Does vinyl sound "better"? Playback format pros and cons, compared by an audio engineer 

Back in the 70s when I bought my first home audio gear, I collected well over a thousand LPs in the space of about six years. But I never was happy with LPs. I got so tired of ticks and pops, warpage, end-of-side distortion, wow and flutter, off-center spindle holes, and general wear of a record each time it's played. Pressings often were poor; at least 10 percent of the LPs I purchased were defective. This is to say nothing of frequency response nonlinearity (requiring equalization--ever hear of the RIAA curve?), stylus wear, limited dynamic range and bass fall-off below 50 hz. I couldn't wait for CD's to be adopted and once they were introduced, I never looked back. (Those thousand-plus LPs I purchased haven't been played in decades and are sitting in a closet.) If you had made a case for analog vs. digital, I'd consider your argument. But vinyl vs. digital? No way.

CD all day long, my vinyl collection is fun to mix with, lovely to handle and collect and good copies can sound stunning but nothing beats the durability, sound and convenience of CDs for me.

A band I'm a fan of likes their compression, all their songs are brickwalled by choice. A few years ago they released an LP of one of their albums, and the vinyl version was for all intents and purposes sounding exactly like the CD. I even recorded both, made the levels the same and then cut them intertwinedly, and you couldn't tell where the cuts were. All songs on the vinyl looked like sandpaper with shiny bits in between (the pauses between the songs), no recognizable groove difference. The level on the LP was overal lower than that of a dynamic LP because otherwise the songs wouldn't have fit because of the groove width. So yes, vinyl can be made to sound "as bad as digital" or even worse, if you mean by "sounding bad" the mastering compression that's being applied. I gave them advice saying that if I would be buying an LP for its sound quality, that this wouldn't be what I had in mind. Their subseqent release they had had mastered especially for vinyl, with a lot more dynamic range. It sounded fantastic compared to the digital version, but that was only because of the mastering. On the surface you could see the loud and the quiet parts, and the drum hits. I digitized the vinyl and listen to that instead of the official digital version. Funny how we nowadays have to resort to a medium with limited dynamic range for being able to enjoy more dynamic range 🙂 Furthermore I agree with everything you said; I enjoy vinyl mostly because of the mastering, the artwork and the sleeves. I also enjoy cassette, 8-track, R2R, 78s and even wax rolls. I love to listen to history and am amazed by how good things could sound (or in the case of wax rolls, could even sound at all) with only such a limited technology being available back then. It gives me an extra kick when listening to the music, warts and all (and oh does 8-track have warts 🙂). Also with vinyl, I don't mind old crackly records because the cracks tell you that the record has a history.

People talk about the "digital sound," but any decent converter will be audibly transparent, regardless of sampling rate (CD or higher). The added noise and distortion are negligible. The output sounds _exactly_ like the input. It's not colored at all, unlike with tape and vinyl which always have audible coloration. That's fine for people who prefer that, but unprocessed digital does not have a "sound."

I like CDs for less storage space and also the ability to easily program and repeat selected tracks from the album as on most albums I have preferred tracks. I will also add that after buying a Puritan grounding cable attached to a Puritan power conditioner (to which all my electronics in turn is plugged into, including subwoofer), the noise floor of my system reduce dramatically and detail across the spectrum improved, cymbals now shimmer. I suspect this impact to be more significant than vinyl versus CD.

Thanks for your video & your explanation about CDs & Vinyl, or records as we use to call them. I grew up with vinyl & cassettes though l never really bought cassettes except for blank ones. l just used them for making mixed tapes from my records. I kept buying records until they were no longer available then got into buying CDs which l must say has way surpassed my vinyl collection. I enjoy both formats & it really depends on where l am in the house as to what format l listen to, but tend to listen to a lot from my ipod as it's so convenient. I have to mention that these are all bought albums or CDs that I'm ripping to my computer or ipod so l don't rely on downloads. Ill buy a particular vinyl edition if l like the artwork, but generally its CDs that l buy simply because you get more value for your buck, especially when it comes to boxsets. Cheers 😊

What does the term "high resolution" mean with respect to a digital recording?

3:30 Vinyl is almost always better than a compressed CD version. Compression immediately throws aways one of THE major advantages of digital. So many pre-1980 LPs and 45s never got to sound good on CD.

Garrard turntables and about 8 45s on a drop down Spindle was my memory of late 50s and 60s vynyl.

There's simply an experience and degrees of separation of notes and instruments that become "MORE" alive and present than on digital and thats just a fact. Now, whether someone wants to go through the process of setting up a nice turntable and putting on and taking off LP's is up to the individual. For me, it's a no brainer and because I was born in the late 60's so yeah, Im a 70's/80's kid and very grateful to be.

The comment about when the Internet is down only applies to online streaming services. I do not reply on these services. All my non-vinyl music playing is either on my computer or on CD and I don't need the internet to play it. While I have a large collection of vinyl, I find it cumberson and in this busy world, having to turn the vinyl over to play the other side becomes a PITB. CD's are easier and on a 6-CD player system, I can randomise tracks, play just one album at a time, program whatever I want, while I work and also enjoy my collection of music. My CDs are looked after because I learnt at a young age to look after vinyl and so I take the same care with my CD's. However, I am finding that I am now using a laptop with a good external DAC to play back my music, more and more. And I can take it with me wherever I go. The lack of Internet doesn't phase me at all, but the lack of electrical power would though and that transends the media used as none will work without it. I like the look and feel of vinyl and it's large artwork, and in that I am in complete agreement. I will not get rid of my vinyl and I have some original and valuable records still in excellent condition because I recorded it digitally so I could play it more often. I did not want to end up where a favourite record had deteriorated to such a degree that I could hear the wear defects and have to stop listening to it. I love vinyl and yet I prefer digital playback for the consistant quality and ease of selection of what I want to listen to. It doesn't deteriorate over time and usage. Vinyl will though, have a special part in my soul.

Digital downloads also have the “does not expire” feature. Have you tried Roon? The integrated realtime lyrics (where available) is something else. Also I find the metadata in Roon displayed on a large iPad far richer than what’s printed on a vinyl sleeve or CD booklet. You can open links to biographies of each artist, the composer, the composition, similar artists, entire discography of a band, etc.

Strongly agree on the whole dynamic range issue. However, you don't say anything about jitter or aliasing, and how they are uniquely digital forms of distortion. I believe they are at the root of listener fatigue. If jitter isn't a problem, why are high DACs now offered with external clocks?

I have both cds and vinyl. A lot of vinyl. I find myself pulling an lp to play most often. Usually every day. I tend to be more engaged with lps. Cds sound good, are more convenient, but don't grab me. Plus the record covers are more satisfying than the little cd cases. But I'm ocd so I don't mind cleaning lps, putting em in sleeves, etc.

When I started to listen to music, vynle was the best medium. With a proper setting and equipment the medium can sound great. I like CD’s but still play records, got the equipment and the right setup.

After considering this for a bit - I think the attraction is in large part the nostalgia of memories. When the technology changed to CD. When I picked up CD titles of which I had the vinyl they sounded a bit different to me, noticeable, preferring the vinyl. The dynamic range of CD is said to be superior. Well, that is always nice, oops not always that nice. There are times when I want to figure out a way to compress my theaters signal - I have my AVR dynamic range set to low. It depends on the material for music especialy classical digital range if way good. For movies it makes it hard to hear low level then blows the room up when the movie blows up. That vinyl is said to be “warmer”. I don’t describe this difference only a warmer. To me and my musical senses vinyl is not only less sterile but also seems to me to be whole. Like that CD’s are just missing some of it - seeming to be a little hollow not quite as full. It just seems to me that more so on some titles I really think I can hear there is less frequency content - and really why should it be that a human that is conditioned to perform and listen to music would not be able to hear the difference. And here is what seems like a significant take away. It is not just me, you know. Many people who are particularly drawn to the higher end of audio fidelity in fact claim to hear that - ok. The BASS range of CD is said to be superior. Been said that the phono cartridge can't resolve below 20Hz - Well if you want to believe that, do. It seems odd to me that my AT15Sa spec claims 5Hz - 45kHz my Definitive Sub claim to 13-125Hz and you would be correct if said cannot hear it - but I sure can feel that momma. I don’t know does the CD do that? Ah - maybe not? Somday if live long enough might test with REW software. WEAR - Is a big deal for those super hi audiophile vinyl LPs - I take them ever so carefully out their pack and record them and really can’t hear the difference of playback - so I can save the LP and wear our the tape. Isn’t that the way they say it goes? There may be more but my back says I done.

Depends. Is the original recording made using digital or analog gear? I still prefer the sound of analog on a good playback system. I would also argue that the recording engineers of the 40's and 50's were better at their jobs than many modern counterparts.

People have obviously been rediscovering the virtues of once-rare "physical media" in the last few years. For decades, when most of my LPs were in storage (because I didn't have a turntable to play them in the early 2000s, or enough space to keep my library), I missed the things you describe: the feel of the discs, the physical act of playing them, the artwork, the labels on the records themselves... In addition to LPs, I listen to my (much larger) library of CDs, having burned them to hard drives and playing them through Roon (via a Mac Mini, using a DAC and vintage '70s audio equipment). That's the closest thing I've found to the analog experience, allowing you to look at high quality artwork (on a phone or a laptop or a tablet or even a TV) and read credits, lyrics, liner notes, reviews, artist bios and other related information as you listen. It's not the same as holding a cardboard LP jacket in your hands, but provides a lot of the same pleasures.

Also let it be known that *nothing* goes out into the world on CD without the artist and producer first approving it. The same cannot be said for vinyl, in which *if* a test cut is done and approved, and *if* test pressings are approved, they're still at the mercy of the playback setup: tonearm balancing, cartridge type, alignment and weight, stylus shape, along with the expertise of the cutting engineer(s) if done cut at more than one facility.

Vinyl is Dynamically limited, but CD is frequency limited. The sharp roll off at 20k on CD creates a very unsatisfying sound

Exactly. Despite all the limitations, the fact that most of the music is SO dynamically crushed by choice is crazy, you can't do that on vinyl.

Art isn't *always* better - having bought enough reissues where the label put out a blurry JPEG on the cover, versus a high res digital file on my desktop, sometimes vinyl feels cheap (despite the money spent). And for clarity, there's enough times where I'm listening and wondering what's wrong - is it dust on the needle? A bad pressing? Why does it sound distorted or muffled or lower quality than my digital setup? Yesterday alone I was wondering if this glow in the dark release made it sound like a garage recording, or another sounded like it had repetitive scratch despite the side being mint. Having to question why its often worse definitely nags me, especially after all the cost and prep and pampering.

In my opinion it is always down to the indiviual what sounds better. Pre 90s vinyls was lovely as the the vinyl had the analogue master copy . Now the vinyl is from a digital master mainly. However the differences are down to tasteits like swapping different synth sound when making music. 2 minute 2 sounds great, then another sounds better.. I love the spund of vinyl in many ways i prefer it. Then gowever i prefer the clean sound of mt DAC. All depends what day it is.

Resonance on vinyls is so alluring and the dynamics of it.

Cannot underestimate the warm music and pleasant vocals of Vinyls. Need very good phono preamp and dual mono power amp for the best stereo experience.

Hi. I think the DnR of a vinyl LP is 55db-65db not 50db. What is most often over looked with this is that most music by and far is well accommodated within this range but Im glad that you voiced the compression problem with CD (which to me anyways) is a crime and causes as you also said listener fatigue. What I've never understood about "brick walling?" is why the artists comply. Imagine if fine arts painters had been told to "paint everything red it will sell more", what a f*k-up that woulda been. A red Mona lisa. A red Starry Night. Musicians should take more pride in what they create.

Unfortunately, digital remasters form tape recordings are usually bad. When done straight form the tape with perhaps only minor eq adjustments they can sound great. But mastering engineers have the urge to fiddle around. Bob Katz once said the vinyl master sounds better than the digital master but the LP does not necessarily sound better XD Vinyl is cool because you are able to sonically tweak your front end to your liking/system. Digital is limited in that regard. Also I think the harmonic distortion of vinyl playback adds dimensionality and eases the sound. When comparing a digital recording to the vinyl of the same recording done by the same engineer I hear better soundstage depth and a slightly more relaxed sound (not dull/rolled off, actually a bit brighter). They aren't worlds apart just a bit different. I am not so sure about mono summing, however. My John Coltrane "My Favorite Things" record cut by Bernie Grundman has right channel bass till 35hz. At 50hz I measure 10db crosstalk. That's hardly mono.

I prefer CDs because they're easier to handle and it's easier to deal with a CD player than a turntable which can be a hassle, I think that how well the recording is and how good it's mastered is more important than whether it's on vinyl or CD, both can be excellent for me personally, I understand that people love them for different reasons, I just can't really get into it, too much of a hassle, CDs have done right by me so far.

The only record i have left is a picture disk of the german band helloween. Its nailed to a wall.. my preference is a hard drive. i never liked the roundness of cds.

Different does not equal better or worse. The big difference to me is durability. I remember the days when I and my friends would buy a record and immediately make a chrome or metal tape of it. Dust happens and wear happens.

Same here brother

All frequencies below 125Hz do *NOT* need to be summed to mono. This is a MYTH. Just mix bass, kick, snare etc panned center. Sibilance and side lengths can be far more of an issue than stereo bass.

no we love Apple Music quality, spatial audio, Apple carplay, suggestions to new music

It's funny how you phrase a question, and then go on answering a completely different question, and make a handful of unwarranted assumptions about how we listen to music to support the vinyl argument. You're right about one thing: current mastering practices for CDs seem to favour a lot of compressing, and then decapitating the waveform, to make it LOUD. But that is not a fault of digital technology, it is a choice made (reluctantly probably, and under pressure) by the mastering engineer. Luckily the music I preferably listen to (jazz and classical) is relatively unaffected by this loudness war. When it comes to preserving, nothing beats uncompressed digital. Disk wearing out? Make another copy. File lost? Restore backup. And if you want more "warmth"? Just introduce a bit (about 1% or so) good old harmonic distortion. There, done.

There's no point comparing streaming because it's just an equivalent of radio - something to hear a tune before I decide if I want to buy it. The comparison is between CD and vinyl, both of which formats I have several hundred. Vinyl does sound better. Maybe it shouldn't and the technical capabilities of CD should far exceed those of vinyl but the fact is that vinyl sounds better. I have some albums on the GRP label on both formats and the vinyl versions have more sound information than the CD versions e.g. cymbals ring for longer, sound sharper, you can hear the fingers on bass strings and more room ambience on the vinyl versions than on CD, like the wave is being gated on the digital version for some reason. With vinyl, if I listen to an acoustic band with my eyes shut it really sounds like they are in the room but on CD I can tell it's been processed. Why is this? I dont know but that's just the way it is. Another observation is that with older recordings typically on vinyl, i.e. from the 60s and 70s, the instruments sound natural because they didn't put effects on drums, just recorded them as they were so they actualy sound like real drums sound in the studio. It's rare to find that these days because they usually have some processing that changes the sound. I guess being a musician, I expect things to sound natural and it annoys me when they don't.

Digital done properly (same applies to vinyl) rocks

Alleged Vinyl lovers crack me up, at least some. One thread I bumped into over on a different undisclothed location was in a thread some doof was bragging about how much better things were when he bought a $250 MC/MM Phono Pre-Amp. It was a bit vague wondering what would make this add-on make things so much better. His gear never had RIAA curve in any pre-amp before, did not know what it was.

I sold off all my vinyl and turntable 15 years ago and never regretted it. However, now my CD collection is collecting dust since converting it all to FLAC and streaming lossless from Apple and Tidal, with quality DACs where I need them. I even sold my Emotiva CD player.

Hey, I first thought you were Steven Wilson the prog rock musician. I guess you guys have similar glasses, hair style and facial hair 😊.

The name of the game is enjoyment of the music. No format delivers this (to me) better than a RECORD. A record slows down the experience. It forces you to be present. Can a record perform at the extreme levels of quality digital recordings? 100% yes. Unquestionably. But...and but means ignore everything I just said and go from there. But, it will cost you. The turntables, cords, cartridges, maintenance, etc. Is it worth it? Over my 50+ years of music, NOTHING has brought me more joy musically. YES! Don't believe me. Try this. Put on Dope Lemon, Smooth Big Cat. Indulge in a taste of canibus. Nice cool drink. Sit back and live. Yes, records make music better. Full stop.

If we consider phonograms as a product of their time and understand that result was intended and pursued by the original creators with the existent and available tools, any intervention (re-mixing, re-mastering) made on digital to make them sound "good" according to contemporary standards is sad to hear. As a musicologist, I always prefer listening to older phonograms in their original media, so we can have what has been originally cut. However, I don't see a lot of sense in vinyl reissues where any digital process was involved.

Open reel tape is device most dinamic range.

If/when my Internet goes out, I can listen to CDs all day/night long, just like you can on vinyl, except I can immerse myself in the music instead of getting up every 20 minutes in a half hour to remove, clean, dust, and check the stylus.

not much sense of vinyl these days as the master file is all pretty much recorded in digital, if you like old songs maybe, new released vinyl are converted from digital. If you like that warm organic analog sound i suggest to get a tube preamp at the input stage

I love (Tidal) streaming in FLAC, sounds great and have a huge amount of music and can use a $ 30 dongle dac Jcally jm20 for superb sound driving a $ 50 class D amp. Never in history high end was so cheap (thanks to TI and China) and so much music available. No big investmennts, no ticks and clicks or noise.. but i understand why vinyl is still around, we also love camp fires and BBQ. That romantic element is gone with digital.

no, Vinyl and 8 Track and MC is not important for me - in sound quality! But, there is plenty of old music, which can be saved in modern form, and still isn't digitalized.

People take this stuff too literal and forget that listening to music is an emotional experience. For a lot of people the overall experience enhances their emotional response and therefore makes vinyl sound better to them. Nothing wrong with that. I listen to music with IEMs & a DAP only because I don’t have the space for a turntable and full sized speakers.

Streaming,you don’t need a warehouse for it

it depends on the mastering and your system but on the whole i think vinyl sounds more organic.

Vinyl IS better sound, no doubt. My ears don't lie. But i love the convenience of the listening to cd's.

Objectively: vinyl is lossy. Digital done well beats vinyl done badly (and a *lot* can go wrong, especially on playback), just as vinyl done well beats digital done badly. CD's sonic problems early on were a combination of masters (often 2nd gen) that were mixed for vinyl, along with the filters and jitter of early A-D convertors and glass mastering systems.

back in 1983 vinyl record players generally sounded fairly poor unless you had an expensive high end system on which it still sounds the best today, along comes CD with its accompanied cd players and new amps and speakers, no surface noise so for many people was a no brainer. Today cd quality has improved but is still 16 bit, it had a chance to improve with 24 bit SACD and DVD -A but no one was interested, a lost opportunity. Things got even worse with downloads and MP3 and surprise surprise vinyl is quite rightly back on top again for quality with our improved systems.

The thing that matters most, is the master, not the product that’s spat out at the end. I’ve heard some recordings which sound great across multiple formats, identical even. And I’ve heard shit recordings not matter what the format.

I could listen to lps all of the time, not so with cds or anything digital. That being said most of the time on an average or less system, cds will sound better.

Vinyl its difrent it has it class . cd has it own class. the word 'better' is not compare between this two 😊

If vinyl sounded better, the music industry would use it as a master source for digital files, not vice versa.

The problem with digital, most CDs are compressed to hell unless it is an orchestral recoding. Even remastering of analog recordings is usuall compressed compared to the original lp release. Sad because when digital is done right, it can be phenomenal. The other issue for me is all the digital processing that is being done to modern recordings. Auto tune is the worst invention to happen to digital recording.

You can argue the merits of both, all I know is I don’t get the listening fatigue when listening to vinyl like I do with streaming or with CD’s

Sound quality is subjective.

vinyl 35 euros vs cds 20 euros ...i ' m not rich....streamer BETTER of ALL ....MAX FLAC my friend .....

"Does vinyl sound better?" How could vinyl sound better when the master tape is in digital format?

It’s rip off priced why???

No. Okay- sometimes.

The DAC is an issue that must be taken into account and is frequently absent from the discussion. A Delta Sigma based converter employs algorithms that guess at what was recorded. R2R topology reconstructs what was actually laid down. Audio Note DACs forgo the active, I/V conversion process, usually via op amps, for transformers, the least compromised technique.

It has nothing to do with "vinyl ". NEARLY ALL VINYL RECORDS SOLD TODAY ARE DIGITAL, WHETHER YOU THINK THEY SOUND "WARMER " OR NOT. The superiority of analogue has nothing to do with just sounding nicer. It's about sounding more real. Genuinely analogue records are either secondhand or very very expensive. I really wish people would start to get that... You are all being ripped right off!

Oh, and it's records. Not vinyl. Vinyl is what Grandma's couch was made of. Elvis called them records. All the Beatles called them records. Do you achieve a gold vinyl? No you do not. GOLD "RECORD".

Nope. Never.

Vinyl sounds warm and CD sounds cold. Its that simple. Its your own preference, choose whatever format that makes your happy. 😃

I collect vinyls and EARLY CD issues. Before "loudness war" the CDs sounded very dynamic. SOME new CDs still keep good DR too.

Time to stop this nonsense. How much more to pump down our throats. DECENT SERUP ,JUS ENJOY MUSIC.

The quick answer to the question you used in the thumbnail headline "is vinyl better than digital" is NO.... We can now move on with life.

Do you realize how disingenuous you sound not mentioning CDs?

Do not measure dynamic range, vinyl simply sounds better, but to notice you must change your turntable Rega for a Linn Sondek, the cartridge from 2M blue to a Hana and a excellent phono preamp and is going to sound better than a Mark Levinson transport and dac

a good pressing Vinyl sound better than cd for sure.

It’s just crap 😂

The problem with CD's is that they are CD's.

Stupid question. Too many variables. However, it’s your life, waste it as you will.

So another video claiming superiority of vinyl. I am music and hifi enthusiast who goes to concerts and attends hifi shows (Munich, Ascot, Warsaw) so I have a chance to listen to systems costing even million dollars. I mostly listen to classical, opera, jazz and genres like Fado. Yes, vinyl can sound amazing on expensive system but i have never heard analog system below £5k which sounded better than similarly priced digital in the last 10 years. Below £1k there is no contest. According to vinyl enthusiasts music reproduction must be the only area of technology which did not benefit from digitisation. Do they still watch 20 inch CRT tv, use analog mobile and post letter typed on Olivetti typewriter? I happen to know musicians in philharmonic orchestras and opera singers. None of them uses anything but digital to listen to music. Only about 10% of people in my circle who listen mostly to classical music etc have analog hifi equipment. I am 65 and people i know who buy vinyl are mostly in their 20s. But they admit that their choices are based, in most cases, on non musical aspects of vinyl. Mostly artwork. Then there is a basic issue of what is actually on vinyl record. It was recorded and mastered in digital domain. Only then it goes back to analog and gets pressed to vinyl. So we are introducing extra steps into recording and reply chain. The only thing this introduces are artefacts, which to some people are preferable to original recordings. Reality is that most expensive part of audio reply chain to make well are speakers. So, if you choose digital as source, that allows you to allocate more of your budget to speakers and amplifiers. If you go to classical music concerts then one thing is obvious: even million dollars music system is not even close to real experience. That is the basic problem with hifi industry. Whether source in reply chain is digital or analog is not relevant. Somehow visual industry progressed much more in the last 40 years than hifi industry. My friend £25k laser projector is very close to what you get in good cinema (obviously not the size of the picture). I never found logical explanation as to why hifi industry could not progress the same way.

Here we go again with vinyl vs digital shit . Hohum, Zzzzzzzznggoorrkk…….

No