean. Although record companies usually don't take advantage of it (unless when they want to steal more money with a sticker that says ANNIVERSARY EDITION), you can package it different ways (I have three CD that are in the gatefold design, just like good ol' vinyl). Definitely the disadvantage is the size of the artwork.

VINYL:
It is warmer, it demands attention and it goes back to the good ol' days (for me, it would be when I was six and yes vinyl was still around). And yes you can't argue with the size (it's fun to hold). The only disadvantage (aside from hearing some of my favorite vinyls stratched) is that my father's turntable is too fast (distorts the pitch and I'm very senstive to that... especially if I'm playing my favorite song).

That probably didn't help at all but it's my opinion. In my mind, both are important.





Derek J. Power

[Oysterman]

Originally posted by djproject
That probably didn't help at all but it's my opinion. In my mind, both are important.

Amen! My thoughts as well!

[dancehallclasher]

LPs, dude. they're cheaper, and they sound better. if i want to play something in the car, i'll tape it or download and burn to cd. no problemo. i just got a dropkick murphys 12" of "the gang's all here" and the vinyl just sounds better.

[relman]

i hear ya...i just got an original edition of Zeppelin I!!!!!
Plus I own various Doors, Beatles, Queen and Rush Originals and I love 'em.

[Josh Ryan]

Originally posted by JMX
I still have my LPs but CDs have the truer sound (sorry, relman - it's a technical reality

I just wish they'd package the CDs in the old LP covers - I miss the artwork.

...and I'm still waitin' for Maiden's Live After Death to be rereleased in FULL LENGTH!!!

If I want a warmer sound on new CDs I treat them with T-Racks and burn them. Nice tube sound!

It's true, cd's have all the range the human ear can handle. I think everyone is getting better at producing them now too, so that really helps. I remember getting CD's that had been manufactured from analog master tapes that didn't sound so hot or cd's recorded all DDD when they first came out that were tinny as all hell. I think they have improved dramatically.

[dancehallclasher]

Originally posted by JimK
...nowadaze, LPs are NOT cheaper(unless you're buying them in a Used Shop). A certain "Mom & Pop" store(Birdland Records) still carries some vinyl & a "new" album is $17.99(cd of same title is anywhere between $10-$15).

well, you're being ripped then (not that anybody's NOT being ripped by the music industry). in most places vinyl is much cheaper, by which i mean in chain stores (tower) and online. mom and pop stores don't have as consistent and informed prices as large stores. at my local tower, a vinyl album is no more than $11, usually.

[JimK]

...chain stores? Hmmm.
Nah, the stuff I would want ain't gonna be in Wal-Mart.
I do buy a lot from Tower on-line; fact: No vinyl for the stuff I want(lucky if there's even a cd still available for an OOP LP).
And I haven't bought anything "new" in vinyl in approx. 15 years.

Further, isn't easier to learn stuff from a cd?
(& don't say, "...I'll just burn the vinyl to a CD-R & learn it").

***PUNCHIN' IN***
Another BIG advantage of cds(as alluded above)-
When I listen to a symphony, I don't wanna have to get up & flip the record over...breaks the mood.
Also, I'm listening to my cd version of Corea's Now He Sings, Now He Sobs & there's EIGHT(8) BONUS tracks!
Now granted, some purists will argue that "if these tunes weren't good enough to be on the original vinyl version, they must not have been 'too good' in the first place". Fine...lemme hear 'em & I'll decide if they're 'good enuff'.
Personally, I wanna hear all the noodlin' as the players create/record; I wanna hear Chick & Roy Haynes jammin' when Vitous taking a cig break; I wanna hear Chick & Vitous mprov-in when Haynes is in the can; I wanna hear Haynes & Vitous groovin' while Chick takes a phone call.
FWIW, I bought the double-album Bitches Brew in '76 or so...I didn't fully enjoy(if at all)until I bought "The Complete" BB Sessions; is there even a vinyl version of this available? Don't think so(even if there were, it WOULD NOT have been cheaper than what I paid for this @ColumbiaHouse).

[dancehallclasher]

Originally posted by JimK
Further, isn't easier to learn stuff from a cd?
(& don't say, "...I'll just burn the vinyl to a CD-R & learn it").

correct, for learning stuff i don't burn it, i just listen to the mp3 on my computer. much easier to rewind. but why on earth wouldn't i say that? it's easy as pie to do.

point taken about the symphonies. doesn't change my preference though, because i don't listen to much classical.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think we've had this discussion a few times on the board before; but somehow it seems more reasonable and less "polarised".

I will repeat that for most pop/rock I think there is absolutely no difference as most of these studio creations are compressed to hell before you start mastering and are mixed to sound good on anything.

But for "Classical" (or more accurately Orchestral) music I can remember the huge difference when CDs first appeared - it was like a big heavy curtain had been drawn back and I could actually hear the orchestra exactly the same as in the concert hall!! CDs are so much clearer and reveal details that were entirely obscured on vinyl. Also, a lot of the "large-scale" orchestral works I had on vinyl would distort horribly at the peaks and the quietest passages were lost behind surface noise.

I also think that for a lot of Jazz records, the CD remasters have made the recording much more listenable - you can actually hear the bass for the first time!

[lump]

What? No choice for 8-track tapes?? Philistines.

Fades out...