A Cd and Vinyl comparison.

[colinB]

Sorry for the rubbish title, this isnt a vinyl v cd thread.
Last night i was listening to a vinyl copy of a Black Mountain album that i already have on cd and is a favorite. I came across it by chance at the weekend and had to have it.
In comparison to the cd i prefer it. Better reproduction of vocals and a much better drum sound. There is one very noticable difference and thats the guitar sound. Its a lot smoother than the cd, its lost that crunch and sounds recessed compared to the clear vivid midrange.
Its made me wonder is that just the vinyl sound im hearing, a warmer presentation? Come to think of it all my rock vinyl has this sound. Can different types of cartridges give a more raspy sound to rock guitars?
I had an electric guitar years ago and know the sound coming out of a marshall amp with a touch of reverb and i dont get that on the Lp.

[Alex_UK]

this isnt a vinyl v cd thread.

Um, I think it will be Colin! ;)

I'm not sure I have ever noticed the same phenomenon, I'll have to do some direct comparisons and see. Please remind us which cartridge you are using?

[colinB]

Hi Alex. Im using a ortofon 2m blue. One of the Henley guys said the red is better for rock . Ive no idea why that would be.
Of course at the end of the day it could just come down to how it was EQd and cut. It seems a lot of the time the cd producer/engineer is different to the guy who does the vinyl cut.
I have a LOW album on both cd and vinyl. The vinyl has a flat dynamic range all the way through and i never play it. That has to be poor production.
My recent doors vinyl buys are all i need to remind me why i buy the plastic stuff :) There is no lack of excitement on those Rhino releases but at no time do they sound harsh.

[DSJR]

It's all in the final mastering/cutting, mass production of the finished product and, of course, the playback gear - and that's long before personal preference comes into it I think. I have good and bad examples of both and feel priviledged to own a half decent playback example of both formats, both of which entertain me.

Probably because of the speakers I use, any bass distortion in the recording, format etc is magnified by the Spendors adding to it. A Shadows compilation from 1963 CD I was playing this lunchtime was fascinating, how different many of the tracks sounded from each other, some having a spotlessly clean and tuneful bass, other tracks with varying amounts of distortion and another track sounding like the kick drum pedal was replaced with a sock with a knot in :) I only have an abused mono copy of this LP so it wouldn't be fair to do this comparison.

I'd better shut up at this point before i go off on another one :eyebrows: