12-02-2018, 12:35 PM
Why do LPs sound so good?
November 24, 2018 10:17 AM PST
by Steve Guttenberg
November 24, 2018 10:17 AM PST
https://www.cnet.com/news/why-do-lps-sound-so-good/
As someone who scrapped vinyl for CDs back in the 1980s, I can tell you that a new vinyl disc in the 1970s was as good as the digital CDs being released in the 1980s. Analogue recording was an art in itself, and the recording engineers of the time were themselves musicians to the extent that they knew what sounded good. I am tempted to believe that the digital recording devices were not as good as the trained ears of the analog recording engineers, and that usually showed.
The problem with the vinyl LP was that it is subject to warping, wear, and damage as a compact disc isn't. You can play a compact disc 200 times, and it will play as well as the first time or it will not play back well at all. That might not be so with a vinyl disc that has been subjected to the heat flux that occurs in a bedroom that endures a day-to-night difference in temperature and solar exposure, especially in a sunny climate. Air conditioning is not enough to prevent that stretching and contraction that causes the vinyl to deteriorate. Then there is the needle that inevitably gets damaged and starts doing to a vinyl disk what dog claws can do to your flesh. At least you can heal from an inadvertent dog scratch (which is a very nasty injury that can require hospitalization), but vinyl disks can't make such a recovery.
I came to prefer CDs that had been transposed from analogue recordings of the 1970s, when the art of analogue recording was at its best. Yes, the playing of a vinyl disk is something of a ritual, whether one listens to a Mozart mass or Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps (OK, I have just exposed that I am a fan of classical music) that begins with selecting a disc from the information on its spine, pulling the sleeve out of the jacket or box, removing the disc gingerly and putting it on the platter, using a brush to remove the dust, and setting the tonearm and as a consequence the needle upon the disc, and then starting the disc. That is much less than one does when feeding a CD into an old DVD player (which is adequate because there is little audible distinction between CD players -- speaker quality and speaker placement are far more important).
I have bought 35-year-old compact discs as alternative recordings and found them none the worse for wear and storage. I could tell how old the disk was because of the faded color on the paper and that the disc had come from now-defunct Columbia House record club.
I do not see myself going on a nostalgic trip to vinyl. In any event much that we consider sound quality is performance (intonation and ensemble), which explains why a recording from the 1930s of Herbert von Karajan performing the overture of Die Zauberflöte with the Berlin Philharmonic could sound good. Odious as Nazi Germany was, the Nazi officials were still proud of the musical heritage of German-speaking composers (so long as they were "Aryan", which rules out such masters as Mendelssohn and Mahler) and the performance of great orchestras. Analogue sound? Sure -- and it was wonderful.
In fact no matter what the sound one eventually hears analogue anyway through speakers or headphones. I have a reader dedicated to providing music from YouTube to my stereo as if the reader were a turntable or CD player. Availability matters, too. Many excellent live performances have never been put on any commercial LP or CD.
Quote:The LP boom shows no signs of slowing, and no one really knows why.
November 24, 2018 10:17 AM PST
by Steve Guttenberg
November 24, 2018 10:17 AM PST
Quote:The continuing audiophile fascination with LPs is a mystery, LPs are ancient tech, records can be noisy, they're fragile, expensive and they take up a lot of space. The best turntables, high quality phono cartridges, and preamps can cost a fortune. Even so, a lot of audiophiles still favor LPs, I know I do.
Playing audio files is gigantically more convenient than playing an LP, digital converter technology is getting better every year, and high-resolution files are clearer than the best LPs. Digital is eminently portable; LP playback is strictly a stay-at-home affair. So why are audiophiles still clinging to LPs? Ask them why, and they all say the sound comes first -- and I agree. Music sounds better played on a good turntable than it does from files or CDs.
The sound is the thing, but I'd also concede "gear love" is part of the reason we love playing LPs. Turntables look and feel cool. Digital gear is less touchy-feely, and with smart speakers you can play all the music you want without ever touching them. Digital audio is more like an appliance -- it just gets the job done without asking much from you. Maybe that's part of the reason LP fanatics find digital soulless.
https://www.cnet.com/news/why-do-lps-sound-so-good/
As someone who scrapped vinyl for CDs back in the 1980s, I can tell you that a new vinyl disc in the 1970s was as good as the digital CDs being released in the 1980s. Analogue recording was an art in itself, and the recording engineers of the time were themselves musicians to the extent that they knew what sounded good. I am tempted to believe that the digital recording devices were not as good as the trained ears of the analog recording engineers, and that usually showed.
The problem with the vinyl LP was that it is subject to warping, wear, and damage as a compact disc isn't. You can play a compact disc 200 times, and it will play as well as the first time or it will not play back well at all. That might not be so with a vinyl disc that has been subjected to the heat flux that occurs in a bedroom that endures a day-to-night difference in temperature and solar exposure, especially in a sunny climate. Air conditioning is not enough to prevent that stretching and contraction that causes the vinyl to deteriorate. Then there is the needle that inevitably gets damaged and starts doing to a vinyl disk what dog claws can do to your flesh. At least you can heal from an inadvertent dog scratch (which is a very nasty injury that can require hospitalization), but vinyl disks can't make such a recovery.
I came to prefer CDs that had been transposed from analogue recordings of the 1970s, when the art of analogue recording was at its best. Yes, the playing of a vinyl disk is something of a ritual, whether one listens to a Mozart mass or Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps (OK, I have just exposed that I am a fan of classical music) that begins with selecting a disc from the information on its spine, pulling the sleeve out of the jacket or box, removing the disc gingerly and putting it on the platter, using a brush to remove the dust, and setting the tonearm and as a consequence the needle upon the disc, and then starting the disc. That is much less than one does when feeding a CD into an old DVD player (which is adequate because there is little audible distinction between CD players -- speaker quality and speaker placement are far more important).
I have bought 35-year-old compact discs as alternative recordings and found them none the worse for wear and storage. I could tell how old the disk was because of the faded color on the paper and that the disc had come from now-defunct Columbia House record club.
I do not see myself going on a nostalgic trip to vinyl. In any event much that we consider sound quality is performance (intonation and ensemble), which explains why a recording from the 1930s of Herbert von Karajan performing the overture of Die Zauberflöte with the Berlin Philharmonic could sound good. Odious as Nazi Germany was, the Nazi officials were still proud of the musical heritage of German-speaking composers (so long as they were "Aryan", which rules out such masters as Mendelssohn and Mahler) and the performance of great orchestras. Analogue sound? Sure -- and it was wonderful.
In fact no matter what the sound one eventually hears analogue anyway through speakers or headphones. I have a reader dedicated to providing music from YouTube to my stereo as if the reader were a turntable or CD player. Availability matters, too. Many excellent live performances have never been put on any commercial LP or CD.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.