2. analog
  3. 146465-1264

Vinyl vs high def audio i.e. 24bit / 96 or 192khz

I was born to the world of cassette tapes and soon digital music. My only experience with Vinyl was the one rather audition I had recently. It wasn't feasible at the time for us to try a blind fold A/B test. So my question for anyone has experienced both, is that is it worth it to buy a turntable? 

The entry level ones are not really expensive compared to the gears I currently have. However, it's my habit to not keep things that I would not use. That includes thing that is a hassle to use or requires a lot of maintenance. The shop owner where I auditioned a Rega turntable kind of insinuated it falls into both of the aforementioned categories. For instance, the Vinyl doesn't hold many songs so swapping is pretty much a necessity. Upon some research, I also found that vinyl albums recently issued are likely produced from a digital master anyway, some are even just slightly above CD Quality. I have a large library of songs from HDTracks that are at least 24bit / 48khz and honestly I cannot tell a difference once they hit 24 bit / 96khz. 

With the above said, what's so great about Vinyl in your view? Thanks for the feedback. 
angelgz2
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

@schubert The British speaker producer Bowers&Wilkins

introduced as first ''super tweeter'' . The general opinion than

was that there is no sense to produce speakers with higher

frequency  than 14 Khz. Their super tweeter started by 14

Khz but could be switched of and on . By their testing they

used ''old people'' as ''test panel'' which was capable to hear

 when the super tweeter was on and off.

three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
@lewm Thanks for weighing in.  I very well may tackle an upgraded TT system in the next couple of years since I'm hearing feedback like yours and @noromance indicating a $5K -$7K setup could yield analog results on par with digital in the same price range.  
terry9
2,209 posts
 
I have an emotionally satisfying digital player. It is satisfying in every way - except that within an hour I always turn it off.

Not so with my analogue system.
terry9
2,209 posts
 
@schubert , you write: 

Tha'ts how a conductor in his 90's who can't hear 5k on a machine testcan correct a player at 12K . I have seen them do it .

With greatest respect, could you elaborate? The highest fundamental analogue note that I know of is about 5 KHz, so ... ? I don't understand.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,566 posts
 
From all the response so far, it seems like turntables are really for people who have a predisposition to love records, either because you guys already have a large collection, or because you could relate to it. While there might be some level of sonic differences, a larger part appears to be personal preference and the emotional aspect of it.
@angelgz2

In most cases a turntable will sound better than anything streamed. This is because streamed files, even though 192KHz, may not have any more information than the 16 bit CDs because the master file was not used.

LPs are far more likely to have used a file closer to the original than even a commercially released CD! This is because CDs and other digital formats have the expectation of being played in a car and so are compressed as a result.

LPs don't have that expectation. I run an LP mastering operation, and when working with a digital master, we always make sure its not the file mastered for digital release. We get the one that is unprocessed- it sounds better.

LPs have a number of advantages over digital formats even to this day. Since the late 1950s, the record side has always had bandwidth out to well past 40KHz. That helps improve the perception of the soundstage due to reduced phase shift.


LPs have less or no aliasing at all. This is important- aliasing is a form of distortion which the ear/brain system perceives as a brightness - 'crisp' is of then term when its really bad. This is a major reason why LPs are so much more relaxed.


So these things are not taste issues. Digital just isn't there - yet.

BTW- one of the better deals in turntables these days is the new Technics SL-1200G, which looks like the SL1200s on Craigslist but is actually a whole new design from the ground up and is one of the most speed stable turntables made anywhere.
More to discover