How Good Can Vinyl Sound?, Anyone got some sample clips? Options

[sshd]

I do not own a turntable and have never heard the "great vinyl sound" coming from a good turntable handled correctly. I am however sligltly interested in purchasing one, as there are some interesting albums out there unavailable on CD.

Recently I found a small clip on the net: A lossless needledrop of Santana's debut album on the MFSL label. Since I own the CD on same label I had something to compare with: I was very disappointed with the needle drop. There were no pops or clicks, but the sound was dead.

Can anyone provide some sample clips of very good needle drops?

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

I do not own a turntable and have never heard the "great vinyl sound" coming from a good turntable handled correctly.

I have owned a number of turntables, and was a long-time audiophile back in the days when vinyl was pretty much all we had. I don't know what that "great vinyl sound" is, other than hype. And while we're talking about hype, "perfect sound, forever" (CD when it first came out) was hype, too.

I've had any number of vinylphiles demonstrate their "great vinyl sound" to me. Still, no cigar!

Back in the day, those of us who were scientific about getting the most out of vinyl were also intimately familiar with the inherent limiations of vinyl. I mean besides the obvious tics and snaps, there are very basic problems that are varying degrees of insoluable. And, that's just the ones that are audible!

For me the biggie is the inherent speed accuracy of the digital formats. LP pianos often sound wattery to me.

I am however sligltly interested in purchasing one, as there are some interesting albums out there unavailable on CD.

Been there done that, too. I currently have a Rega turntable with Shure and Grado cartridges for transcribing LPs. Doesn't get a lot of use. Still wish I had my last system from the days of - a TD125 with SME arm and V15 cartridge.

Recently I found a small clip on the net: A lossless needledrop of Santana's debut album on the MFSL label. Since I own the CD on same label I had something to compare with: I was very disappointed with the needle drop. There were no pops or clicks, but the sound was dead.

I've done a number of ABXs of time, level and spectrally-matched needle drops of LPs and CDs that seem to be very similarly mastered. I can still nail 'em based on all those other things than tics and pops that are wrong with the LP format.

Can anyone provide some sample clips of very good needle drops?

Others have. Some pretty good transcriptions have already been linked.

[Glenn Gundlach]

I do not own a turntable and have never heard the "great vinyl sound" coming from a good turntable handled correctly.

I have owned a number of turntables, and was a long-time audiophile back in the days when vinyl was pretty much all we had. I don't know what that "great vinyl sound" is, other than hype. And while we're talking about hype, "perfect sound, forever" (CD when it first came out) was hype, too.

I've had any number of vinylphiles demonstrate their "great vinyl sound" to me. Still, no cigar!

Back in the day, those of us who were scientific about getting the most out of vinyl were also intimately familiar with the inherent limiations of vinyl. I mean besides the obvious tics and snaps, there are very basic problems that are varying degrees of insoluable. And, that's just the ones that are audible!

For me the biggie is the inherent speed accuracy of the digital formats. LP pianos often sound wattery to me.

I am however sligltly interested in purchasing one, as there are some interesting albums out there unavailable on CD.

Been there done that, too. I currently have a Rega turntable with Shure and Grado cartridges for transcribing LPs. Doesn't get a lot of use. Still wish I had my last system from the days of - a TD125 with SME arm and V15 cartridge.

Recently I found a small clip on the net: A lossless needledrop of Santana's debut album on the MFSL label. Since I own the CD on same label I had something to compare with: I was very disappointed with the needle drop. There were no pops or clicks, but the sound was dead.

I've done a number of ABXs of time, level and spectrally-matched needle drops of LPs and CDs that seem to be very similarly mastered. I can still nail 'em based on all those other things than tics and pops that are wrong with the LP format.

Can anyone provide some sample clips of very good needle drops?

Others have. Some pretty good transcriptions have already been linked.

Not to be too big of a jerk but how can one post a clip of that 'analog sound' when your clip is digital (and maybe even compressed) ?? BTW VERY respectable disc playing gear. Mine was a Dual 721 with a Shure V15 type V.

G²

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

Not to be too big of a jerk but how can one post a clip of that 'analog sound' when your clip is digital (and maybe even compressed) ?? BTW VERY respectable disc playing gear. Mine was a Dual 721 with a Shure V15 type V.

When we say that digital can be a lot more accurate than legacy analog media, we aren't kidding!

By most accounts, a well-done needle drop is a sonically accurate representation of the playback of the LP.

If you take a good digital recorder and compare a recording it makes, to the signal that was applied to it to make that recording, nobody can reliably detect an audible difference. This experiment has been done many times by many people, going back into the late 1970s. It has been done many times with high quality live recordings.