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Do 180g vinyls sound better or is it a myth ?

After just recently getting into vinyl and buying a few albums I’m wanting to know opinions from like minded people. Does the weight of the vinyl make a difference to overall sound quality, and to add a bit more substance to the post, does it sound better than CD ?
Thanks for taking the time to read my post .

Steve
128x128steve1979
cousinbillyl
161 posts
 

There have been some great posts. I would like to take it one step further. Much of what I'm about to say will make no sense. Sorry.

If you have time, do a quick internet search. Look for 'record groove under a microscope'.

Now keep things simple: the stylus moves to the left (1st axis), the stylus moves right (2nd axis), and there is a slight up and down movement (as can be seen by the varying depth of the grooves) (3rd axis). A vinyl record groove can potentially store, and therefore output a 3D signal.

Don't think of a band, with the drummer behind the singer, this is simply the location of the 'instruments'. Every stereo, and every source media, can portray this.

Instead, think of a song with a lone singer. There is a 3 dimensional aspect to their voice.

This 3D picture is captured on the master tape. The master tape is fed it's information via a balanced cable. Pin 1 is ground, pin 2 is the positive portion of the waveform, pin 3 is the negative portion of the wave form.

The positive portion of the waveform pushes your speaker driver out, the negative portion of the waveform pulls the driver in. Full, fluid uniform motion. People that own crossoverless full range driver speakers know exactly what I'm talking about. There is a 'rightness' to the sound. It sounds 'real'.

If you have a fully balanced stereo (Atma-Sphere, BAT, Lamm, etc.) this waveform is preserved.

Vinyl joins master tapes as a 3D source.

CD's do NOT preserve this 'balanced' nature of the waveform. It is a single ended source. If you have RCA connectors in your stereo chain, it is also no longer balanced.

To my ears, DSD is balanced. I will therefore conclude, with no technical information to support my claim, that the digitization of the original waveform to CD destroys the 3D nature of the event.

Here's the problem with my entire post. Until someone builds a fully balanced crossover speaker, you won't be able to 'hear' how huge the difference is. This between CD and vinyl. Unless of course you have a full range planar (no crossover, not a single capacitor or inductor in the signal path), a full range electrostatic (no crossover), or as mentioned, a full range driver (Lowther/Fostex etc.).

Only time will tell if I have a clue?

jnovak's avatar
jnovak
181 posts
 
I bought Gordon Lightfoot's "Gord's Gold" on 180g vinyl. Also Jennifer Warnes on the same. BOTH were dirty and had surface noise and were warped! Crazy huh? And to boot; the jackets were done on a flimsy cardboard far inferior to the original. I'm sorry I didn't seek out and pay more for the Japanese pressings. Joe
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
691 posts
 
OMG...there are so many misunderstandings represented as "facts" on this thread. Please review the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem. XLR connectors do not necessarily indicate a "balanced" transfer of signal. A vinyl record only stores information in 2 axes (with respect to time). There is no such thing as a "balanced speaker" - only balanced amplifiers.

To address the OP's question (Does the weight of the vinyl make a difference to overall sound quality?) the answer is "maybe"?

Assuming every other variable is held constant, a more material using in a record may make a difference. For example, on a very lightweight platter with a tendency to ring, additional material in LP may reduce said ringing. This also may disrupt the intended design characteristic of the playback system. So was this change "good" or "bad"? It depends...hence the definitive answer "maybe".

From my experience, LPs with more mass tend to be less prone to warping. So that's a net positive. Does this benefit outweigh any realized negatives...that's up to the listener.

I'm not going to get into which sounds "better". I've heard great and awful examples of both.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
4,908 posts
 
It’s a moot question. Has any LP been offered in two versions, the only difference between them being the weight of the pressing? An LP offered in a 180 gram version is different from all other versions in ways other than just the 180 gram weight; the source, EQ, limiting, mastering, plating, quality of the vinyl, etc.
tzh21y
1,377 posts
 
Most of my listening is not 180 or 200 gram vinyl.  However, some recording are very hard to find in nice condition.  For example the rca living stereos are very good recordings for the most part, but most are destroyed.  classic records made some very good reissues and took great care in the process.  If you have a lot of disposable cash and can afford to buy 10 copies before you get a listenable one, then by all means original shaded dogs can be great indeed.  That being said, most of the time, the original pressings are the ones to have most of the time.

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