Audio CD's vs Vinyl Debate! My thoughts.

[@dixonkim8659]

Regardless of CD or vinyl, the biggest difference I hear is the quality of the recording itself. When that one recording is transferred to CD or vinyl, then that sound quality difference is fairly small.

[@AlexanderG-mi7ip]

I am a CD guy and I usually listen to the whole album without skipping tracks. In case of vinyl you cannot listen to the whole album without a break between side A and side B.

[@JeffRiggins8080]

I prefer vinyl for analog recordings made before digital technology. The artists and engineers crafted music to be recorded on tape and consumed on vinyl. They worked within the limitations of the day to produce their art. I prefer to listen to the music the way it was intended at the time it was created.

[@recordsam]

A large part of my enjoyment of vinyl is exactly what you mentioned - the more "human-size" aspect of it - which includes life-size photgraphs, artwork that isn't tiny, lyrics and commentary that are easy to read, etc. The other aspect is just that there is so much more room for creativity with a 12 x 12 inch format. I have hundreds and hundreds of variations on what you can do with something that is that size and material. Cubes, pyramids, pop-up, fold out, spinner, cut-out, etc., etc., etc. The creativity that goes into the physical medium is almost endless, where with a CD, I have seen maybe a few dozen variations of the physical presentation format. And yes, the jewel cases and the little nubby holders for the inserts are just badly designed. Both formats can sound great, but for the reasons above and many more, I will always prefer records over CD's, especially the original 1st pressings of everything that was made before digitization took over. The real deal.

[@HeretixAevum]

I'm also in the "I like both" camp, but I will say that CDs are WAY more consistent and reliable in their sound quality than records are. They're a much more 'known quantity', where-as with vinyl you can get unlucky sometimes with a defective pressing. There's also just a lot of total junk vinyl being released that isn't worth anybody's money, unfortunately. Regarding jewel cases getting banged up in the mail, while that can sometimes happen, the jewel case is totally replaceable and probably did it's job of protecting the disc and inserts. If your record gets banged up the mail, it's permanently damaged, though this often comes down to the packaging used in shipping. I quite like digipak CDs, though.

[@johnholmes912]

Some CD s sound absolutely awful

[@iosifderecichei3743]

Just subscribed. Really enjoyed your video, lots of common sense, honesty and I would say knowledge.

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

Thanks! Welcome.

[@jimnoren2054]

Having grown up with vinyl and then onto CDs for years, I begrudgingly came back to the old wax platters. These relics are now way overpriced and overstated. CDs blow vinyl out of the water. I have CDs from the 80’s that still sound like the day l bought them. In order for an album to have the same longevity, one would have to devise a nuclear plan, move to the right climate, and invest time and money into endless quality control standards…. That being said, the cover and artwork size trump the little cd booklet and cases .., and that is it.

[@robertbenton2804]

Hi Clint, good assessment. Sometimes when I listen to vinyl I end up concentrating on the clicks and pops, and less on the music. It can be very distracting. However like you I like both formats. I have the TT15 and love it. For CD I have an Audiolab transport and the Audiolab 6000 with KEF LS 50’s.

[@Coneman3]

Pros and cons both ways but ultimate best imo is vinyl because it’s purer (not been digitised unless it’s from a digital master).

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

Yea, much of new music comes from digital masters. I do like to concept of full analog though.

[@astolatpere11]

Agree with all you say. Will disagree with mold release. Never heard anyone involved with making lps say that there is mold release in the vinyl pellets that is the raw material. Records are produced in rooms that aren't super clean. What you are hearing is dust on the lps deposited during the manufacturing process.

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

There are compounds in the vinyl pellets that help it "flow" so to speak. While not technically 'mould release compound" which is typically sprayed on a mould itself, it can leach out of the vinyl during pressing. It's definitely not dust. I've seem chemical white clouds on my brand new records, that sounded horrible until I ran them through a vacuum record cleaner. This was very obvious on a $35 200g Diana Krall album I got. There were white blotches all over the record. Like dried milk. It was dead silent after cleaning.

[@DorianPaige00]

Some of these arguments discussed here are pretty much baseless. Many CDs no longer come in jewel cases. I prefer jewel to digi-pack or the dreaded uni-pack. However you have more options as the album doesn't have to be flipped. And if you are listening to music, why are you sitting? Downloads are often not made available now and subject to streaming and hence contract renewal. Sam Cooke's ABKO catalog, the Cameo-Parkway hits, among many others sat out of print for decades waiting for reissue contracts to be signed. There isn't the upstart fee in doing a reissue but titles can disappear from streaming and there is talk that the majors may keep streaming for themselves. So you'd have to have memberships in multiple streaming companies.

[@MrJun909]

Your thoughts on Apple Homepods and Apple Music lossless streaming

[@michaelwood4661]

Partner she loves the gatefold

[@miguelgilbravo4228]

Los Altavoces no están demasiado apegados a la pared?

[@michaelwood4661]

Partner likes both cd +vinyl

[@MarioGonzalez-nm2ql]

CDs are better... Not even close

[@cimarronhopper2261]

No vinyl is better

[@MarioGonzalez-nm2ql]

@@cimarronhopper2261 hell no. Cd has better quality always and forever

[@cimarronhopper2261]

@@MarioGonzalez-nm2ql nope coming from someone who almost lost his hearing as a kid I don't take my hearing for granted vinyl rules the roost

[@cimarronhopper2261]

@MarioGonzalez-nm2ql the artwork the smell the richness yes it has human imperfections but it's like the artist is in the room singing to you even if theylve been dead for 50 years

[@coolbugfacts1234]

@@cimarronhopper2261 all music you listen to now was recorded digitally in the studio. why would converting it to analogue on an expensive, inconvenient, fragile medium that spews VOC microplastics into your air improve it?

[@Jordan-fn5rj]

CDs and vinyl are both great formats for listening to music. Vinyl often offers a fuller, warmer sound than CDs, while CDs can be cheaper and more portable. Ultimately, it all comes down to personal preference - you should choose the format that sounds best to your ears and suits your listening style and budget.

[@DJGeorgeDisco]

I like to play my digital files using my turntable through Serato. Best of both worlds.

[@michaelmityok1001]

Used to have a vinyl setup, but went to CDs and digital files for convenience. At first the sound quality gap was noticeable, but I have sunk a lot of money into my digital chain and have gotten incremental improvements. Now my system sounds great to me, but differently great than vinyl if you know what I mean. Streaming content has been a revelation in terms of discovering new music. Some say CDs sound better than streaming, but I reached a point where I could not tell the difference in my setup, so I ditched my CDs. Although digital playback using high rez files from a NAS or the internal drive of my server is still better than streaming, the gap is narrowing, so eventually there won't be any reason to do anything else but stream. Just my 2 cents. Btw, I see you are a McIntosh fan, can't say I ever really cared for the sound or looks, which makes me a bit of an outlier, so now I'm thinking, lol, perhaps my opinions don't count for much!

[@jamesjames5715]

vynil is for fools!

[@arize84]

I have both. When done right, I still prefer the vinyl experience even though it is a constant and frustrating mouse and cat game of getting a good pressing and then cleaning it to death. I heartily agree with you on the consistency of digital. One thing I have discovered this year is the importance of protecting your digital signal especially if you are transporting through USB. Adding a USB reclocker to my sytem was an absolute revelation; prior to the reclocker, vinyl almost always sounded better than CD in my system (with the reclocker, sound quality is matched assuming a good pressing). When you have your digital dialed in, there is little reason to buy vinyl records that were mastered from a digital file, at best, record will sound as good as a CD but most times it will sound slightly worse.

[@dornauge1995]

currently at a similar point, but imo cd still beats streaming, specially if you look at all the different released masters you pretty much only can get on vinyl/cd

[@kurjan1]

I prefer CD but often will buy both if adding to my collection. I like the vinyl art and have it displayed when playing my favourite albums on CD😂. I also buy a lot of autographed vinyl albums. However, having been a CD collector since my teens, your comment regarding the jewel case has me a bit perplexed. Of the hundreds, if not thousands, of CD albums I have purchased, I can honestly say I have never once had a jewel case break. You would have to be unbelievably reckless and rough to break one. Jewel case CDs are certainly a lot better than these awful cardboard sleeves and digipacks. In fact, I buy most of my CDs these days from Japan to avoid the rubbish being offered to us.

[@JackMcSomeone]

I agree with the jewel cases breaking easily. I bought 10 replacement cases on eBay and two of them were broken out of the box

[@mafi211]

CD sounds way ''better'' is closer to original master tape , vinyl produces distorted sound and all that subjective crap about your feeling is just irrelevant to the sound

[@MegaF1guy]

Have you heard the master tape to any cd you own?

[@errolallen4449]

Vinyl sounds twice as better than CDs because the cd is only louder but doesn’t give you the experience of the music.

[@Matt-fd9hc]

Nobody actually thinks vinyl is better than cd, right?

[@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy]

Oh there's a lot of people who do, I assure you.

[@Matt-fd9hc]

@@Clint_the_Audio-Photo_Guy So if the source they are getting it from on the vinyl that’s being printed now is a digital source. Then It’s not really analog right?

[@cimarronhopper2261]

I sure do 😆

[@frankgarcia9834]

Lol, bs. Cd has color every DAC has color.......... lol

[@cimarronhopper2261]

Music did not start out digital

[@errolallen5007]

Vinyl sounds 1000 times better than cd even SACD s👮🏿‍♀️

[@errolallen4449]

Vinyl sounds twice as better than CDs because the cd is only louder but doesn’t give you the experience of the music.

[@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom]

CDs also have more dynamic range and frequency range.

[@billeames]

Expensive turntable Air Force 3 premium more detail than Dcs rossini Apex. Talking about $50000 each. CD can sound good. Easier to use.

[@MegaF1guy]

​@@TheGreenDoggoOfWisdom Cd,s are brickwalled filtered to 22.000 khz unless you're using sacds. 44.1 sampling rate has a mathematical limit of 22,000 khz, vinyl can go to at least 50.000 khz. Quadraphonic vinyl from the 70's used a carrier signal cut into the vinyl groove at 50.000 khz to carry the rear channel signal.