LPs that actually do sound better?, Somebody Should Make a List Options

[tonybelding]

Hi all. . . I'm new here, but I've been pointed towards this site many times in the past to settle questions about audio -- especially about digital compression.

So anyhow. . . I got me a turntable!

What prompted me to get it was a series of records that National Geographic published back in the 70s and which never were released on CD. They were high production quality stuff: gatefold, elaborate liner notes, etc. It was supposed to be a history of American music -- an early example of edu-tainment, you might say. I fondly remembered some of these from when I was little, and I thought it would be cool to collect the LPs (thanks to the modern miracle of eBay) and digitize them, and put them in my iTunes library. QED, right?

I first thought I'd get one of those cheap USB turntables, but then I did a little research and found out they were basically crummy, so of course I wanted a better one. . . and one thing led to another. I ended up with a Technics SL-D2 with a Shure M95ED cartridge, which seems to be working pretty well so far. It's been a long time since I had a turntable, and this is way better than any I had before.

So, I dug out some other old LPs. One that particularly pleases me is Blue Oyster Cult's The Revolution By Night. It sounds way better than the CD. The CD is one of those early releases that were. . . messed up. I don't know exactly what the explanation is, but it seems around 1984-86 there were a fair number of CDs that came out sounding thin, harsh and bright. I suspect it had something to do with the mad rush to convert whole back catalogs ASAP while engineers were still getting used to the new format and equipment.

Adding insult to injury, the CD was a "budget" release with the (excellent IMHO) cover art shrunk to about cassette size and surrounded with a useless border proclaiming what a bargain it was. The sleeve art was jettisoned entirely. Gee thanks, CBS Records!

I've tinkered with the CD rip before, applying equalization -- greatly reducing the higher frequencies -- and re-normalizing it, and I was able to make the CD sound a lot better. Even so, apparently I never totally figured it out, because the LP still sounds better to me.

At the end of this long story, I'm left wondering. . . Can anybody suggest other LPs that are notably better than their CD release? I mean examples where the CD was messed up in some way, whether it was equalization or over-compression, clipping, whatever, while the LP was OK. Bonus points could be awarded if the LP has great cover art, gatefold art, etc!

We could even make a list of these; it seems like somebody ought to.

[analog scott]

Such lists are tricky things. As has already been pointed out, there are many cases (most really) in which there are multiple masterings on vinyl and/or CD. Another issue is the hardware. The playback gear can be a substantial factor. It isn't just the source gear either although that is cirtical. The system as a whole, whatever it is, will be colored and some colorations may favor certain masterings. IOW the best mastering on one system may not be the best masteing on all systems. Then you have the problem of preferences not always being universal. Your favorite mastering of a given title may not be the same as mine. I think best masterings is a topic worthy of discussion but a definitive list will always be suspect. As has been noted, one can find extensive discussions on this topic at Stevehoffman.tv. What really does not belong in the discussion is silly attempts to turn any such discussion into an LP v. CD or analog v. digital debate. *If* an LP version of a given title turns out to be superior to any other version to any person's ears then it is the superior version for that person. Period. Trying to argue the limitations of any medium in the face of any given personal pereference is just an obnoxious, passive aggressive attemtp to discredit a person's preference. It's ego based B.S. and completely unconstructive.