[Vintage-Audio] Re Vinyl Vs CDS

Wed Mar 12 10:22:01 2003

Duane,

I think it depends on who was behind the board when the record was =
prepared to go to disc. Most albums from the fifties and sixties that i =
have heard have suffered from their general release onto cd- it takes =
someone who cares about the material to get a good master to CD. Mobile =
Fidelity, for instance, generally does an excellent job with their vinyl =
AND CD releases, but a routine release from the vaults on megalabels =
such as Sony just plain suck, in many cases.=20

Case in point: When Mobile Fidelity released Nirvana's Nevermind on CD, =
they transformed what was a muddy, metallic mess into three guys playing =
before me in my living room. I heard details I had never heard before; =
players were stable in the sonic image, and effects had a =
three-dimensional presence i rarely hear on records in that genre. And =
then when I heard their vinyl release of the same album.. I was =
dumbstruck by how much better it was even than the CD release. But they =
had done a fantastic job mixing that album to either format, and i think =
it just takes someone who cares to master the thing to CD in a =
sympathetic manner.

as far as the whole vinyl vs. CD debate... i think we all know the =
depths to which that debate has already been plumbed... not to say i =
don't have an opinion about it myself! If you've got the right piece of =
vinyl, played on the right deck with the right cartridge, there simply =
is no comparison in my mind. You'd have to pry my 180 gram vinyl blue =
note reissue of Coltrane's Blue Train out of my cold, dead hands. but i =
really do love the convenience of the CD format. Something of historical =
interest, if handled respectfully and with enthusiasm, like the obvious =
care put into the first ever release of the stereo mix of The Beach =
Boys' Pet Sounds album, is especially suited to the CD format. so i play =
and enjoy both.=20

Michael S

-----Original Message-----
From: Duane Fischer, W8DBF [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 8:33 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Vintage-Audio] Re Vinyl Vs CDS

=09
I was listening to the Anita Kerr Singers on a RCA 1968 vinyl recording =
and then
played one I just purchased that was released in 1992 on CD. Wow! What a
difference! No, not the type of music, the quality of the audio. =09
=09
It is really surprising how good the vinyl still sounds when compared to =
many of
the supposedly superior digital media. It is hard to put into words, but =
the
'presence' just is not there. Oh yes, it is clean and quiet, but also =
dead.
Maybe it is time once again to get the wax build up cleaned out of my =
ears. =09
=09
Duane W8DBF=09
  =20
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