I tend to agree that there is a difference.
the mastering is very different for vinyl and CD as the reproduction is different
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:21, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Obviously there is a difference, you're comparing something made by a stylus physically moving against plastic
against something produced by decoding zeros and ones, but to say that vinyl is "warmer" is just personal preference.

Music made these days is over compressed because engineers are forced to make them as "loud" as possible, if you listen to Death Magnetic, it's actually not very well mixed as the sound has been made so "loud" it actually clips and sounds poor, especially compared to say The Black Album.

It's to do with louder music sounding better i.e. if you play someone two similar tracks, the one mixed louder usually gets voted as sounding better.

But that whole concept is nothing to do with digitising music.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:25, Reply)

hmm, fair point
I've been thinking recently that Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets are kind of badly produced.

I heard that the mix of some of the Death Magnetic stuff on one of the guitar hero games is actually better than the album
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:28, Reply)

That is apperently the case
I don't think Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets were badly produced, but they could have been better. ...And Justice for All is stunningly badly produced, which is a shame as it has great songs on it, but it sounds shit to listen to.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:32, Reply)

there's something not quite right with them
the mix is ok, but they sound a bit thin.

It is a shame about And Justice... it's almost as if there's no bass guitar on there at all. My bass playing mate had a theory that that was the reason for Jason Newstead always looking pissed off.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:35, Reply)

I think that played a large part of the reason
the fact that he was in a band with three people who didn't like him was probably quite a big factor too!

Apparently Lars and James turned down the bass parts simply because they didn't like him very much.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:39, Reply)

they really are dickheads.
it was refreshing to watch the Maiden documentary and find that they are all diamond geezers.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:41, Reply)

I really need to get that and watch it

(Bazongaloid, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:42, Reply)

it is thoroughly entertaining
funny, interesting, great music. everything you could want
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:49, Reply)

Just wanted to show some love for
good old fashioned records. I just bought some more today. The black crack.

Mp3 is fine & all that but anything lower than 250ish sounds shit on a big system imo. But then, a badly pressed record will also sound shit. Or a nice heavy piece of vinyl being played on a 40quid from argos turntable will sound pretty ropey too. It's not just the format but the equipment it's played on.
(MyFakeName, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 15:07, Reply)

Vipros is correct
Because of the inability to produce a lot of bass (the grooves would be too 'wobbly', there's a standard equalisation curve (the RIAA EQ response) which is applied to playback of vinyl. Because of surface imperfections, the signal to noise ratio of vinyl is pretty poor. CDs have a theoretical maximum S/N ratio of 96dB, which is pretty good, and they can reproduce the full audio spectrum without needing corrective EQ.

So technically, CDs are far better.

Subjectively, people say vinyl is warmer, and they prefer it. Fine. It's just like using a valve amplifier. Valves add subtle even-harmonic distortion to the sound, so it's a less accurate reproduction but can produce a sound more pleasing to the ear.

Personally, I prefer digital. Uncompressed is best, but 160kbps AAC is pretty good.

128kbps MP2 (as used in DAB) is however abysmal, and should be destroyed in a massive fire.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:44, Reply)

Yeah, we know your opinion on DAB!

(Bazongaloid, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:47, Reply)

Have I perhaps
mentioned it in passing...?
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:51, Reply)

the valve amp thing is an interesting one
I've got a Fender valve amp, and a Marshall transistor one.

Distorted, My strat sounds best with the valve amp and my ibanez with the marshall, clean however and there is no comparison between the two. valves win, hands down
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:50, Reply)

Yes, but
even clean, the valve amplification will still add a small degree of distortion. And it's that which gives you the desirable sound.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:52, Reply)

this is true
and desirable it is.

I was amazed at how loud it is. I've got a 15w valve amp, and I reckon it's as loud as my 100w transistor one.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 2 Oct 2009, 13:59, Reply)