Why Nothing Sounds As Good As Vinyl

Lots of audiophiles say that when it comes to sound quality nothing beats vinyl.

Why nothing sounds as good as vinyl.

A vinyl record is an analog recording and cds and dvds are digital recordings. I own a couple of split colour records were you can hear a slight but audible increase in background hiss as the stylus passes from one colour to the next but it s minor and really only. This phenomenon isn t new the anti digital audio movement was alive and well. The resurgence of vinyl as a high fidelity music playback medium is becoming more and more recognized in popular culture.

Very few additives can be mixed into clear vinyl without jeopardizing the opacity which means there is a potential for worse sound quality albeit this drop is often imperceptible to the common listener. A few exceptions exist. On a theoretical level there s just no reason it should be the case that vinyl sounds better. Take a look at the graph below.

Vinyl s capable of a lot but only if the grooves are wide enough for the needle to. Budget and good system matching are obvious influences on how both your cds and vinyl will sound but maybe even more so with the latter it s the little things that count. These purists wonder if digital files can really give you that analog sound. There are built in problems with using vinyl as a data encoding mechanisms that have no cd equivalent.

The answer lies in the difference between analog and digital recordings. Original sound is analog by definition. Hipsters and true audiophiles alike are quickly starting a new age vinylphile scene largely because of a small but noisy backlash against digitally distributed music. Coloured vinyl can sound as good as regular black in my opinion there are exceptions to this rule though.

Setting a turntable up properly for a start setting the correct tracking weight making sure it s level having the correct cartridge and good support is paramount. Why cds may actually sound better than vinyl chris kornelis january 27 2015 james russell s mother told him that his first invention was the automated battleship he built when he was 6. Why vinyl sounds better than cd. Besides that vinyl records have an underlying hiss generated by the needle moving over the surface.

There s basically nothing you can do to make an hour long album on one record sound good gonsalves said.