This is a tired topic. I use Qobuz for streaming and the biggest problem I have with it is that it’s often limited to "re-mastered" files, which are almost without exception the compressed, dynamically limited versions. So of course they tend to sound not as good as an original LP or early CD.
Vinyl vs Streaming
Hey,
Hope this is OK to post here.
Do you ever find yourself questioning Vinyl in the face of Streaming?
And question yourself, why am I going through all this struggle when streaming is so much easier.
I was sitting on my couch streaming some hi res music, which was sounding great, asking this to myself.
It's just so much easier to stream and get from one song to another.
I know for some, their analog rig is much better and stronger than their digital side (if they even have one) and for others it might be the opposite.
Regardless, just wondering if you ever feel if it's worth all the extra work.
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- 96 posts total
After comparing similar digital and vinyl set ups, both being equal quality, I find it’s more a mastering and recording differences that make more of a difference. I have vinyl that sounds better then the digital and the opposite. Mostly due to what mastering version both are using. Then there is the remastered vinyl taken from an all digital source (or worse)- mastering- recording processes. What’s truly fully analog anymore (other than your old records from prior to the digital age)? Practically all new (newly remastered) vinyl has a digital process somewhere in the chain. |
@billpete - interesting analogy; I've been a photographer for many decades, and I sure didn't trust the quality of digital images when they first started coming out. But it didn't take long for them to improve to the point where I went that route, too. I make much better prints using photoshop and my printer than I ever did in the darkroom - no Ansel Adams me! But most of my work is on film as it's concert photos from the 70's, so I scan them in with my Nikon film scanner and do the rest of the processing from there. If somebody thinks that vinyl is an inconvenience, they should try their own film developing and darkroom printing! A much bigger gap there, I think, than in audio. |
I prefer to own my music, thanks. Streaming has its place, but no internet, no music. Not doing that. As to quality, streaming’s as variable as media sources. A crappy recording is a crappy recording. That being said, the user interface with streaming is unparalleled. When I just want to listen, I’m usually spinning media. When I’m kicking it with friends and nobody’s really paying that much attention, streaming is the call. |
Analog vs digital, streaming vs vinyl, which sounds better? It depends. I have many old original pressings on vinyl, recorded on analog equipment that cannot be replicated in digital. Those LP’s sound amazing. Modern artists, releasing LP’s from digital masters, meh. Modern electronic music sounds great, to me, streamed via digital. So which sounds better? It depends. |
- 96 posts total