100 albums that sound better on vinyl..

So to answer the question... despite the excellent bonus tracks and booklet (and despite it being bettyer than it's initial CD release) Rhino's Dusty in Memphis has given a small boost in detail but sounds a bit too bright compared to the LP. Almost on the other side of the coin, Polydor's superb James Brown box Star Time is a textbook example on how to assemble a career retrospective. The tonal quality is outstanding BUT... the now somewhat old mastering technology doesn't quite have the groove and drive that it would had it been done now, and with music that's all about rhythm and groove that's too bad. Still, I don't want to sound negative; they did the best they could at the time.

96. Miles Davis - In a Silent Way

At least the CD version I have isn't well mastered, the vinyl definitely has a crisper sound. There seems to be a new CD version released, I wonder if it's any better.

I'll actually go a step further (and I'd wager few here are as devoted to the LP format as I am) and say that this thread topic is kind of a dead issue. Analog will always better digital in some regards, but CD has come so far that it is 'good enough'. I wouldn't have said this several years ago, but there you go.

Sean's suggestion that the Linn LP12 might be the best turntable ever made makes plain his own tastes in audio presentation - even in vinylphile circles, the LP12 divides opinion. Some would say that it doesn't even deserve to mentioned in the same breath as VPI, Kuzma, Michell, etc. There isn't even any agreement on what it gets so wrong/so right.

Anyway, I bow to the greater experience of the man (I certainly don't seek out the best pressings or invest heavily in the format thesedays).

95. Stereolab - Cobra and Phases... (it's a touch richer and smoother and "Blue Milk" is a few minutes longer on the double LP).

Um, is there such an thing as "analog" sound nowadays? Even if you play a vinyl, the signal will have to go through the amplifier, which will null any differences except those in mastering.

Okay, but what do you mean when you say "analog will always better digital in some regards"? If you play music through an amp, it doesn't matter where the information comes from. Soundwise, CD can have the same information than a vinyl, and more, so I can't see any difference except in mastering. Plus, CDs don't wear out as easily as vinyls - some of my old vinyls sound awful nowadays, especially the high sounds.

Whether the LP was produced entirely in the analogue domain is another matter - the EQ/compression at the cutting stage may have been done within a DAW, the master may have been delivered on a Sony PCM tape, DAT or CD-R, the recording could have been digital. A few still go entirely the analogue route.

(Gas Coin's qualification of this thread's purpose is key).

This is precisely the thinking that Linn sought to destroy when they debuted the LP12 in 1973. Basically, it's "garbage in, garbage out". Consumer products have evolved to the point where you can walk into a discount store and not walk out with "garbage" but the concept is the same. If you really believe that it doesn't matter where the information comes from, all I can think is that you haven't heard good hifi gear demostrated properly, but since I'm neither an evangelist nor a salesman, I'm not going to attempt to convince you.

Whether or not it's worth it is up to you.

Why not have a CD player then, where you don't have to buy an expensive one to get good sound quality? The only reason I have a vinyl player is because there are records which have never been released on CD.

*I've never heard it on vinyl, but it's a safe assumption that it has to sound better than the k-awful CD "mastering" which makes everything sound tiny and distant and quiet.

87: Allen Clapp '100% Chance of Rain'

The really wonderful track 'Something strange happens' sounds so much richer on the vinyl version. I think it must have been remastered for the CD release. I seem to remember Rocketship's 'Hey Hey Girl' sounding much better in 7" format then on CD as well.

listening to all that squalling noise in CD quality just seems....pointless really

I prefer it on vinyl, but I don't know why. It sounds 'better' to me. It's probably completely subjective. Records are just pretty.

"Spiderland" (already named) has the most drastic improvement on vinyl of anything that I own.

81. Joy Division -- Unknown Pleasures
80. MBV -- Loveless (guitars sound very different than the CD, if you worship this album, as most of you likely do, then you must hear it on vinyl someday before you die)
79. Fluxion -- Vibrant Forms II (or anything else on Basic Channel or Chain Reaction)
78. Phillippe Cam -- Balance

77. VU -- VU and Nico

The vinyl doesn't just sound better, but it's a completely different mix. The album was remixed for CD release in the 80's. The original mix was finally released on CD a couple of years ago, but most of the CD copies out there have the crappy 80's mix.

Has he said this since the reissue came out a few years ago?

76. Rolling Stones Exile on Main Street. First heard it as a first generation Columbia CD (admittedly, not a good way to hear any music), didn't get the fuss. Bought the vinyl on a whim and it all made a lot more sense.

75. The Shins "Chutes Too Narrow"
74. The Sea and Cake "One Bedroom"

Yes, sir!

I have several albums on both vinyl and CD, and in each case the vinyl sounds FAR better.

No doubt it does to you. In your system. With those records. But (generally) not to me, with my system and my records. Ok, one off-the-top-of-my-head exception above and here's another (but it's only a 7" single):

73 Cardinal "If You Believe In Christmas Trees" (vs album version)

As a non-audiophile, I often wonder whether there is a different mastering process for albums released on vinyl as opposed to those released on CD.

It can be utterly different. The vinyl cutting process itself necessitates certain compromises in terms of frequency response and dynamic range, beyond that it's down to the taste of the engineer; CD mastering can be as hands-off as you like (the CD isn't going to object to slabs of sub-bass, sibilant vocals, crazy dynamic swings, huge crescendoes at the end of the album or the fact that you're trying to pack nine minutes onto a single) but typically involves some degree of multi-band compression to tease certain things out of the mix. Many CDs thesedays are brick-wall compressed to "sound good for radio" with a severity that I doubt could be managed on vinyl. This isn't a good thing.

There are plenty of opportunities for the cutting engineer to craft something on the LP version that many listeners would prefer to the 'closer-to-the-master' (or brickwalled-to-buggery) CD version. And they do. Gawd bless 'em.

Some classical albums with grand finales were cut label-to-outer-edge to counteract this. There's always the option of 2x45rpm discs instead of a single 33rpm.

The MBV vinyl remasters sound wonderful.

Generally, music always sounds better on CD.

I mean, I, myself tend to give the CDs the occasional stratch as a result of using them with my Discman, but I still can't imagine how people may possibly treat a borrowed CD such a way for a couple of weeks that it ends up hardly possible to play anymore at all.

I'd like to say Highway 61 but I haven't heard the new CD. Short answer of course: virtually everything recorded prior to 1970.

I was surprised to discover that Metal Box doesn't actually sound significantly better on vinyl -- at least not that I notice.

I bought Plastic Ono Band used for $1. I'm pretty sure this is a very early pressing which received much play and a little mishandling from its previous owner - so we're talking a 30 year old LP spending most of its lifetime thus far in the hands of Joe Average who enjoyed doodling on the cover.

Sometimes the crackle of a misued/well-played copy adds to the listening experience - but it depends on the record. Myself, I take care of my vinyl. I'm always pleased with myself when I pull out a record I bought 15-20 years ago which still sounds new. *pats self on back*

I'd also mention the large number of cd's that add mediocre bonus tracks to the end of a great album...

Ha, take a good listen to lots of dance 12"s compared to 33rpm LPs. Because of the bigger grooves and higher 45rpm playing speed, mastering levels can be much higher without running into the limitations of vinyl. Most 1-track-per-side dance 45s are mastered two or three (!) times louder than your average LP. You just can't escape the phenomenon...

Possibly you can - I should run an analysis of Ninotchka's "I've Got Wings" 7" some time (on the [HD]CD compilation it eventually appeared on, it's flat out all the way). I've a feeling it's just not as compressed.

The new Dylan remasters are great examples of how to do it right. Even on a regular CD player they add new information without compromising the warmth and feel of the originals.

I agree with Nate regarding "Free Your Mind..." It's way-worse than the LP, but I think that's a defect. An aberration, anyways: The rest of the Westbound Funkadelic catalog sounds fabulous to me.

This is true. I'm playing a copy that came in the mail today and it just sounds incredible. Much better than the mp3s I had, anyway.

64. Otis Redding (ANY)
63. Dusty Springfield-Dusty In Memphis
62. John Coltrane-A love Supreme
61. Metallica-Master of Puppets
60. Throbbing Gristle-20 Jazz Funk Hits
59. Bob Marley (any)
58. Minutemen-Double Nickles...

Al Green's Call Me, though, rules.

No shit.

I went through my grandpa's old records a while ago and saved a few before my grandma cleared them out, one of them was Love - Forever Changes, which sounded way better than the (original issue) CD I had, but I don't know how it compares to the CD remaster.

I guess that's number 42.

all of them.

you know what? i'm a vinyl freak, but this sounds great on vinyl AND cd. all of their albums do. colour of spring was one of the first CDs i ever bought and it set me up for some serious disappointment when i expected the same great sound from future purchases.

Anyway, I prefer the vinyl version, but that may have more to do with memories and attentiveness when listening than with the actual quality.

-- scott seward (skotro...), February 4th, 2006 6:35 PM. (scott seward)

Naw, Black Dice records look like ass on vinyl

David Van Tieghem, These Things Happen. Van Tieghem's very lossy-sounding self-release of this on CD was a big letdown. A clean copy of the Warner Bros. original will provide far more punch and range. Plus, the opening bars sound good with a little bit of surface noise on 'em.

XTC, English Settlement. I don't post this as a matter of personal opinion, but it seems to be widely held in XTC lore that the original American vinyl pressing of this, in particular, has the best fidelity of any released version. I haven't kept up on the argument since the most recent brace of remastered editions, though.

Joni Mitchell, Hejira. This is a nostalgia pick. I first got the album on vinyl as a kid, and I still prefer listening to my old copy that way. Again, something to do with that extra presence: the hum of preamp, the spit of surface flaws.

http://www.sisterray.co.uk/images/Black-Dice-Broken-Ear-Record-336388.jpg

Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry. I listened to a friend's CD version on my system and then bought it on vinyl; my copy sounds slightly warmer and richer. My system isn't exactly audiophile, either; I've got a Sony tuner/amplifier and a Bang and Olufsen turntable with Bose speakers.

Albums that come out on vinyl should include access codes that would allow the purchaser to download mp3s from the label's website, so album tracks could be put on iPods.

Merge records are doing that now, or planning to.

maybe the remaster/reissue changed that though. i haven't heard 'em.

You have to get up and flip the record over to hear the other half of 'Winter', thereby encapsulating the entire Fall experience.

spread over four sides of vinyl, it kicks the CD into a cocked hat.

Nirvana - Bleach

Japan - Tin Drum

Joanna Newsom - Ys
The strings just sound more lively. Also the packaging alone is worth it.

Harry Pussy, in general

Jackson C. Frank

Ummm. Doesn't everything sound better on vinyl?

First album that came to mind, however, was First And Last And Always by the Sisters of Mercy.

i just got unknown pleasures on vinyl. wow it's so much better.

also pretty much any black sabbath.

Guns n' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche '85

I'm generally a fan of digital audio. However, while I've never heard the CD, Band of Gypsys sounds gorgeous on vinyl, even on my second-rate turntable, in a way that I can't imagine translating to digital. I also like Zep IV more on vinyl. Tend to agree about Unknown Pleasures.

my friend doug recorded that band of gypsys album. when he was working for wally heider and doing the mobile sound for wally.