Re: Dare I start another vinyl topic?
Reply #101 – 2017-12-21 15:40:01
Although I'm quite partial to bombastic Russian stuff, the 1812 has never been my cup of tea, so I don't have it. Once again, totally misses the point. Try those canon shots on a TT, tell us what happens. There's your answer. How am I supposed to try your digital file on a TT? Do you think I have access to an LP mastering facility? OK, to be serious for a moment. Is this 1812 the famous Telarc one? The one that is known for its virtual untrackability on vinyl with anything other than a V15, 681EEE or similar? I recall that when it came out, a number of reviewers remarked that it was unplayable. Of course it's an example of something that works fine in digital and doesn't on vinyl. But you have to admit it's an extreme example. You keep saying I'm missing the point, but in the context of my intention in this thread, you are the one missing the point. I started off by saying that I got the impression there were people on this forum who think vinyl is such a dog's dinner that it always mangles anything you put on it. If that's the case, then it should be easy to identify it without knowing that's what you're listening to. We've already established that I may well have been mistaken in that perception. If that is the case, then all anyone had to say was that I had got it wrong and that no, vinyl isn't obviously identifiable just by listening. Indeed a few responders did say something along those lines.Ok, so when do we find out which of your tracks were which? Only four people have posted their results, and it looks as if nobody else is going to, so now is as good a time as any:Track Source wombat old tech knik ajinfla Eberhard Weber Vinyl Vinyl Vinyl CD Vinyl Frankie Vinyl CD CD CD RTG* Gordon Giltrap Vinyl Vinyl CD CD RTG Kevin Ayers CD Vinyl Vinyl Vinyl RTG King Crimson CD CD CD CD RTG Queen CD Vinyl CD CD RTG Saint-Saens CD Vinyl Vinyl CD CD Tchaikovsky Vinyl CD CD CD Vinyl #correct (out of 8) 3 3 3 3 *RTG = refused to guess Congratulations to AJ - he is the only one who got every one he was prepared to guess correct. But also brickbats to AJ - he refused to guess 5 of the 8 samples, which suggests to me that he was only prepared to make a choice when he felt it was absolutely obvious. That's basically cheating; if you can't tell whether it's vinyl, at least make a guess - chances are you'll get some of them right. Interesting that for the classical samples (which we generally think are more likely to show up the flaws on vinyl), everyone apart from AJ reckoned the vinyl Tchaikovsky was from CD, and two thought that the CD Saint-Saens was from vinyl. So everyone scored 3 out of 8. (If AJ hadn't been chicken with the rock tracks, he might have scored more). My conclusion is that it is NOT obvious when you're listening to vinyl, IN THE CONTEXT OF TYPICAL RECORDINGS FROM THAT ERA. dctobluelight has suggested that recordings of that era are so bad that putting them on vinyl doesn't degrade them, and this explains why people can't tell. But I am skeptical. If you ABX compare a CD transfer of a 70s rock recording to its vinyl equivalent, there is an obvious difference - the CD is clearly better. I never wanted to try and show that vinyl is transparent. All I wanted to show is that it isn't the utter train-wreck that I got the impression some people claim. Once again, I acknowledge that my perception that some people think vinyl is a train-wreck might be wrong. All they had to do was tell me that I had misunderstood their position and that would have been the end of it. PS. Merry Christmas to everyone!