How better is a Turntable compared to a CD?

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When resynthesizing from a code its far more processing than mere (imperfect) trancription from a groove which is just transducing. Another approach. Has to display differences even if in the best level for both ways. Should give a somewhat different presentation. Say magnetically reading a fast analogue open reel VS SACD. Reading VS synthesizing that is. Just a simplistic generalization. Never mind.:D

You are the number one;)
 
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OK just a little bit another perspective.

IMHO decimation filters definitely do not make records sound more natural or better then its analog original. However NOS true analog LPs are very expensive nowadays. Very few audiophiles can afford collecting NOS records (and poses top notch vinyl audio setup) that reveals full LP potential. I cannot.

Second hand heavily used for many years LP on entry level second-hand turntable might sound as not good as RedBook CD let say on Wadia decoding computer.

Pure IMHO, of course:)


I'm sure that isn't entry level 2nd hand TT doesn't sound good, the effective reason is that 75% or more in all the world TT/tonearm/cartridge setup isn't well configured. For example Rega TT + Rega RB300 + decent cart + Salas njfet RIAA I will assure you rocks better than CD RedBook (both formats with good recordings).
 
I'm sure that isn't entry level 2nd hand TT doesn't sound good, the effective reason is that 75% or more in all the world TT/tonearm/cartridge setup isn't well configured. For example Rega TT + Rega RB300 + decent cart + Salas njfet RIAA I will assure you rocks better than CD RedBook (both formats with good recordings).
Agreed. I had Basis Audio turntable not bad too despite it modern look. The real obstical for me was purchasing extra NOS LPs so finaly I let it go.

By the way I am a tube guy & believe that pure tube amplification is a MUST for vinyl setup :)
 
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Agreed. I had Basis Audio turntable not bad too despite it modern look. The real obstical for me was purchasing extra NOS LPs so finaly I let it go.

By the way I am a tube guy & believe that pure tube amplification is a MUST for vinyl setup :)

Right NOS LPs are like DIY, one time started seems never finished:)

BTW do you want to sell some LPs?
 
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Since we have wandered OT - I've always wondered why the CD was designed as a linear amplitude thingy. Why not use log levels or some other weighting on the amplitude?

Hey, maybe all those recent CDs that are compressed into the top 10dB of the range are onto something. ;)
 
It's possible to do log, but what do you get out of it? There's already resolution and dynamic range well past anything that vinyl or analog tape can do. The floor is set by the least significant bit, regardless of how the bits above it are arrayed (log or linear).

The squeezed dynamic range is the fault of the software producers (meeting the demand of the vast majority of the listening public), not the hardware or the format.
 
The resolution of a CD is below Vinyl for quiet stuff, and for quiet high frequency stuff it's even worse.

The answer is there in your dynamic range: 96dB out of 16bits = 6dB per bit. It's too coarse!

As for making CDs logarithmic, I expect no one could agree and the mapping was going to add costs. It's a shame though as 65536 levels spread evenly over the dynamic range would probably sound very good - but all the resolution is just for loud stuff in a linear CD.

I think the argument between SACD and Vinyl is much lower than the debate about decent quality vs the typical CD - or even a well mastered CD. Anyone recall what year the CD came out?
 
I think I got my first CD's about 75. I have a lot more LP's than CD's. I find both formats can be good but there are examples of bad engineering of both media. Beatle's LP's had terrible gravel on the masters, and they had the intruments on one side and voices on the other. Stereo? At least the Abbey Road LP I bought last year left out most of the gravel (pops and crackle)
You have to be intensely careful with LP's to not scratch it, not let dust accumulate on it, not let a broken cartridge needle rip off the highs. I've taken good care of my original bought new LP's, but some of my earliest stuff was damaged by my Mother's 5 g RCA record player before I knew how to look for an AR turntable.
CD's, I can't think of any very soft music I own on it, so maybe that is why I haven't noticed the quantization limit.
I'm buying a lot of used LP's now for $1, a very useful hobby in the current US economy. The quality is no where near new, but the experiences are real and often pleasurable. Have bought a few used CD's for $2, and they usually have better sound quality used, but the material available is usually more restricted because there are more people buying them. And the liner notes are so dumbed down- E Power Biggs sounds good on Colombia reissue, but they left 3/4 of the text out; there is no indication which band was played on which organ, geographically covering half the world.
 
Why not use log levels or some other weighting on the amplitude?

I think that would give problems with dithering. Those who've posted in this thread that distortion increases with decreasing level on CD haven't yet grasped the importance of dither in linearising quantization distortion. Having varying quantization according to level would require the dither envelope to vary according to the instantaneous level - can't help thinking this would give fairly horrendous noise modulation.
 
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