[net.audio] how about this?

gnome@olivee.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (12/31/84)

I wonder...

With the advent of CDs, ever notice that the quality
of most (if not all) vinyl disks have steadily decreased.

I also wonder if they also have thought of the idea
of mixing vinyl recordings a bit to the bland side in
order to make even the bad CDs seem fantastic.

Snap Crackle Pop!
Gary

larry@invest.UUCP (Larry A. Marek) (01/02/85)

Personally, I think it is just that your ears have started excepted the CD's
as the "correct" sound, and now ordinary LP's *DO* sound flat.  I know that
I can't bring myself to buy any more LP's now that I have my CD!!!

Actually, one of the audio mag's (I forget which one) suggested that
Sheffield mixed their CD's to sound bad compared to their LP's!!  The
reasoning was that Sheffield was for a long time anti-digital and their
entry into the CD world was viewed as a "See, digital isn't sooo good!".

I dunno myself - while I do notice that a DDD CD sounds better than a ADD,
which in turn sounds better than an AAD - *EVERY* one of my CD's sounds
better than *ANY* one of my LP's (and I do have a very nice Sony SLT turntable
thank you).  Maybe I've just been lucky in the CD's I've gotten so far.


		Larry Marek
		 ihnp4!invest!larry

ben@moncol.UUCP (Bennett Broder) (01/03/85)

>With the advent of CDs, ever notice that the quality
>of most (if not all) vinyl disks have steadily decreased.
>
>I also wonder if they also have thought of the idea
>of mixing vinyl recordings a bit to the bland side in
>order to make even the bad CDs seem fantastic.

I have found just the opposite to be true.  With the exception of
true digital recordings (such as Joe Jackson's Body and Soul), I
generally have found that much greater care has been taken with
the LP than with the CD.

I recently compared my CD version of Eye of the Storm, the latest
release by ex-Supertramp member Roger Hodgeson, with a fresh copy of
the LP that a friend had bought.  The LP had much lower background
noise, and a slightly brighter sound.

My guess is that when record companies release both the LP and CD
simultaneously, they send the original tape to be mastered on vinyl,
and a dub of the master to Japan to be mastered on CD.  If this is
indeed the case, the CD consumer, who is spending roughly twice as
much money as the LP customer for 'better sound', is being cheated
out of his money's worth.  And nothing will slow the growth of
compact disc technology more than inferior CD's!!

                                    Ben Broder
                                    ..vax135!petsd!moncol!ben

rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (01/04/85)

> I wonder...
> 
> With the advent of CDs, ever notice that the quality
> of most (if not all) vinyl disks have steadily decreased.

The average quality on vinyl disks has decreased, but it started many years
ago, well before the advent of CD's.  It was a simple matter of economics:
Record companies like to make lots of money.  Vinyl is a petroleum-related
product.  When the oil crisis hit, the quality of the vinyl went way down
as virgin vinyl (vinyl made from new materials, as opposed to reprocessed
vinyl) got very expensive.

To be sure, CD's give the record companies a way to answer the clamor for
better recordings.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.

ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (01/04/85)

> Personally, I think it is just that your ears have started excepted the CD's
> as the "correct" sound, and now ordinary LP's *DO* sound flat.  I know that
> I can't bring myself to buy any more LP's now that I have my CD!!!
> 
Everyone knows that no LP put out by the big record companies sound flat.
They haven't been able to produce an unwarped record in years.

-Ron