Vinyl vs. CD/mp3

[tjd]

I just hooked up a turntable and am diving into LPs.  I know that the Vinyl vs. digital argument has been hashed and re-hashed.  The conclusion that I have come to (thus far)  is that the best sound quality varies per album.  I received the Evil Urges LP as a gift and I'm leaning towards digital on this one.  This actually the best sounding (in terms of quality) that MMJ has released....IMO.

With that said....I don't have any other MMJ albums on vinyl.  My favorite album is It Still Moves, but I think the sound quality on CD is sub par...I hope I can get a little something extra on vinyl.  Does anybody have this or any of the others on vinyl?  Do they sound better?  I'll probably purchase them all eventually, but what LP would you suggest I get first.

On a side note....for anybody thinking about getting a turntable...I highly recommended it.  I'm a little late to join this bandwagon, but the music experience was trasformed for me on a couple of albums.  Most notably, Pet Sounds and Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago.  Spectacular!  

[johnnYYac]

Thanks to headhunter's demo of his amazing listening room, I had a chance to listen to Evil Urges on vinyl and I heard stuff I'd never heard before.  

I grabbed all MMJ digitally at first, then bought the CDs, generally a step up from mp3s.  I can't start investing in vinyl right now.  I've got a wife, three kids, and 6 Omnichords to feed.  But I love visiting folks who have a turntable.

[danz]

Get Acoustic Cituoca next!  and Okonokos.  In that order

[Crispy]

Get Acoustic Cituoca next!  and Okonokos.  In that order

Absolutely, Okonokos on vinyl is magickal.

Also, just to throw in two obvious cents...your rig makes a big difference -- amp, speakers, big cables, and especially the cartridge. You run a shitty stylus over a good record and it's going to sound shitty.

Edit: I don't mean spending a bunch of money either -- I like to use heavy extension cord for speaker cable. That Monster cable stuff is mostly bullshit.

[tjd]

Thanks Danz.

Johnny.... Luckily, when visiting my parents a couple of month's ago I noticed my Dad's Technique's turntable in the basement....still in great condition.  I told him it'd better be suited at my house rather than collecting dust.  He agreed and gave me a box full of records too...Beatles, Stones, Traffic, Dead, the Band, etc.  Needless to say....I have a lot of listening to do and I'll try not to neglect my wife and kid in the meantime.  I have a feeling this is going to be an expensive hobby in the end;  I already have made a wish list of current LPs that is getting way too long!

Crispy,  thanks for the tips.  After looking for a vintage tube amp for a couple of weeks I just gave in and got a pre-amp to plug into my Onkyo tuner.  It sounds pretty good, but a couple of tweaks could definitely make it better.  

[scosby2]

TJD,

I am defintely a vinyl junkie and I love it when someone starts listening to and rediscovering vinyl for the first time. As for me, I have all of the releases on vinyl minus a couple of 7" singles here and there. If you want original pressings of the main 5 albums it might take ya a while to find the first three. I paid quite a bit for my original pressings but would not take anything for them considering they only pressed 1000 of TTF, AD, and ISM when they came out. Occasionally the originals will pop up on ebay and generally go for around $150 to $200. If you are really lucky you can get one closer to the $100 range but I haven't seen one that cheap in a few years. My copy of ISM is a UK import #193 of 1000.  I've compared it to an original pressing, the recent repressing, and my ISM picture disc I got at T5. The UK import is definitely the best version of ISM although it has become very very hard to find. I just got lucky on ebay about 5 years ago. The Okonokos vinyl is wonderful and you get a whole extra side on the last record of stull that's not on the cd. In my opinion, the Z and EU vinyl are much better than digital. I still hear things that I haven't heard before when I listen to them. I haven't been able to tell if the repressings of TTF and AD are any better than the originals, there is probably a few differences but after comparing them I couldn't really pick anything out that was much different. Also, you definitely need to pick up Chocolate and Ice and Acoustic Citsuoca. These are two awesome releases that sound great on vinyl.

[Crispy]

Crispy,  thanks for the tips.  After looking for a vintage tube amp for a couple of weeks I just gave in and got a pre-amp to plug into my Onkyo tuner.  It sounds pretty good, but a couple of tweaks could definitely make it better.  

Sweet, I've been wanting to go to tubes for a long time but haven't pulled the trigger. I don't even run a pre-amp through my Sony yet, but I should do that too. I got my current turntable on ebay about 10 years ago, it's an old Marantz 6300 and I love it, but it could use a new cartridge as well as some other work.

I think I've found my next rig though:


Great stuff scosby! I only have the weird poop-and-pee-colored C&I, and I think it sounds like poo.

[scosby2]

Crispy,  thanks for the tips.  After looking for a vintage tube amp for a couple of weeks I just gave in and got a pre-amp to plug into my Onkyo tuner.  It sounds pretty good, but a couple of tweaks could definitely make it better.  

Sweet, I've been wanting to go to tubes for a long time but haven't pulled the trigger. I don't even run a pre-amp through my Sony yet, but I should do that too. I got my current turntable on ebay about 10 years ago, it's an old Marantz 6300 and I love it, but it could use a new cartridge as well as some other work.

I think I've found my next rig though:


Great stuff scosby! I only have the weird poop-and-pee-colored C&I, and I think it sounds like poo.

That's one of the most beautiful things these eyes have ever seen

[headhunter]

I am firmly in the camp that most of the time, vinyl kicks but over cds and I agree that it always kills MP3s.

In the MMJ catalog, Okonokos and Acoustic Citsuoca are clearly the two most outstanding vinyl releases as to quality.  Chocolate & Ice is also outstanding.  Z, It Still Moves and EU also outshine their cd's (imo) but the difference is not as profound although when I do a listening test for friends of vinyl vs. cd in these areas, almost no one prefers the cds.

I agree that the rig someone has can make a huge difference but even an inexpensive TT and cartridge can bring things out of the lp grooves that you just won't hear on a compressed cd made up of 1's and 0's.   You can get a good used TT on ebay or a cool new one on Acoustic Sounds.com or Elusivedisc.com

As far as cables and chords, I think they can and often do make a difference but as previsouly mentioned by Crispy, I am NOT a fan of monster cable.  A big waste of $$ imo.  

[classicrocker623]

Definitely go with Okonokos.  As I was listening to Acoustic Citsuoca the other night I thought of how great it probably sounds on vinyl.  Guess I'll have to pick it up next trip to the record store.

A note on vinyl being an expensive hobby:
Buying vinyl new is going to cost you $10-15 more than a CD.  However, most new vinyl comes with a download code so you can also get the tracks digitally.  IMO, CDs are useless nowadays because everyone just rips them to a computer and then puts the tracks on their iPod.  At least if you buy the vinyl copy you have a beautiful sounding recording rather than a shiny silver coaster.

Having said that, the reason I got into vinyl back in high school was because it was a cheap way to get the classic rock I was in love with.  When my grandma discovered all my uncle's old records in her attic and didn't know what to do with them, I scooped 'em up fast and suddenly had the history of rock and roll at my disposal.   :D  My local CD shop started carrying used records and I was able to pick up $1 copies of some great albums.  If you can find a good used record store, you're in the money.  Some stores will charge you a lot for used records (almost same price as new), but try to find a cheap store or cheat and use ebay.

Of course, you're not going to find original pressings for $1.  If you care about collecting, you're gonna spend an arm and a leg.  My roommate collects and he buys a ton of records, never opens them, and doesn't even have a turntable.   :-?  This just seems like such a waste to me, but then again I could never really wrap my head around the collector mentality.

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl! :)

[Crispy]

I listened to Z last night and was amazed yet again at how good it sounds...LOUD. Those notes coming right out of the gate shake the house.

I got into vinyl in high school because that's how we bought music back then!  ;D It's funny to have gone through such a drought in the CD age, and now I'm so happy to be able to buy new vinyl again.

The great thing about a quality cartridge is that you can listen to those old $1 records and they will still sound good when played at volume, unless the record is totalled.