Modern Vinyl "Masters" vs. CD--My Experience, It Really IS About the Music Options

[Engelsstaub]

Due to some recent past experiences in other threads wherein some members (who plainly state their honest dislike of vinyl) claim that modern LPs are just as dynamically clipped as their CD-counterparts, I'd like to take an opportunity to illustrate that this is IME not the case. I've heard it stated more than once that "vinyl is not about the music..it's about the ritual.) This is seemingly just plain-old lazy bias. It can easily be forgiven in that these posters make it pretty obvious that they don't purchase vinyl, let alone compare modern releases to their CD-counterparts.

Here are screenshots from needledrops I've done of some of my favorite recent records. All but one were released in the past two years. Warrel Dane's "Praises to the War Machine" was released in 2008. (As a fun side-note, the vinyl LP came with the CD and was limited to 1,000 copies worldwide.)

I would like to note that I did not cherry-pick these examples. I only have about three more needledrops that I also have a CD copy or iTunes Matched version of. I can upload those as well. It should also be noted that all of these examples are on the heavier-side of the metal genre and probably are far more dense in sound than most other examples from other genres.

I've brought each vinyl recording up to 0.1 under 0 dB for easier comparison. None of the peaks are "pops" or any artifacts associated with the LP medium. Only one had a "pop" that hit the ceiling and I corrected it before applying gain.


Borknagar - "The Earthling" from "Urd" (2012)

LP



iTunes Matched AAC




In Flames - "Ropes" from "Sounds of a Playground Fading" (2011)

LP



CD



(This album is an egregious example of how bad they can make a modern CD sound through destructive normalization.)


Saint Vitus - "Let Them Fall" from "Lillie: F-65" (2012)

LP



CD



(Yes, really. It sounds worse than it looks IME.)


Warrel Dane - "Brother" from "Praises to the War Machine" (2008)

LP



CD




Septicflesh - "Oceans of Grey" from "The Great Mass" (2011)

LP



CD




[continued in next post due to apparent image constraints]

[Engelsstaub]

Assuming the QuickTime trim function doesn't transcode...
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Anyway, when compared to the vinyl, it's evident that the CD/iTunes Match mastering is quite different. I wouldn't be surprised if brickwalled recordings are sent to vinyl mastering houses on occasion, but as Engelstaub said his original post, that's probably the exception rather than the rule.

I noticed the vinyl rip is out of phase by about one sample; the right channel is delayed, as compared to the AAC file, at least in the segment I looked at. I'm guessing this happened in the ripping process and isn't actually that way on the record. My old USB soundcard used to do this when recording. I wouldn't worry about it, though it'd be nice to know why it happens. The vinyl rip may also be playing ever-so-slightly fast as compared to the AAC file, not enough to make a noticeable difference in pitch, but enough to make the waveforms not line up without some stretching.
...

Thanks for taking the time to listen and for your findings, mjb2006.

I am basically assuming that QuckTime's trim-function is actually trimming losslessly. I know I've read somewhere in the past that this is indeed the case, but I can't prove it at this time. QuickTime's help-documentation is far too general and doesn't seem to cover any technical things like that.

I know that 2Bdecided concluded that the In Flames example came from the same clipped master. I wouldn't doubt that. Some past In Flames CD's masterings sound so bad to me that I often don't even want to listen in spite of the fact that I like the music. I do still contend that it seems to be the exception that vinyl mastering houses are being sent the exact same stuff that's going on the CD and the digitally-distributed formats. I wish they would do the same with CDs as with most LPs now that iTunes-sales has pretty much caught up. They could leave the "cellphone mixes" to the market in which it would be more appreciated and (arguably) desired.

These needledrops are less than ideal. I need to redo most of them soon partly because of some of those issues that didn't seem to escape your attention. The Pro-ject Debut III USB's USB 1.1 out seems to be far less ideal than I hoped it would be. I'm in the process of working on a Firewire solution for that, but that's another story.

I think we're mostly on the same page here, but if anyone would like more samples let me know. I'd be happy to up the rest of them. I have another one (a 2011 example,) that I hadn't posted a graph of here, which is even more strikingly different than the Woods of Ypres comparison.