trystar Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. 6
Goatboy Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 Welcome Ed - glad you're enjoying vinyl !
alistairm Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 @trystar Straight into it. Suggest you get into difference between cables next! Welcome to SNA. I'm a vinyl addict, currently sitting back and enjoying listening to a DAC. 4
Andrew S. Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 On 12/09/2015 at 12:14 AM, trystar said: Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. Don't remind me.... 1
soundfan Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Let's not start another format war. Edited September 12, 2015 by soundfan 4
Briz Vegas Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 Personally i like wax cylinder. It has an authenticity that the other formats can't beat. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RY7OWOUKH0k 4
rantan Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 It isn't customary to polarise on the first post but I know you mean well. This is powder keg stuff around here Welcome! 1
collektor Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 It really depends on how your listening preferences are best acquainted with any listening format as to which format you are going to give preferential treatment. I like listening to records when I am in the mood to listen to records. I like listening to insects buzzing at night in Summer. I don't like the accompanying mosquito bites but I do enjoy the sounds around me. I can listen to CDs once and decide not to keep them: I throw them out. I do the same with records that are scratched in any way. Tonight, for instance, I have been listening to a whole swag of CDs which are mainly pre-mixed DJ sessions. They are not available on record format at all. I prefer the convenience tonight, of loading the CDs onto a portable Grundig player and listening to each CD as it comes through the speakers. I started my listening session at 6pm with a soundtrack or two and have progressed to Ibiza Anthems from 2000. It's early production electronic music that has Lil Louis mixed in. Very infectious and well-executed mixing that has stood the test of time to my ears. Some records sound better than CDs. Some CDs sound better than live performances. Some live performances sound terrible on either format. There will always be people who think that 78 records were the best records ever recorded. They certainly have lasted for a long time. CDs can be looked after well or be left to rot in the sun. Other people will prefer the digital realm for a whole host of reasons including, but not limited to, convenience and ease-of-use. If the mastering is good, usually, either format will faithfully reproduce that sound quality. 2
Richard Cranium Posted September 12, 2015 Posted September 12, 2015 I agree..... but oh god, batten down the hatches, here they come.
davewantsmoore Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 On 12/09/2015 at 12:14 AM, trystar said: Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. What you'll find on a forum when you ask or answer this question is that people want to tell you their opinion of which one sounds better...... rather than discussing the reasons why one might sound different from the other. The question you've asked is not a simple question at all.... and would take a lot of time to answer comprehensively here - and would need to assume or explain a lot of required understanding. The best thing you can do is go and read/learn how both the formats work, what affects their performance, and how their performance is affected. The once you understand the reasons they can sound different from each other, then you can narrow down what might be able to make vinyl sound (as good or) better than a digital player.
emesbee Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 (edited) Listening to a CD the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to any audio source the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Welcome to SNA, trystar. Edited September 13, 2015 by emesbee 2
EV Cali Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 On 12/09/2015 at 12:14 AM, trystar said: Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. Welcome to the site Ed I have enjoyed listening to music all my life and the music I listen to and enjoy has become wide over time ,but the format the music has been on has had no relevance to that. It's all about the music. 3
wolster Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 On 13/09/2015 at 9:06 AM, davewantsmoore said: What you'll find on a forum when you ask or answer this question is that people want to tell you their opinion of which one sounds better...... rather than discussing the reasons why one might sound different from the other. The question you've asked is not a simple question at all.... and would take a lot of time to answer comprehensively here - and would need to assume or explain a lot of required understanding. The best thing you can do is go and read/learn how both the formats work, what affects their performance, and how their performance is affected. The once you understand the reasons they can sound different from each other, then you can narrow down what might be able to make vinyl sound (as good or) better than a digital player. Actually Dave, re-read the post. He didn't ask a question at all 3
EV Cali Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 On 13/09/2015 at 12:22 PM, wolster said: Actually Dave, re-read the post. He didn't ask a question at all The title of the post "Vinyl vs cd playback. Why does vinyl sound more musical" is a question. .
steve u Posted September 13, 2015 Posted September 13, 2015 Elementary Ed. You need to upgrade your CD players power cable and obviously should investigate engaging interconnects. Once you've got that sorted consider a cartridge upgrade and phono stage will need a rethink and.... 1
Max054 Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 Welcome may the force be with you! For me they are just more engaging doesn't matter WHY! Enjoy your time with us
davewantsmoore Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 On 13/09/2015 at 12:22 PM, wolster said: Actually Dave, re-read the post. He didn't ask a question at all I figured the question mark was implied. "Why does vinyl sound more musical"
Mr.Anderson Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 (edited) On 12/09/2015 at 12:14 AM, trystar said: Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. Hi Trystar, Welcome to the forum. This question requires some serious thought and would still be open to debate after another 10 years. While I cannot speak for others, I can give you my 2 cents with regards to this question. please keep in mind that I look at it in more perspectives than just the sonic measures. Technically & electronically, The only explanation I can think of is the fact that you do not have any sort of conversion involved when transferring whats on the vinyl all the way to the speakers. I suppose this removes a lot of technical impurities added to the music on the way. So if you have properly set up your equipment and have used good connections throughout the setup then "What they recorded is What you will hear" ======================================================================================================================== However on another aspect, I consider listening to vinyl as an experience comprised of hard, precise & delicate work and something that is not for everybody. When comparing the processes between playing a CD & playing a Vinyl, anyone would agree that the latter requires a certain amount of knowledge and care from the listener than just placing a CD on the drawer and pressing "Play" on the remote. The journey & work for vinyl begins from the moment you start selecting your turntable. You will be placed with a plethora of options such as the rotating mechanism of the platter. Whether it's an Idler wheel like the old models, direct drive or belt drive. then you have to think about the tonearm. whether you will purchase the stock arm or spend more bucks on a specialized one and whether its a straight one or an "S" shaped. Then you go to the cartridge you want. I'm not even gonna start to describe the options you get there other than mentioning the two main cartridge types Moving Coil & Moving Magnet/Iron. You think you are done ? You are no where close to 'done'... now you are faced with the question of which phono-stage. and after all the research and selecting, you will finally purchase it. Then you bring them home and nicely align and keep them on your Hi-Fi Rack. You have just finished the easy part. Now begins the tuning. I will let Mr. Michael Fremer of Stereophile.com explain how much of a delicate and precise work that is going to be. So, As you can see... There is a considerable amount of work involved before you sit down to listen to a Vinyl. While its a one-time process for the most part, you will face occasional tune-ups and adjustments. Add the process of taking care of your Vinyls to this and you have a true dedicated workload that is involved in listening to Vinyls. I believe that this sense of accomplishment adds to the whole experience of listening to them. It's like having a cold one after a hard days work and that memory will return to you every-time you listen to it. To sum it up, I'd compare a CD & a Vinyl of the same song to a Photo & a Painting of the same object. The former has a perfect representation of the object and is easily produced while the latter takes time, skill & though imperfect, takes you to a whole new world... Which is of more value ? Which is more admired ? And Why ? You do the math Edited September 14, 2015 by Panduka85
Freedom Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 On 12/09/2015 at 12:14 AM, trystar said: Listening to a cd the music needs to be engaging to listen seriously. Listening to vinyl, the sound makes you want to sit down and enjoy the music even if the music may be outside the normal selections. " Vinyl vs CD playback. Why does vinyl sound more 'musical' " 'Vinyl' only sounds more 'musical' to the listeners who have the system to 'hear' that musicality. A 'lot' of us don't have that calibre of system,'or' have very high-end 'digital' systems which can sound every bit as 'musical' as a vinyl system!
davewantsmoore Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 On 14/09/2015 at 7:06 AM, Panduka85 said: Technically & electronically, The only explanation I can think of is the fact that you do not have any sort of conversion involved when transferring whats on the vinyl Sure you do... The grooves are converted into electricity by the movement of the stylus and magnet/coil (and this conversion can be more or less linear)
Satanica Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 Ok, I'll say the obvious answer. Music on vinyl compared to digital versions can sometimes be mastered in a way that is more pleasing to the ear because of more dynamic range and thus more "musical".
davewantsmoore Posted September 14, 2015 Posted September 14, 2015 On 14/09/2015 at 2:56 PM, Satanica said: Ok, I'll say the obvious answer. Music on vinyl compared to digital versions can sometimes be mastered in a way that is more pleasing to the ear because of more dynamic range and thus more "musical". Sure. That's one really big reason. Surely though there are reasons which don't involve some sort of "flawed test". ie. Not involving some type of "imagined" or biased result (which is super common, but surely can't explain 100% of observation), and a reason which doesn't involve A or B being actually different content. If you line up the (actual!) differences between vinyl and digital .... it is tempting to conclude that vinyl should not sound good. It has poorer harmonic distortion, SNR, DNR, high frequency response, channel separation, etc. ... however when I "test" these things individually. ie. induce one of these things (crosstalk, harmonic distortion, etc.). They aren't particularly audible.
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