There are thousands of threads with many inane subject lines on this forum. What is so wrong about having another request thread?
Vinyl vs. CD ? Anyone compared yet ?
- Thread starter toscano
- Start date
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There are thousands of threads with many inane subject lines on this forum. What is so wrong about having another request thread?
There are thousands of silly threads on this forum. What is one more? If you don't like it, skip it and move on to the next thread. So many people here like to play policeman or policewoman. If you don't like something, just ignore it.
The point is not if the thread titles are inane or not. At this point there is no reason for anyone to keep requesting this album in any way shape or form by email. Sorry but this is how I feel and ultimately it is mine (and the mods) decisions. We did everyone a favor by even allowing all the request threads and allowing everything to be shared before the album came out. There are many other u2 forums that don't even allow you to discuss sharing of files and music and even ban members that engage in file sharing on their forums. I have read them first hand. There is simply no excuse now for people to be asking for this stuff. Everything is available for purchase now. Now, if you want to discuss the quality of the vinyl vs. cd etc, that's TOTALLY fine, and why I moved your post into this thread.
Understood, thanks for the explanation.
Eeeks. Sorry to get you in trouble, man. Most of us vinyl knuckleheads don't know how to rip a slab of wax to the computer anyway. Everytime I have a party at my house, I'll pull out some insanely rare vinyl bootleg of a Hendrix show from the '70s or an old '50s promo or acetate or something, and I get offers from stoned on-lookers to download my entire record collection to MP3, "for safety." When we all awake from our high, no one ever follows through.
Oh well...
Oh well...
This trend of saying that vinyl is superior to cd is really beginning to sound ridiculous.
Audio myth: Vinyl better than CD? | Audio DesignLine
Audio myth: Vinyl better than CD? | Audio DesignLine
Maybe inherently it is not, but what interests me is that the album may have been mastered differently for the LP since vinyl tends to appeal to discerning listeners.
Rarely do I hear a difference. I just have a lot of vinyl, so if the two are in a similar price-range, I go for the vinyl. If there is more than a $10-15 split, I'll go for the cheaper version. It kind of evens out, especially when there are bands that span the vinyl and CD era, as pre-'90s vinyl is pretty cheap. Especially when a band has sold millions of albums. There are just a lot of used ones on the resale market.
But sometimes, I gotta say... the difference is crystal clear. I noticed it a lot with High Llamas vinyl. Not sure if anyone is into that band or not? Another Irish group. But anyway, their vinyl pressings sound incredible. Never got that kind of fidelity from their CDs, which I promptly sold after amassing their catalog on LP.
But sometimes, I gotta say... the difference is crystal clear. I noticed it a lot with High Llamas vinyl. Not sure if anyone is into that band or not? Another Irish group. But anyway, their vinyl pressings sound incredible. Never got that kind of fidelity from their CDs, which I promptly sold after amassing their catalog on LP.
Danny Boy
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
Interesting points. To be honest, I have a turntable that is currently sitting in it's box in the closet of my spare bedroom. I believe that the last time I got it out was to record the remixes from the COBL 12". CDs sound just fine to me, even on my hi-fi.
nirniva
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
CD is better than vinyl but when it's mixed loud the potential is lost. I've listened to vinyl rips put onto CD and that's the prefered method for me BY FAR. When CD's are created properly they can sound great. Digital is the way to go in the long run because if enough memory is used (DVD-audio or Blu-ray) it sounds indistinguisable from the original master.
OP
OP
toscano
Refugee
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,032
Anyone whose ears haven't been destroyed by listening to mp3s, listen to the Steve Hoffman Vinyl rip version of Icky thump, and then listen to the CD, and tell me the vinyl isn't a zillion times better.
Oh yeah, that's right, you may need to use the VOLUME button, remember how to do that ??
Oh yeah, that's right, you may need to use the VOLUME button, remember how to do that ??
myvinylreview
Babyface
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Messages
- 2
Great forum. I am the author of the review on myvinylreview.com, and I wanted to clarify a few things. After repeated listening, it has become clear to me that the distortion/clipping that is heard on I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight is on the original recording and is not due to mastering or pressing issues. I believe this because the same distortion is present on both the digital download and the vinyl.
As for my opinion that the vinyl sounds better than the digital download, I stand by my original review. However, I don't think it is due to using a better master or even different mastering decisions. Rather, the better sound can be attributed in large part to differences in the listener's system. If your system is weighted towards vinyl, the vinyl will likely sound better than the download or cd.
Thanks for clearing that up and for participating in this forum. I guess those of us who are unhappy with the sound quality should blame U2, Eno, Lanois, Lillywhite, etc. and not the mastering engineer.
chrissybaby
Refugee
thanks myvinylreview, great first post 
Have you heard the CD or mp3s? The cymbals are heavily distorted on those.
myvinylreview
Babyface
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Messages
- 2
I recall hearing the most prominent clipping (on both the mp3 and vinyl) during the chorus of Crazy. Are you otherwise happy with the vinyl?
purpleoscar
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Totally. Other than, as I said before, I thought it should have all been on one disc (two sides).
Like I said previously, there are select examples of where vinyl has sounded superior to these ears, like the Zooropa LP vs. the CD or the entire High Llamas catalog. But there are cases where the vinyl sounds inferior too (e.g. Pop). And, for example, the original Pet Sounds mono LP (by the Beach Boys) sounds so much better than the mono/stereo LP reissue. Just going on the mono part of THAT reissue vs. the original mono mix, I can hear the bass being mixed way lower in the reissue, and it made me think it was all engineer related. Probably just an engineer that LOVED the Beach Boys vocals, and didn't realize how great Brian Wilson was a writing basslines.
Though, to be honest, I rarely look too deep into it. When I want a hard copy of ANYTHING, I almost always go for the vinyl, when it's available. Otherwise, I just burn a friend's CD or buy the individual MP3 tracks that I want. In this instance, I got an MP3 rip of No Line and liked the songs, so decided to buy the hard copy of LP. I'm not the right person to ask about hardcore sound variances. I only hear the very obvious.
rsdegeest
The Fly
Hi, Just recorded the 2LP to wave and flac to compare the LP en CD quality (couldn't listen to the LP's through my stereo 
).
I am blown away by the quality of the recording from the LP. It sounds better to me than from the CD which seems to have some distortion and is quite loud.
Loved the CD, sounds even better now from a vinyl rip
Rob
). I am blown away by the quality of the recording from the LP. It sounds better to me than from the CD which seems to have some distortion and is quite loud.
Loved the CD, sounds even better now from a vinyl rip
Rob
ultraviolet7
War Child
I have Pop double vinyl special edition and it sounds miles better than the CD.
ultraviolet7
War Child
The fact that the album was recorded digitally has nothing to do with the quality of the vinyl. This depends on the quality of the master, of the quantity of tracks per side and as you very well say of the pressing. As for quality specs Vinyl vs. CD, vinyl will give a true 20Hz - 20 kHz frequency response (at least in the first few plays) against a theoretical 20 Hz-20 kHz from the CD which in truth cannot reproduce correctly over 15 kHz with little more than two samples per cycle. As for dynamics theoretically CD would excel vinyl though the true dynamics response of a vinyl depends mainly on the quantity of tracks per side. A well mastered vinyl with few tracks per side can aspire to over 80 dB. Whilst a CD will give a theoretical 96 dB dynamic range, the quality is shit at low levels with few resolution steps to handle the sine wave, but that isn't really an issue with rock 'n roll which normally doesn't use half of that range. Lastly the response of vinyl varies a lot depending on the equipment used to listen to it. Vinyl will not sound good on average equipment as a CD can. To get the fullest from the vinyl experience you need a well mastered vinyl, few tracks per side, a good pressing and an excellent turntable with a quality pickup. Otherwise it's best to go for the CD.
On my LP copy, the bass is mixed louder than on the CD. No offense to Adam Clayton, I just like a lot of the little weird sounds dolloped onto the tracks, and sometimes that gets lost on the vinyl of Pop. But what is the special edition? Mine is two LPs, but was the whole thing remastered recently or something?
ultraviolet7
War Child
No, it's a UK edition which I bought while in London at the time. The sticker on the cover claims it is a "limited edition - double vinyl". It's 3 tracks per side and has a terrific sound - the CD sounds washed out in comparison.
RaceAgainstTime
The Fly
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2008
- Messages
- 179
I'm sure the album cover of Pop on vinyl is 
ultraviolet7
War Child
I'm sure the album cover of Pop on vinyl is
Yes it is. And the sleeves inside feature the 4 shots of the lads at the end of the booklet (Bono-Adam) (Edge-Larry). Very nice indeed.
mr_perfect
The Fly
I just bought the LP...after owning and only listening to the CD version since release day, I can honestly see a huge difference in the sound quality in the vinyl version. As mentioned above, yes the bass is quite loud to say the least, but by turning down the bass volume on my receiver, it sounds perfect. Listening to songs like white as snow and cedars, it just feels more "wholesome" than the cd version. The bass on MOS is also much better, although you can see the volume is still quite loud.
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