The Past, Present and Future of Vinyl

[malvai]

ajay, i would not go by these videos to decide the good and bad of vinyl vs cd's....

as converting vinyl to a digital format has at least 2 stages involved... now what kind of equipment and what is the bitrate at which the vinyl was copied also makes a difference.... not to mention the kind of phono stage and cartridge....


to make a fair comparison, i'd invite you t listen to a vinyl and cd of the same artist/performance on a good rig that has a good cdp and a good vinyl set up.

you are most welcome to come over and hear it at my place any time after my reference cartridge come back from its re-tip!

 

[akd]

ajay, my observation is there are finer points

1.If you are committed for a good vinyl set up, then only go ahead otherwise half hearted attempt will disappoint you.
2.digitization mainly depends on the cartridge and the phono stage and to some extent the soundcard, but above all its the condition of the record that matters most, an average one (partial damaged grooves in LP which one can't find unless listen to it) just can't impress you no matter how much you spend on the rig
3.If you consider CA azur 640C CDP which I consider to be an excellent sounding one, a Pro-ject Debut III+CA/NAD/Pro-ject phono will just match the same quality
4. If you want to beat the CDP you have to spend more
5.Once the vinyl rig is stet up properly it will never disappoint you while CD recordings differ so much that more often than not you will long for a vinyl rig
6. there can't be any cost/availability comparison between CD and a record as the latter are no more manufactured, either you take the costly route of importing them or take the economy mode of finding used ones from local market
7. cleaning of vinyls, be it by plain water, takes some effort, one should be ready for it

all in all easy-go listeners will find vinyl practice rather elaborate and expensive while sound crazy listeners will always go for it, but at the end of the day my experience have been one can extract clear,loud,detailed,punchy,attacking,well resolved spectrum and most importantly natural sound from a vinyl at an affordable cost

 

[ajay124]

ajay, i would not go by these videos to decide the good and bad of vinyl vs cd's....

as converting vinyl to a digital format has at least 2 stages involved... now what kind of equipment and what is the bitrate at which the vinyl was copied also makes a difference.... not to mention the kind of phono stage and cartridge....


to make a fair comparison, i'd invite you t listen to a vinyl and cd of the same artist/performance on a good rig that has a good cdp and a good vinyl set up.

you are most welcome to come over and hear it at my place any time after my reference cartridge come back from its re-tip!

Will do Manav. But the TT will be your Clearaudio. And the CDP would be my Esoteric. We have to give an even chance to both. I am sure you would have an excellent pressing of Dark Side Of The Moon. And it would not be difficult to arrange a SACD recording of the same. A few months ago it was available at Rhythm House for less than 500 bucks. And perhaps it would be possible to arrange good versions of A Kind Of Blue and Beethoven's Fifth . All CD's/Vinyls to be played from start to finish. With 'serious' comments and conversation reserved for later. That's close to 3.5 hours of music.

Acompanied by

Chateauneuf du Pape
Ardbeg

Everybody present will go dutch on those

 

[malvai]

Will do Manav. But the TT will be your Clearaudio. And the CDP would be my Esoteric. We have to give an even chance to both. I am sure you would have an excellent pressing of Dark Side Of The Moon. And it would not be difficult to arrange a SACD recording of the same. A few months ago it was available at Rhythm House for less than 500 bucks. And perhaps it would be possible to arrange good versions of A Kind Of Blue and Beethoven's Fifth . All CD's/Vinyls to be played from start to finish. With 'serious' comments and conversation reserved for later. That's close to 3.5 hours of music.

Acompanied by

Chateauneuf du Pape
Ardbeg

Everybody present will go dutch on those

I'm game!

You bring the SACD's and the Esoteric.
I'll arrange for the same titles on Vinyl!

There is some that I have... the classical I don't. So lemme know which conductor etc and i'll start looking. we still have time as my reference cartridge will take another 10 weeks to reach me.

 

[ajay124]

I'm game!

You bring the SACD's and the Esoteric.
I'll arrange for the same titles on Vinyl!

There is some that I have... the classical I don't. So lemme know which conductor etc and i'll start looking. we still have time as my reference cartridge will take another 10 weeks to reach me.

Even my Esoteric is still languishing in the wet and windy isles :sad: Hopefully I will get it by the time you get your cartridge.

For Beethoven's Fifth, the easiest recording to locate on vinyl would be, the DG recording by Herbert Von Karajan/Berliner Philharmoniker. Von Karajan was the marketing genius of twentieth century classical music. Just as Valery Gergiev is the marketing genius now. Fortunately both of them are also musical geniuses.

Valery Gergiev is the director and principal conductor of The Mariinsky Theater and The Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg. Currently one of the most exciting 'Sound Of Music' in the world. Their recordings from the past decade, are mind blowing and have cutting edge sound. Available on both SACD and BRD. If they are also being released with equal care on vinyl (I have not checked, but will look into it), then they would be a good place to begin building a vinyl western classical collection.

 

[Hiten]

Ajay & Manav that's Great !!! Will be interesting to know. I have heard both format at Manav's place (before he upgraded) I found CDs detailed and precise. Vinyl sound was almost with same detail but with kind of natural and organic sound (may be one of the reason why they are easy on ears). But hey these are loose terms and overly simplified personal perspective.

3 months would be too much to wait, but waiting in anticipation of some good, experienced & knowledgeable review :licklips:

 

[ajay124]

More on Herbert Von Karajan.

It's been estimated that Karajan has sold more than 200 million LPs, CDs and videos worldwide. And that number is sure to only keep growing.
- from the NPR link

Herbert von Karajan's Symphonic Obsessions : NPR

200 million units shipped! One of the most recorded figures in the music business. With over 900 albums credited to him. And a new tsunami of his recordings being planned for the 'virgin' markets of China and India! That will probably ensure that the Karajan legend lives on, long after the Beatles legend has been relegated to the pages of history books.

At one point, more than 20% of the classical music cds/tapes I owned, were Herbert Von Karajan recordings. I have spent almost two decades listening to his recordings. Not because I chose them out of several possibilities. But because they were the most prominent, and in many instances the only available options. It was only in recent years that I began discovering other great conductors.

Von Karajan's myth/legend is as big in classical music, as the myth/legend of Beatles/Dylan in rock music, and Miles Davis/John Coltrane in jazz. Partly deserved and partly an advertising miracle!

Von Karajan was one of the most powerful figures in the music industry. A huge chunk of Deutsche Grammophon revenues in the past has come from Karajan recordings. He was one of the prominent faces of the digital revolution begun by Philips and Sony in the early 80's. The revolution which put vinyl into a limbo, from which it is slowly recovering as a 'niche' market. He is even credited with having convinced Philips and Sony, to increase the running time of a compact disc, from the originally planned 60 minutes to 80 minutes, in order to fit Beethoven's Ninth symphony on one disc!

 

[stevieboy]

Ajay, are you getting Prem's Esoteric?

 

[ajay124]

Ajay, are you getting Prem's Esoteric?

stevieboy

Prem had an Esoteric XO 5. That's worth far more than what I would be willing to spend on a hifi component. I bought a lightly used Esoteric SA10 from a dealer in UK, but it's lying with my cousin there.

A good site to get a quick overview of the Esoteric range:

High End Audio - High End Video - Sound by Singer

prem

I can comprehend your second innings with vinyl, but I cannot comprehend your Esoteric sale. Unless you want to start a "second innings with digital", somewhere down the line

***I fell in love with the VOSP transport and the minimalstic beauty of the SA10. I wanted a cdp which was only a cdp, and not something which was pretending to be a jack of all trades. I support Prem's philosophy of keeping a system very simple. I don't want to collect multiple components, or mountains of recordings. When the Esoteric comes it will be Farewell Arcam. Although I have ordered an SB Touch out of sheer curiosity. For 15K it's not a major investment. If I really like it I may use the money from the Arcam sale to buy a good Dac. But the kind of DAC I would be happy with, would require a bigger outlay of cash.
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/weiss2/minerva.html

 

[stevieboy]

Ah Congratulations on moving closer to your dream system Ajay!

 

[ajay124]

Ah Congratulations on moving closer to your dream system Ajay!

My 'dream' system and my 'dream' CD collection are almost done. But what do you do when a dream becomes reality? Start chasing another dream .....

 

[prem]

Hi Ajay124

Till the EMT showed up, to my ears the Esoteric sounded better. Now i am searching for a cd player that measures up to the EMT. When i hear something superior, i just cannot go back to an inferior sounding source. I thought there was no point in holding on to the Esoteric. If i had my earlier Esoteric P70 D70, i may have stuck to it. If i now go in for a cd player it would be the Esoteric K01 or the Neodio 22. However if i decide to go the hard disk route, i will start with the $1000 Burson and work my way up.