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Does Anyone Think CD is Better Than Vinyl/Analog?

I am curious to know if anyone thinks the CD format (and I suppose that could include digital altogether) sounds better than vinyl and other analog formats. Who here has gone really far down both paths and can make a valid comparison? So far, I have only gone very far down the CD path and I just keep getting blown away by what the medium is capable of! I haven’t hit a wall yet. It is extremely dependent on proper setup, synergy and source material. Once you start getting those things right, the equipment gets out of the way and it can sound more fantastic than you can imagine! It’s led me to start developing a philosophy that goes something like this: Digital IS “perfect sound forever”; it’s what we do to the signal between the surface of the CD and the speaker cone that compromises it.” 
So I suppose what I’m asking for is stories from people who have explored both mediums in depth and came to the conclusion that CD has the most potential (or vice versa - that’s helpful too). And I don’t simply mean you’ve spent a lot of money on a CD player. I mean you’ve tinkered and tweaked and done actual “research in the lab,” and came back with a deep understanding of the medium and can share those experiences with others.

In my experience, the three most important things to get right are to find a good CD player (and good rarely means most expensive in my experience) and then give it clean power. In my case, I have modified my CD player to run off battery power with DC-DC regulators. The last thing that must be done right is the preamp. It’s the difference between “sounds pretty good” and “sounds dynamic and realistic.”
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arizonabob's avatar
arizonabob
85 posts
 
Only in the sense of it being transportable, sorry...
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madavid0
214 posts
 
I have yet to hear any digital out of my system (CD player, CD transport, custom audio server) which beats my vinyl system (Triangle Art table + TA speed controller + TA Zeus + Reed 2A arm + Hashimoto SUT + Chinese all-tube phono). The key factor appears to me to be the sense of real-life dynamics and tone. Actually the tone is pretty close now and the addition of the Yggdrasil DAC has closed the gap somewhat on dynamics, but the vinyl system still wins.

The key factor in my vinyl's superiority seems to be: very high-quality pressings from an analog source. Modern digital source pressings can sound virtually identical to CD. The best analog I heard, period, was actually from a reel-to-reel deck at AXPONA a few years back. No digital system I've heard approached that.
gone
34 posts
 
What are you in it for?

Some LPs sound better than CDs. Some CDs sound better than the same content on LPs. Can you find a clean copy of a given album on LP? Maybe. Is it a good pressing of that LP? Are there important extra tracks on the CD? Is is the best CD remastering, since CD releases can vary in quality dramatically. This is not a simple question.

If you’re in it for the music, there is a lot of great stuff on CD that was never offered on LP. Live jazz recordings for example. There are historic recordings that have been dramatically cleaned up using modern technology that either sound much better than the LP release or were never released on LP, especially classical performances. If you like opera, not only do the CDs often sound better, but that’s many fewer sides to get up and flip.

Availability is key, too. There are "ethnographic" recordings and recordings of the traditional music from around the world that offer a much richer selection on CD. If you have interest in Hindustani and Carnatic music, a CD player is a must.

When I am looking for a piece of music that was recorded in the analog days, I read up on which sounds best. Recommend Steve Hoffman’s forum.

Mind you, I keep a Victrola because some 78s will just never sound as good any other way. Listen to Ellington’s Blanton/Webster recordings or the Paul Whiteman "potato head" 78s or even early bebop in good shape on a quality gramophone- nothing like hearing horns through a horn.

Bottom line: I’m as concerned as anyone about quality of reproduction. But I am in it for the music. I go where the music is.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
kren0006: So then, if we can agree that a top $300 digital front end beats a top $300 analog front end, how high up the source cost ladder must one climb before analog overtakes?
Millercarbon:
Well my 1976 Technics SL1700 was still in its box in the garage so I dug it out hooked it up and spent the rest of the day flabbergasted how easily this ancient relic clobbered CD. Wife came home and agreed.


What I neglected to mention, the cantilever got bent somehow and was eyeballed straight with pliers. That table was about $325 new in 1976. The California Audio Labs CDP it clobbered was three times the price. So I think it safe to say no amount of money will suffice. Analog, even with a bent cantilever, is street level. The source cost ladder you are talking about for digital does not climb up, it descends down through a manhole into the darkness. 

Granted, if what you do is tick off boxes on your typical audiophile checklist then a lot of those cheap old turntables are going to come up short. In fact if you are entrenched to the point of refusing to accept what you hear to the point you require every item on the list to be better, well then I give up you win. Because as we all know all you have to do is say, "noise" and digital wins hands down.  

Which is why I said up front the only ones like this are audiophiles. Normal people do not listen with a pencil in one hand and a list in the other. Normal people simply experience music. When that is the criteria records are unbeatable, and its not even close.
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