CDs Vs LPs

I haven’t delved much into vinyl as I don’t have the room for a vinyl rig, or to store vinyl in my current apartment. So instead I invested in a world class cd player (Vitus SCD-025 Mk2) which I placed on Stillpoints Ultra 6 feet + Ultra bases, Ultra LPI + paired with Jorma Prime cables to optimize the player.

I’ve heard my friends vinyl rigs and admit they do sound great. One of my friends owns a Kronos Pro Limited tt + SCPS-1 psu connected to a Vitus MP-P201 phono stage, and another friend has an AMG Viella V12, AMG 12JT Turbo tonearm + DS Audio Master 1 cart/EQ. So not cheap!

But whilst current vinyl pressings are expensive and by and large are more cheaply pressed, and with lower SQ than in vinyl’s heyday, audiophile cd’s have been closing the gap with formats such as XRCD24, UHQCD, DXD, SHM/Platinum SHM, Mofi Gold, K2HD etc. Playing a DXD or K2HD cd through the Vitus really wows you with it’s resolution, quietness, dynamic range, body and staging. For all the fuss and inconvenience of vinyl, i’m happy to stick with cd’s!

atmasphere wrote: " My biggest objection to digital is the distortion in the highs which in the digital world is known as aliasing. The ear converts it to a sort of brightness. These days its not nearly the problem it was years ago so I can listen to digital without much complaint. But when I play the LPs for my girlfriend, she hears the improvement right away (extra detail for some reason) and she hears the same things I do, so I think digital still has a way to go. Her daughter, who is 30, can't listen to digital at all; she says it makes her jittery and annoyed. She's not particularly pleasant to be around in that state, so when she comes over we have to have the stereo either off or on LP only. "
I agree the high frequency problems in digital have generally needed to be masked by other equipment, or artially solvedwith big buck equipment.When I recently bought a $7000 SACD/DAC Marantz SA-10 it was for one reason. That DSD upsampling (even for CD data) almost completely solves the digital glare. (and a lot better than  cheaper DACs)I still can hear some problems on a few less well recorded material,(particularly as I reestablish the clarity throughout the system, which had been set to hide the worst of the HF grunge) and I still use a glorified tube buffer to ameliorate the small issues. but now I can get my system to be more revealing and not wince! 

I tried to get into vinyl 20 years ago. Completely unimpressed. I can't do the hiss and pops. I can't deal with a radio station that has low level static or very high hiss like the university station near me. So far I haven't heard any digital that grates on my ears like the noises associated with vinyl. I'm pretty sure it's just me and my ears, but I didn't grow up listening to all that and I never learned to listen past it on any medium. 

I havent listened to LPs and have not had a TT in about 20 plus yrs. As i try to think back about the sound of the LP its very hard because of all the years of listening to cds. I do know that some cds sound alot better than other cds prob the way the recordings were made.  As i think back to my early days of playing LPs , i cant remember if some LPs played like cds, meaning do some LPs sound better than other LPs because of the recordings like cds sounding better than some other cds? Is that the case with LPs too? As i try to remember the sound of the LP to me all the LPs th sounded the same . Meaning the recordings on the LPs were very good. Now i am going by that i used to buy all my LPs in record stores 25 or so years ago. Same with all my cds back then too when the record stores didnt sell LPs no more and changed over to CDs. Now there are not even those old CDs stores anymore around. Just like back then when all the High End audio stores disappeared. I have no choice now than to buy CDs on line like on Ebay. Are those CDs that you buy on line now are the same digital quality as those bought in CD stores years ago? Sorry for a few different questions in this post but any feed back will be appreciated.And i hope im making sense.. Thnks . 

My opinion: The CD format will always kick the LP's ass when it comes to having the capability of providing better fidelity, greater dynamic range, clear channel separation, no surface noise, little mechanical (drive) noise and playing a media that last a really long time (as compared to records).

Does that mean that you will always like the sound of a CD better?  Don't think so.  But when people say "LP's sound better than digital," what they really are saying is "I like the sound of LP's better."  Because.....

Listening to records is an experience.  One upon which I was raised.

Today, the turntable is complicated looking and cool.  An LP is big, flat and interesting.  The album cover has tons of info and the paper sleeve is an added attraction.  the LP is carefully slid out of the sleeve making sure the fingers only touch the center label and the edge.  The vinyl sparkles when new and clean.  The manual turntable starts turning with a click and the tone arm is raised with the cuing lever. ..carefully moved to the desired starting positing and lowered by the dampened arm.  There is a satisfying sound as the needle first tracks in the grove...knowing that soon the music will start.  Vinyl record listing is not just about the music; it is about the whole experience. 

If you like records better, no one should have a problem with that....unless you follow with the nonsense phrase: "LP's sound better than CD's."