Re: WSJ asks Why Vinyls Boom Is Over
Reply #129 – 2017-08-03 12:33:40
SOME MORE SAMPLES LOVE - FOREVER CHANGES - MFSL
2016 MFSL EDITION: SACD vs 2×180g LP high quality rip
I choose this one, because I can compare a new pressed LP to the same digital master (SACD edition). Both were released by MFSL last year. I also choose this one because the person who did the rip seems to master the process, has a nice hardware setup and documented every step. Even the LP was new. It's the kind of vinyl rip I talked above: a well performed and time consuming work, something I couldn't do nor simply afford probably. I couldn't enjoy a better sounding "vinyl" experience myself. Here are the details:Vinyl condition : Brand New, Sealed. • 3 step cleaning process : (1) Washed with Knosti Disco-Antistat; (2) Rinsed in 2nd trough with demineralised water; (3) Record Doctor V RCM • Rega RP3 Turntable upgraded with: — Rega TT-PSU — New aluminium sub-platter — New stainless steel dual pulley fitted with 2 x Rega White Drive Belts manufactured to higher tolerances — New acrylic platter — SRM/Tech Silicone Platter Mat — JA Mitchell Record Clamp — Ortofon 2M Bronze Phono Cartridge aligned using the Baerwald Arc Protractor • Rega Fono MM Phono Preamp • Onzow Zerodust stylus cleaner • Tascam US-366 ADC • Recorded using Adobe Audition CC v.6.0 @ 32bit/192kHz, then resampled to 24bit/192kHz • Manual declicking and track splitting using Adobe Audition v. 1.5. The person didn't say if the electricity comes from a nuclear power plant or a coal power plants (I guess it matters to reduce the DAC's jitter, am I right?), but everything else seems to be complete. I resampled it to 88200 Hz to match the SACD rip (for information, there were no information in the highest frequencies bands, except a slight amount of noise). On the other side, there's the SACD rip (PS3, Oppo, Pioneer DVD players… there are several options nowadays to rip them). I would say the Red Book layer would do the job, but I prefered the High Resolution DSD layer in order to check the high frequencies as well. • SACD Edition, ripped with PS3 to ISO • PCM conversion with foobar2000: 88200 Hz, +6dB, multistage 32fp mode • small and imprecise time alignement to match the LP rip The sample corresponds to: • track one (Alone Again Or ) • 30 first seconds It's a really interesting one, because it begins with a very quiet part, with a high channel separation, close to silence in the left channel, and ends with a louder moment.LISTENING EXPERIENCE
I'm not familiar with the technical words describing analog flaws, but there's an audible kind of wow & flutter on the left channel of the LP rip. There are also small tics and/or pops which weren't removed by the declicking filter of Adobe Audition. They're not very loud but I can ear them with no troubles. The noise is also stronger on the LP rip: it's a coarse one, irregular, corresponding to the mechanical movement of the platter I suppose. When the music goes louder, all audible problems are gone. Sound is really good, no problem with that. It becomes probably as good as a CD ripped, with individual track split, and tagged, in three minutes and three mouse clics only. The SACD is on the other side much cleaner. MFSL kept a solid amount of noise (which I can mainly hear on the right and loud channel: so it seems they decided to clean it at the beginning of the left channel which is a great idea in my opinion). No surface noise, no wow/flutter, no tics, no pops, nothing "analog". It's just music, with little annoyance from the recording and media techniques.CONCLUSION
Even with a high quality set up, even with a lot of work (washing, cleaning and drying the disc + digital filtering) a LP rip from the same master has a poor dynamic range. Silence never exist. Noise covers all the quietest and subtle but audible parts of the music (unless they're compressed on LP mastering, funny enough…). Even with the best efforts, it seems you can't get rid of inherent LP sound issues. And this is with a fresh cut, never played before, LP. From a well reputed audiophile label. I can't provide any better example of the LP vs CD (or SACD, it doesn't matter at this point) comparison. All the remaining ones I found are much worse (when not laughable) for vinyl when it comes to compare the impact of LP transfer on high dynamic music. You want to know why classical lovers quickly left the vinyl format and why there's quite no LP resurgence in the classical catalogue: no need to look for convenience of the CD format or cost. LP is a far worse media for music, and flaws are easy to notice when benefits are very vague at best (warmth, presence, analog truth, or many more poetic expressions from the neurotic dictionnary of audiofools).