Because only stupids never change their mind

Posted by: Massimo Bertola on 04 March 2018

As I have posted by way of pictures a few weeks ago, I have added a turntable to my system: a Pro-Ject RPM 3 Carbon with a Grado Blue 1 cart and a Stageline. The Stageline is, for now, powered by my SuperNait but a PSU is on its way.

For years I have refused to do this move, because I didn't like the idea of two very different sources in the same system, which would expose me to the unavoidable risk of comparisons and doubts. As my therapist says, I am dichotomous: it must be this or that.

Now it's this and that, and I am discovering that comparisons are easier to do and differences lighter to carry with me together: it's exactly like I have read for years and systematically contradicted and/or denied: LP is more enjoyable, CD is technically better. Since the move, I have played a number of LPs, some of them quite old and battered, and I have enjoyed each of them; and I have started to finally understand why some CDs sounded boring to me. It's never too late it seems. I am now playing Brad Mehldau's House on Hill, and while the sound is clear, the piano's notes have the proper rising time and decay and so on, I have found all this a very interesting, vaguely entertaining elevator music experience. My 52 years old, mono LP The Firehouse Five plus Two Story, vol.3, is another thing.

Funny that sunny day is here.

Posted on: 06 March 2018 by Cdb

A thread started by Max is always worth reading given his intriguing and stimulating articulation of the issues that amuse, fascinate or trouble him. So thank you for your contributions, Max.

I too switch between CD and LPs depending on a variety of circumstances, but I can so far discover no interest in streaming. I perhaps fetishise the product and maybe this is a consequence of growing up in the 50s and then not having the income to buy all the records I wanted in the 60s and 70s. I enjoy both media and won't express a preference here, though I have one in general. I will confess that I have foolishly re-bought music unnecessarily, seduced by empty promises of various kinds.

Can we please agree that reputable record companies do not produce modern LPs 'from CDs' and this is the reason why Lindsay and others can produce examples of digitally recorded music that can sound better on LP than CD. Rip-off companies, probably also breaching copyright laws, may manufacture LPs from CD sources, but most significant companies will use a digital file for mastering an LP. As Lindsay says, it is then 'all in the mastering', with various factors influencing the outcome, but the key aspect is in mastering appropriately and differently for CD or for LP. Some may prefer to avoid digital in the chain at all, but excellent LPs can be produced from digital files, which is why avoiding the LP post-mid 1980s is not a necessary approach, although it might be a preference for a number of valid reasons.

Posted on: 06 March 2018 by Huge

The Strat (Fender) posted:
I’m not 100% with this view that post 85 digital recordings are best on CD. 2 recordings which I know are digital, Nothing Like The Sun by Sting and On Every Street by Dire Straits, are simply superb on vinyl outstripping the CD by the country mile. All in the mastering I imagine.
Regards,
Lindsay

Then you clearly don't mind the incidental sound modification caused by the signal filtration effect of the vinyl processing & playback limitations!

(On the other hand the incidental sound modification caused by the signal filtration effect of the speakers is even worse, so perhaps for your ears and your room, you're partially offsetting one set of non-ideal filter characteristics by using the other set of non-ideal filter characteristics!)

Posted on: 06 March 2018 by The Strat (Fender)

Huge posted:
The Strat (Fender) posted:
I’m not 100% with this view that post 85 digital recordings are best on CD. 2 recordings which I know are digital, Nothing Like The Sun by Sting and On Every Street by Dire Straits, are simply superb on vinyl outstripping the CD by the country mile. All in the mastering I imagine.
Regards,
Lindsay
Then you clearly don't mind the incidental sound modification caused by the signal filtration effect of the vinyl processing & playback limitations!
(On the other hand the incidental sound modification caused by the signal filtration effect of the speakers is even worse, so perhaps for your ears and your room, you're partially offsetting one set of non-ideal filter characteristics by using the other set of non-ideal filter characteristics!)

Urm - yes perhaps not maybe.....

Posted on: 06 March 2018 by French Rooster

The Strat (Fender) posted:
I’m not 100% with this view that post 85 digital recordings are best on CD. 2 recordings which I know are digital, Nothing Like The Sun by Sting and On Every Street by Dire Straits, are simply superb on vinyl outstripping the CD by the country mile. All in the mastering I imagine.
Regards,
Lindsay

i agree, it is not always the case, but more general. Some vinyl remasters today, and from mid 80’s, are sounding better than cds. Like Patricia Barber, Dire Straits. some ecm recordings, some mobile fidelity or analogue productions remasters....but not so many vs the mass market lps transfers from cds .

Posted on: 07 March 2018 by Massimo Bertola

Innocent Bystander posted:
Max_B posted:
@ Morton: the first part seemed Lennie Tristano on speed, the second is a showcase in knowledge of modes and skills in not taking wrong notes. Who denies that BM is able to play the piano? Now this, though, is also music, IMO:
Enjoy it, and start to breath again.
Max
THAT is music. And you don’t need hifi to enjoy it. (Though a good recording played through a good system may make it even better.)

I have the DVD of this concert, and every once in a while I just play that track, the first encore. Contrary to many, I plain love to watch Jarrett's face while playing, his total immersion in what he'd doing, the struggle to conceal the visible ecstasy, the joy of delivering such beauty.