Sea of sound: A groovy kind of love
Nick Tabor
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Arts
Vinyl's not dead. It remains the superior format, even in the age of the iPod. Here's why.
First, vinyl usually sounds warmer and deeper than compact discs.
It's not as pristine as the digital sound, but if the needle is clean and the record's not dusty or scratched, it won't crackle or pop much at all.
Of course, many listeners prefer the crackling anyway.
Additionally, vinyl LPs don't suffer much from the loudness war. Since CDs took over as the dominant format, record labels have pressured recording engineers to master CDs as loud as possible. (They hope their songs will catch more attention on the radio if they're louder than all the others.)
The problem is that when the sound gets too loud, it naturally distorts. Some engineers avoid this by squashing the recording to a single, constant volume (compression), which hurts the music just as much.
Because so many vinyl fans are also hi-fi enthusiasts, and because of the technical limitations of the format, vinyl is usually exempt from this treatment.
At least CDs don't discriminate-they abuse album artwork just as much as volume dynamics.
For instance, the "Sgt. Pepper's" cover artwork should never have been scaled down for a tiny CD insert, robbed of its vivid 12-inch glory.
Vinyl LPs also carry the advantage of sequencing albums in two separate sides. Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," for instance, only feels right when it's taken in two segments. "Racing in the Street," the last song on Side One, loses some sense of its despair when it segues immediately into the next track.
Sure, vinyl is inconvenient-it's harder to transport and easier to damage, and you can't listen it "on the go."
On the other hand, convenience isn't necessarily beneficial.
The capability to turn on a record with the click of a button cheapens the listening experience, while putting the stylus in the groove and watching the record spin adds a brand new dimension.
First, vinyl usually sounds warmer and deeper than compact discs.
It's not as pristine as the digital sound, but if the needle is clean and the record's not dusty or scratched, it won't crackle or pop much at all.
Of course, many listeners prefer the crackling anyway.
Additionally, vinyl LPs don't suffer much from the loudness war. Since CDs took over as the dominant format, record labels have pressured recording engineers to master CDs as loud as possible. (They hope their songs will catch more attention on the radio if they're louder than all the others.)
The problem is that when the sound gets too loud, it naturally distorts. Some engineers avoid this by squashing the recording to a single, constant volume (compression), which hurts the music just as much.
Because so many vinyl fans are also hi-fi enthusiasts, and because of the technical limitations of the format, vinyl is usually exempt from this treatment.
At least CDs don't discriminate-they abuse album artwork just as much as volume dynamics.
For instance, the "Sgt. Pepper's" cover artwork should never have been scaled down for a tiny CD insert, robbed of its vivid 12-inch glory.
Vinyl LPs also carry the advantage of sequencing albums in two separate sides. Springsteen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town," for instance, only feels right when it's taken in two segments. "Racing in the Street," the last song on Side One, loses some sense of its despair when it segues immediately into the next track.
Sure, vinyl is inconvenient-it's harder to transport and easier to damage, and you can't listen it "on the go."
On the other hand, convenience isn't necessarily beneficial.
The capability to turn on a record with the click of a button cheapens the listening experience, while putting the stylus in the groove and watching the record spin adds a brand new dimension.
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