Why Vinyl Is Better Sound

Why vinyl sounds better than cd or not according to rolling stone magazine sales of vinyl albums continue to grow setting a new record in 2010.

Why vinyl is better sound.

It happens because audio files get compressed to make them small enough to store thousands of them on the phone and to stream online. The dynamics and quieter moments are not lost in the compression process. Maybe it was coincidence but vinyl began its resurgence at around the same time as recordings started this trend. Digital got its act together but not until the death of the cd.

It wasn t long before vinyl recordings of the same content often had better sound quality at normal listening volumes simply because they had higher dynamic range. No one s arguing that turntables are more accurate than digital audio just that vinyl aficionados love the sound of their records. The music floats within the middle range of pitches which is comfortable for humans to listen to. Vinyl sounds better than mp3s ever could.

A longer album means skinnier grooves a quieter sound and more noise. The first and possibly most important reason that records sound different from mp3s and cds is that in the digital realm the artist can create just about any sound that they want and it will be faithfully reproduced in the digital world. Vinyl s capable of a lot but only if the grooves are wide enough for the needle to track them properly. Analog tape and lps aren t perfect we like them for their sound.

If a song is recorded on tape its conversion to vinyl better preserves the original sound of the song. For comparison listening to vinyl as opposed to digital is like viewing the mona lisa with your own eyes rather than looking at a picture of it on a smartphone. Does vinyl reproduce sound better or is it just. While coloured vinyl and picture discs are an easy way to ensure degradation to a record s playback there are practices made to better the way an lp sounds.

Most of the music is broadcast in some lossy format where details are missed and the overall quality is reduced. Some listeners honestly feel that the defects vinyl introduces somehow make it more attractive or warmer but from any objective standpoint there s no justification in calling. It s for this reason that vinyl sounds better than digital.