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CD's sound great, i forgot.

Mr Pig said:
I'm making the point that just because something is popular does not mean it is better. No comparison of user numbers is relevant to the CD vs vinyl quality question as other factors contribute to the choices people make. I invested in CD because the music I wanted was not available on vinyl any more. I enjoy the convenience and robust nature of the disks. None of these things say anything about the sound quality.
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By the same token, just because people claim something is better, doesn’t mean it is. I mean, you’d want objective evidence, wouldn’t you?

Conveniently you can read what Jim has to say on the matter. See chapters 8 through 12.
 
mattgbell said:
By the same token, just because people claim something is better, doesn’t mean it is. I mean, you’d want objective evidence, wouldn’t you?
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Not when it comes to Hi-Fi. Music is a subjective experience so the only opinion that matters when it comes to my enjoyment of music is mine. In my opinion, vinyl as a format is inherently more musically satisfying than CD. I don't care if other people agree or not.
 
Mr Pig said:
Not when it comes to Hi-Fi. Music is a subjective experience so the only opinion that matters when it comes to my enjoyment of music is mine. In my opinion, vinyl as a format is inherently more musically satisfying than CD. I don't care if other people agree or not.
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Solipsism.
 
Mr Pig said:
Not when it comes to Hi-Fi. Music is a subjective experience so the only opinion that matters when it comes to my enjoyment of music is mine. In my opinion, vinyl as a format is inherently more musically satisfying than CD. I don't care if other people agree or not.
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And that was my point.
 
Jim Audiomisc said:
Confusion between the container and the contained.

*Properly made* CDs don't "introduce distortion". If you have quantisation distortion in mind then correct application of dithering prevents it from happening.

If you mean "aliasing" then that also is due to incorrect signal processing, not the CD medium.

BTW the 'natural world' *is* quantised. So CD isn't particularly special in that respect.

I'd agree, though, that is was unforgivable or disgraceful just how many CD producers failed to understand the above and make recordings properly. But then the same music companies have found all kinds of ways to mess up LPs, tapes, etc, etc, over the years. So CD just fell victim to the same lack of care, etc.
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I think that too often we see comparisons of badly engineered technology X with well engineered technology Y which conclude incorrectly that technology is the problem, not engineering.

As discovered (or re-discovered) by the OP a well-engineered digital audio chain can produce superb results. And as @Tony L says, for a long time overall quality has lain more in the engineering quality of music mastering than in the delivery medium. From my files I see John Vanderkooy and Stanley Lipschitz wrote a paper in JAES in 1984 which seems to be aimed directly at the audio industry, reminding people of the well-established good practice they should use.
 
Mr Pig said:
Says who?
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It’s perfectly OK to acknowledge that vinyl has some objective shortcomings compared to CD and still to enjoy using it. Plenty of people here take that view. Why should we think worse of them for doing so?
 
Never had a problem with CD, had a naim system for years & always had good results from the format. I was a late adopter from vinyl but still buy CD's today as I like to support the artist. Streaming is not for me.
 
mattgbell said:
It’s perfectly OK to acknowledge that vinyl has some objective shortcomings compared to CD and still to enjoy using it. Plenty of people here take that view. Why should we think worse of them for doing so?
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I don't. I'm not sure what you mean? Of course vinyl has technical shortcomings, so does CD. What's the point here?
 
Mr Pig said:
Not when it comes to Hi-Fi. Music is a subjective experience so the only opinion that matters when it comes to my enjoyment of music is mine. In my opinion, vinyl as a format is inherently more musically satisfying than CD. I don't care if other people agree or not.
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Earlier in this thread you stated:
While claiming to introduce no distortion whatsoever, the format actually birthed an insidious new type of horror to pollute our music. Distortion which sounded nasty and foreign. Alien noise which had no place in the natural world.
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Because music is entirely subjective (according to you) this distortion only existed in your mind?
 
Mr Pig said:
The distortion is real, it's effects are subjective. Not very complicated?
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And how has this distortion been shown to exist? I prefer chocolate ice cream to anything with toffee in it. Does this mean that the taste of toffee has no place in the natural world? Is the taste of toffee actually a sort of a distortion? According to your logic it might be.
 
to the OP, I agree, CD is jolly good. So is vinyl and so are the best streaming services. My we are lucky. Imagine 30 years ago, dreaming that you could hear 7 different versions of the quartet from Rigoletto at the touch of one button, at no real cost. Trouble is I'm putting on weight. Vinyl keeps you thinner. New mantra:)
ps. Having some good kit for each media helps and it is still debatable how much each media version needs chucked at it to reach the bar.
 
I'm also curious about the assertion claiming "an insidious NEW type of horror..." (my emphasis). The reality is that by then people listening to BBC radio via VHF/FM had been listening via a digital path for many years without getting alarmed by the "horror". Indeed, people welcomed the improvement it provided.

Hence trying to blame 'CD' for a blanket "horror" would be equivalent to totally dismissing LPs as unlistenable rubbish because EMI in the 1970s often couldn't be arsed to press them properly. Yet the problem was EMI, not the LP medium. And, lo, EMI duly then also released some poorly processed CDs as well.
 
Radio yes.
And don’t forget that most LPs have been pressed from 16/44 files for 30 years.
Yes, the same records many find superior to CDs.
 
And as if by magic...

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...things turn into records vs CDs: an argument as circular as said discs themselves.
 
I have kept with Cds because they are a neat package with adequate details of artist and music. Also they sound good to me (depending on the recording) with my system at home and even in my car Cd. Most impotantly I own all my cds and do not have to pay an ongoing direct debit for something which is not mine just for the privilige of having access to listen to it(for me thats nearly like theft).
 
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