Vinyl/CD

[Bill Layer]

Hi Paul,

>  Have you ever noticed how a track you have on vinyl sounds better than a 
>CD... to me the sound is more spacious and not so dead..

Yes, I have noticed that. :)

>  Is there a reason? is it something that is done in the production of the 
>CD/LP or is it the way the needle on an LP works?

It's primarily due to the limited bandwidth and dynamic range of the CD
media; 22KHz isn't enough bandwidth to quantify enough ambient information.
The limited dynamic range of the CD (98dB vs 130dB+ for vinyl) forces
compression, which obscures the  micro-dynamics and other details that give
a recording fullness.

Another big problem with all contemporary digital media: as the signal gets
quieter, you begin to lose resolution... At very low levels, you may be
down to only a couple of bits of resolution. Now, dynamic changes really
get lost, as the machine tries to decide if that sound is a "level 1" or a
"level 2" and there is no in between. Even at the extremes of it's dynamic
range, the analog system still has theoretical infinite resolution of small
details (ie have you ever noticed that the infinity of numbers between 0
and 1 is as big as the infinity between 1 and 10? Paul Davies would
disagree here)

CD is and always was a huge sonic compromise; it is a convenience medium
and should never be regarded as anything else. I owned a variety of
recordings in both formats, and the CD version was always a pathetic joke
compared to the vinyl. Even if they are listenable (many are not) they are
_not_ correct sounding.

Hope we haven't started something :)


+----------------------------------------------------------+
|      "The" Bill Layer - Frogtown, Minnesota. U.S.A.      |
| Vacuum tubes, Analog, Motorcycles and Other Alternatives |
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| <blayer at uswest.net> |  | <b.layer at vikingelectronics.com> |
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