I think mp3 is better sound quality than vinyl, vinyl sounds like a bunch of flies trying to recreate your favorite songs wheras mp3 is warmer and more permanant... you can't scratch an mp3!

You went to the bother of creating a login for that?

*shakes head*

On behalf of the EA Forum community, I'd like to say that I think you are in the wrong place.

I master to toast, man.

Where's TMH when you need him?

He'll blanket that ass with a friggin' novel!!

Either theswede is running out of ideas for fake accounts, or... oh hell just shoot me either way.

Well, we all took the bait and we're feeding it now...

oh my goodness sorry, sorry everyone. I got it completely the wrong way round. What I of course meant was that vinyl is warm AND NICE and mp3 sounds like flies playing chess or whatever i said. And vinyl DOES scratch I meant to say STAINLESS STEEL DOESNT SCRATCH.

Okay, I'm going to use this thread to vent a little on vinyl. Not that I dislike vinyl - I've got about 1,200 LPs and I buy a few more at least every couple of weeks. But, I must take exception with the vinyl-o-philes out there that would declare that vinyl is the undisputed, ideal audio medium. It has numerous faults, most of which are impossible to compensate for, no matter how much you spend on a table, tonearm, or cartridge. To wit:

-The RIAA curve introduces a great deal of phase shift to the recorded signal. The deemphasis on playback does not shift everything back, and may often exacerbate the "smear". The mastering process includes many more gain stages than with digital masters, each coloring the sound, and then there's the environmental degradation that can occurr in shipping, plating, and producing the mothers and stampers.
-Everything below 500 Hz must be in mono. Not a big deal for most rock records, but try to accomplish that with an Orchestral recording where you have 8-12 double basses on the far right (or left) of the stage (and this IS a true stereo recording). Say hello to additional tracking distortion
-ALL vinyl masters have some degree of limiting on them, even if (or particularly, because) the source master has none.
-The horizontal resolution of an LP is reduced some 70% from the beginning to the end of a side. Tracking distortion increases and frequency response decreases. On a rock or jazz LP you can easily put the quiet ballad at the end; not so easy to do with Beethoven's 9th, Carmina Burana, or Pines of Rome.
-Vinyl does degrade with playing (as opposed to CDs degradation being environmental). A stylus tip will heat to 700 degrees F while playing. As we know, that's hot enough to melt a little bit of the groove. After a couple hundred playings, you will notice it.
-Noise increases with time. Hot recordings are great, but not everything is only 15 min. a side and can be cut at +12dB. Mahler symphonies, the Cure's Disintegration, etc. can be over an hour. That means cutting at 0dB or (eech!) -3 dB....hello noise floor, hello compression.
-The playback system has limitations, including channel balance/skating, tracking error (on pivot arms), tracking distortion, rumble, inherent system resonances, etc... Even the most expensive systems have their limitations.
When you consider that one millionth of an inch can translate into 2-3dB of amplitude - these things make a big difference.

Now, on the subject of MP3s:

-higher bitrates = lower compression = less artifacts. A 7:1 or 5:1 ratio is going to give results that are much better than the default 128kbps/12:1 ratio.
-AAC/MP4 is a BIG improvement over MP3, including, in my opinion, VBR. An AAC/MP4 encoded at 192kbps is almost indescernible from CD. At 256 or 320 kbps even the best audiophile recordings seem unaffected. VBR is nice, but that's just an additional destructive element n the CODEC. I use 192 and 256 AAC, and I can't tell the difference from the CD - even in critical listening situations (though most of my listening is in non-critical, high ambient noise environments).
-I can't put my entire LP collection in my pocket and listen to it on the train ride to work (at least until I digitize it). There are practical aspects to this format that completely overcome any shortcomings. If someone told me when I was a teenager that in 15 years I'd be able to put 300 albums in a cigarette pack and listen to them anywhere/anytime I would have been blown away.
-I find the biggest shortcoming of the players is the shitty headphones that are too open, not flat in response, and not the best impedence match to the player. Fork out $50-150 and get some decent damn earbuds.

Flame away.....


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