Hi Rez digital vs. LP
On Apr 26, 11:45=A0am, ScottW wrote:
On Apr 25, 6:05=A0pm, Audio Empire wrote:
On Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:42:36 -0700, Robert Peirce wrote
(in article ):
The first letter in the May/June Absolute Sound claims his LPs sound
significantly better than the same albums downloaded from HDtracks.
Ignoring for a moment that this might be true, I wonder how much depe=
nds
on equipment?
Excellent question. Truth to tell, LPs are a bit of a paradox. A cheap =
CD
player always sounds better (to my ears, at least) than a cheap turntab=
le. An
expensive CD player sounds very much like a cheap one. There MAY be a s=
onic
difference between a $50 CD player and $5,000 CD player, but that diffe=
rence
is largely subjective and may or may not show up in a DBT. OTOH, a chea=
p
turntable/arm/cartridge through a cheap phono preamp may sound O.K., BU=
T, the
same record played on a really good turntable/arm/cartridge costing tho=
usands
and played through a very accurate RIAA phono preamp (such as the Paras=
ound
JC-2) will sound unmistakably better in almost every way.
That leaves the question, will the LP of a superior sounding performanc=
e
sound better on an expensive phono rig than will the CD mastered from t=
he
same master tape and played on any CD player?
=A0Does this really happen today?
Actually it does.
=A0Do people put onto CDs the same
master that has been created with all the constraints of vinyl (mono
bass, compressed deep bass and bumped (to compensate mid bass)?
Those are not actual constrants. If you check out the offerings from
labels such as Analog Productions, Music Matters and the like you will
find that they are producing dual layer SACDs and vinyl LPs of the
same titles using the same mastering engineers who are explicitely not
using any compression or summing the bass to mono or applying any of
the other mythical constrants on the vinyl mastering. AND yes,
audiophiles are finding the vinyl versions to be preferable even when
they are taken from the same master tapes and mastered by the same
mastering engineers at the same time.
I've mentioned this before, but I have a Classic Records remastering on=
4
single sides on 200 gram vinyl at 45 RPM of Stravinsky's "Firebird" by =
Antal
Dorati and the London Philharmonic recorded by Mercury's Bob Fine. The
aforementioned Classic Record release was mastered by the recording's
original producer, Wilma Cozart Fine who also remastered all of the Liv=
ing
Presence recordings (including the CD of this performance) for Philips =
in the
1990's. Fine said in an interview at the time that the CDs were
"indistinguishable =A0from the master tapes." That being the case, one =
would
think that her later 45 RPM vinyl remaster of that same master tape wou=
ld
sound pretty identical to the CD. I'm here to tell you that they sound
NOTHING alike. The LP sounds alive, with palpable imaging and much more
APPARENT dynamic range. It also sounds much cleaner and more real. I ha=
ve
played the record vs the CD (with matched volume) for dozens of people,=
and
even though there is no doubt that they are BOTH the same performance, =
every
single listener has said that the LP sounds more like a real performanc=
e than
does the CD.
=A0I have a theory for this. =A0CDs are capable of flat 20-20khz response
and mastering engineers don't need to tweak the bass. =A0 LPs are not
and skilled LP mastering engineers have developped techniques to
compensate.
Bumping up the mid bass to compensate for the rolled off deep bass is
common.
Your theory doesnt hold up in this case. the LP in question was
mastered by Bernie Grundman who has stated that there was no EQ
applied to this title when he cut it. The bass was cut flat. In fact
the original LPs were also cut the same way. No mastering moves
whatsoever. They were cut straight from the three track masters
through a console that folded them down to stereo. that is it. No
compression, no EQ no limiters. Nothing extra in the mastering chain.
Bernie cut the Classics version exactly the same way. The only
difference was he used his cutting lathe and cut them at 45 rpm. He
even used the same playback gear that was refurbished for the Dennis
Drake CD remasters. Oh and he used a tube cutting amp.
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