Has anyone been able to define well or measure differences between vinyl and digital?


It’s obvious right? They sound different, and I’m sure they measure differently. Well we know the dynamic range of cd’s is larger than vinyl.

But do we have an agreed description or agreed measurements of the differences between vinyl and digital?

I know this is a hot topic so I am asking not for trouble but for well reasoned and detailed replies, if possible. And courtesy among us. Please.

I’ve always wondered why vinyl sounds more open, airy and transparent in the mid range. And of cd’s and most digital sounds quieter and yet lifeless than compared with vinyl. YMMV of course, I am looking for the reasons, and appreciation of one another’s experience.

128x128johnread57

Showing 2 responses by tomcy6

A blind analog/digital test recently came to light which caused a great deal of consternation among the analog contingent of our hobby and brought doubt.to some of their claims of what they can hear.

It was recently discovered that MoFi Labs had a digital step in the mastering - pressing chain of their Lps going back at least to 2011 and maybe even further back.

MoFi found that record labels were often not willing to loan master tapes out to them, so they put together a portable Studer tape deck that they could take to the record label vaults to make copies of the master tapes that they then used to make their MoFi Lps, including the very expensive one-steps.

MoFi started with the analog master tapes but they were recording them to DSD, plain old DSD in some cases but 4x DSD in most cases. Audiophiles bought these Lps for over a decade and loved them. There was the rare voice here and there that didn’t like them, but no more than with any album no matter how pure its lineage. Michael Fremer had a number of them on his 100 best sounding Lps list.

Thousands and thousands of analog listeners could not tell that the MoFi Lps had been produced from a digital source even after many listens over a period of years on their own systems.

So, MoFi definitely should have been upfront about the source for its Lps, but they weren’t, and no one could tell. I’m not saying that there aren’t differences between analog and digital, but there may be factors other than sound quality involved for those who find digital fundamentally flawed, In My Humble Opinion, YMMV..

Is there really any proof that remasters have compressed dynamic range (the so called loudness war)? Is it just a mostly baseless term intended to invoke an emotion?

Yes there is. Many Cds have been dynamically compressed since the early 90s. You can find dynamic range numbers for a lot of albums at the Dynamic Range Database:

Album list - Dynamic Range DB (loudness-war.info)

There you can find which versions of a particular album have more or less dynamic range. You can then go to Discogs, an Lp and Cd marketplace, to buy the version you’re looking for:

Discogs - Music Database and Marketplace

Albums are supposed to be listed there by specific reissue so you can find the reissue that is supposed to sound the best or 2nd or 3d best. Check with the seller to make sure his albums are listed under the correct listing before buying. Reputedly better sounding Cds and Lps (e.g.less compressed) sell for more $ and sellers don’t always list their Cds and Lps under the correct listing. Probably just an honest mistake, but I suggest checking before buying anyway.

On a related note the dynamic ranges of Lps and Cds on the DR database cannot be compared directly. It has something to do with the way the site measures DR that makes direct comparison between the formats inaccurate. I’ve read an explanation before, but I can’t remember what it is.