lucifer_sam

OK. I can understand what you're getting at but it still seems you're not grasping this idea I'm trying to get across...

Basically, vinyl is a very unusual medium (even for analog media) because it relies on the mechanical vibrations of the needle.

People THINK that this follower adheres perfectly to the surface of the vinyl, but that's just not true.

There is a mechanical response of the needle which will cause the tip to diverge somewhat from the surface. The amplitude of this disturbance is usually very small (unless there's a scratch in the record), so small that it seems imperceptible to the human ear.

But it isn't.

Since the asperities on the record itself are essentially random in spatial geometry, what happens is that randomness is reflected in those small disturbances -- which is projected through the sound system to our ears. How our brains interpret those disturbances is considered pleasing to our auditory sense, since it reflects a more close approximation of how the sound would appear naturally -- the reverberations and minor interferences that come with a natural setting.

While it may not be the exact signal that went into the record, it will still usually come out sounding better for it. This isn't true for all vinyl, but it is for most. Acoustically recorded music (even records post-1990) emphasize this effect even more.

This is almost impossible to model using a generalized algorithm. And that is why vinyl will ALWAYS sound different than its digital counterpart.

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first.am

s_k

Altough what you say is true, I cannot say I really care why every medium sounds the way it does. All I'm looking for is for something that gets closest to what I hear when I listen to a voice, or an acoustical instrument. And in that case, background noise aside, vinyl seems to get rather close.

Eitherway, could you, if you will, write down the idea you're trying to get across, in one simple sentence? Because I still don't seem to get the 'main point' from what you say

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lucifer_sam

Haha, I don't think I can.

But you shouldn't use "I don't really care" as a cop-out to not understanding my logic here. If you highlight some of the ideas I expressed that you don't understand I can try to put them in layman's terms but it's not really something I could explain in one succinct sentence.

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first.am

s_k

Haha, well if you feel like trying once more I won't mind reading once more .
It's not that I don't understand what you say, it's just that I can't find one 'general point' you seem to be making. I do realize very well that this may have to do with my well... social limitations .

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MoonlitSunshine

See, I don't entirely understand the physics of why Analog should sound better than Digital. Surely Digital should provide a cleaner, more accurate sound? I know that "less accurate" randomization is listed as one of the reasons why analog sounds warmer, but it is literally one track of music which has been digitalized anyway as it has to be to be copied onto a record in the first place...

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hip hop bunny hop

Guys, if you don't want to pay S&H have a local record store order it for you.

Anyways, I've never paid over $20 for an LP, and all of the new LPs I buy are of underground metal bands so they're generally the same price of the CD. Many underground distros will offer free shipping if your order is over a certain amount, although such distros generally have limited selection....

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lucifer_sam

Not all analog media sounds better. Cassettes and 8-trac tapes rely on electromagnetic pickups and do not produce this same effect whatsoever. The transfer of kinetic energy between the record and the follower is ESSENTIAL to producing this effect.

As far as why even digitalized vinyl can sound better than the digital version, that's all up to the mechanical properties of the record & needle -- more specifically, the response of the needle to the record's movement. And even then, it doesn't always sound better.

I'm not saying "vinyl always sounds better"...I'm saying "vinyl will always sound different".

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first.am

s_k

Well there's something that kicks vinyl's arse by miles.
Analog tape, obviuosly. I mean, that's often the source of a vinyl record.
A nice 2 track master tape recorded on a high speed will in the end beat the living crap out of any other audio source.

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lucifer_sam

Too bad the consumer market for it is nonexistent.

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first.am

s_k

Record stores are blooming here

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