watchnerd
Grand Contributor
Warning: This post is short on actual data, merely observations and hypothesis.
Full Disclosure: I enjoy both digital and vinyl. I don't think vinyl is objectively superior to digital, but I do like it and find it fun, both to listen to and collect. Also, as my phono stage is DSP-based (Devialet Expert), I'm not an analog purist by any means, so any comments below are likely to be heresy to analog purists who eschew digitally remastered LPs and, god forbid, a digital phono stage.
So here is my opening observation:
On my modern reissues, almost always remastered from the original recording, on "audiophile grade" 180-200gm pressings, most of the bad parts of vinyl are drastically diminished:
Groove noise (except in the run-in and lead-out) is low, and unnoticeable when music is playing.
Pops and ticks are rare. Maybe 1-3 per album side.
Inner groove distortion still exists, but much less than it used to be....there seems to be a trend towards bigger lead-out grooves / more distance from the label, which might help.
Bass and high reproduction, as well as stereo separation, is usually noticeably better than on older pressings. I don't know if this is just better remastering, or if modern digital-based cutting heads are just much much better.
Contrasting this with old records:
Leaving aside old, worn and dirty records, I have a few unplayed, pristine (bought in shrink wrap) records from the 1960s and 1970s. Not only do they tend to be less flat, but all the bad parts of vinyl are much more present: higher groove noise, more ticks and pops, easier to scratch, weaker highs and lows.
So what's going on here?
Is this simply an artifact of producing a product to a price point, and an audiophile one is higher, leading to a better product?
Or have there been so many advances in manufacturing, material science, and mastering since the 1960s and 1970s, that today's vinyl is universally better, regardless of the price point?
Or something else entirely?
Full Disclosure: I enjoy both digital and vinyl. I don't think vinyl is objectively superior to digital, but I do like it and find it fun, both to listen to and collect. Also, as my phono stage is DSP-based (Devialet Expert), I'm not an analog purist by any means, so any comments below are likely to be heresy to analog purists who eschew digitally remastered LPs and, god forbid, a digital phono stage.
So here is my opening observation:
On my modern reissues, almost always remastered from the original recording, on "audiophile grade" 180-200gm pressings, most of the bad parts of vinyl are drastically diminished:
Groove noise (except in the run-in and lead-out) is low, and unnoticeable when music is playing.
Pops and ticks are rare. Maybe 1-3 per album side.
Inner groove distortion still exists, but much less than it used to be....there seems to be a trend towards bigger lead-out grooves / more distance from the label, which might help.
Bass and high reproduction, as well as stereo separation, is usually noticeably better than on older pressings. I don't know if this is just better remastering, or if modern digital-based cutting heads are just much much better.
Contrasting this with old records:
Leaving aside old, worn and dirty records, I have a few unplayed, pristine (bought in shrink wrap) records from the 1960s and 1970s. Not only do they tend to be less flat, but all the bad parts of vinyl are much more present: higher groove noise, more ticks and pops, easier to scratch, weaker highs and lows.
So what's going on here?
Is this simply an artifact of producing a product to a price point, and an audiophile one is higher, leading to a better product?
Or have there been so many advances in manufacturing, material science, and mastering since the 1960s and 1970s, that today's vinyl is universally better, regardless of the price point?
Or something else entirely?