The truth behind vinyl records

[biketech]

At 72, I knew all this . The difference is YOU explain it better than I typically can .Great job !!

[ptbfrch]

Both analog and digital has the potential to sound incredible. It’s a matter of fun factor and personal preference, the way I see it. Just enjoy the music, the reason why all this stuff exists to begin with. :)

[abhimawa]

Agree with you 100%. Especially on the mastering process. That’s what makes the most difference.

[dmomcilovic]

I sold almost all of my vinyls collected over 35 yrs, been buying CDs now for 15 years, no regret as long as the mastering is good.

[Trance]

The focus should be more one how the music was recorded and mastered vs. what mass media format the mastered audio was put on.

[raymondchew]

Master quality recordings of sound are of importance.

[richardf]

Full disclosure Iam a vinyl fan.
However this is one of the best explanations on this topic that I have ever heard. I have equal money invested in my vinyl playback system as into my CD system. ( I have not gotten into streaming as yet). I often prefer the vinyl version when I have both format's of the same recording.
Bottom line as stated "it depends" on many factors and a blanket statement of one is better than the other is not a scientific approach to this topic!

[darkwinter]

Another technical point: many early analog-to-digital converters really only had about 13 or 14 usable bits of resolution, with the last two or three being overwhelmed with the converter’s internal noise and distortion - the result being that this affected the sound produced by early digital masters. Depending on the processes used and the style of music this can be either a tolerable quirk or disastrous - electronic-heavy 80’s pop and EDM, especially if it’s recorded as separate tracks and then mixed digitally, would have a very different outcome than a classical orchestra piece where it’s just two room mics going straight into a digital recorder.

[bryfar]

Paul's right about how the music was recorded and played. Some groups like ELP, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan seemed to aim for high quality studio sound. ELPs 1st lp is SO dynamic from quiet delicate piano passages to DEEP heavy rumbling low ends from synthesizer and drums.

[abdelkhelil]

Dear Paul thank you for this excellent video. May I add that since the 80s I started to experience descent HiFi with CDs. I couldn’t go back to vinyl unless I spend a fortune on équipent which I can’t afford.

[darkwinter]

Technical point: the term “compression” is used to mean two very different things: level compression, which affects dynamic range (it’s a process of automatically turning the volume down when it gets too high, this is the sort of thing that the recording engineer chooses to use to sculpt the sound); and data compression, which comes in two varieties - lossy (where the system throws away data that it’s psychoacoustic model says you won’t miss, examples include MP3 and AAC) and lossless (where it’s just a more efficient way of representing the data; the output is exactly the same as the input, down to every last bit, examples include FLAC and ZIP’s ‘deflate’ algorithm). Lossy data compression can vary in how bad it is, depending on the settings used; even with the same algorithm - the data rate being the primary factor at play here.

[TruthAndMoreTruth]

I remember the introduction of the CD format, and how the world marveled on how much cleaner and clearer those early CDs sounded.
Much wider frequency response, much wider dynamic range and near zero noise.
Later, CD quality only improved as digital audio recording gear and computing power improved.
Then came the 'loudness wars'.
Then came the MP3 compression format.
Then came streaming (a huge step back in quality)
"Digital" went from being the best thing ever, to a dirty word.
Public perception can be a funny thing.

[HPLeft]

Pops and clicks are not accurate, they're distortion - pure and simple. I used to search far and wide for expensive European pressings - and eventually, their surface noise became burdensome. I was at PolyGram when we introduced the CD and nonetheless got talked into buying a Linn LP-12 a few years later, with a K9 cartridge, as part of a high-resolution audio system build around Apogee Acoustics Calipers (still a wonderful smaller-scaled ribbon loudspeaker, especially if properly rebuilt by one of the tech authorized by Graham Keet). But I could never get past the surface noise of LP, even when compared to the same recording when played on a first-generation CD through a first-generation Philips CD player. Go figure.

For me, the most important thing in audio is where they put the microphones and whether the engineer got it right; everything else is secondary. Analog, digital, it doesn't matter. If you put garbage in, you get garbage out. The other thing is that older analog recordings contain distortion at climaxes, in orchestral scores, for instance, that is simply not there in a digital recording. Digital recordings have their issues - but properly done they are much more capable of reproducing the sound of an orchestra playing double- or triple-forte (assuming that the engineers know what they're doing and are not playing around with levels or using too many microphones).

IMHO, the most important component in an audio chain are the loudspeakers / headphones.

I am very impressed by your factual down to earth views which I feel you are an authority in.

[qymhd]

I really appreciate you being able to let me know about audio quality in very smart and easy way, thank you 🙏🏻

[chegaro]

Honest statements, there are so many variables in both analog and digital situations. The wildest thing you can do is to find what makes your ears happy with the sound that you are listening to. Kudos, BOULDER Colorado, my hometown....

[stroker]

I'd like to see the impulse response of a record to a pro reel to reel tape.

[horrortackleharry]

I was nervous about how close your forearm was getting to that no doubt very expensive cartridge!

[singaporethomasgiam]

I still love vinyl records, love the touch and the sound.

[jpdj]

44.1 kHz - can we agree this is a misnomer? it is 22.05 kHz per channel and these are written alternatingly. The sum frequency is 44.1. It's like a sine wave with an up and a down part. That sine wave's frequency is 22.05 kHz, using a half sine for left and the other for right. We end up with 44.1k digital 16 bit samples, but go back to the 22.05 in DA conversion.