CD and Vinyl: The Truth About Vinyl
Good day, habra users. For a long time I collected my thoughts and ideas about my first topic here. And that time has come. And I want to tell you about my favorite: music, and directly this topic about its carriers.
')
How many praises are sung by the “warmest, unique, sweet and unique, real” analogue sound that only a black record and a vinyl record player can give. The rustling of a needle, the warmth of a 12-inch vinyl pancake, cardboard square packaging, which you open, like a letter from a loved one, a true music lover will not trade for anything. To this day, the vinyl albums of popular artists that are coming out on the market are stably bought up, and there can be no doubt that the disc will survive the CD. (my subjective opinion)
To begin with, let's understand how and where music comes from on these or other media. So, initially, all electronic music is written using special computer sequencer software. Accordingly, the final entry is a file of good quality and high resolution, such a format as WAV (most common), or AIFF (a format similar to WAV, only promoted by Apple and is native to all its products). Further, after getting a record on the label, depending on the type of label and the release itself, the record is either sold in its original form (WAV), or encoded into the format with the least loss of quality (MP3 itself with a bitrate of 320 kbit / s), or cut into a vinyl record.
In a word, there is no difference between a WAV file and a vinyl record - the track is the same. However, if you put a track recorded on a CD from the original WAV file and the same track from vinyl, the difference in sound will be very significant: the vinyl will sound softer and fatter. Why, you ask? - because the original record was completely identical.
The answer here lies not in the actual recording or vinyl cutting technology, but in the way it is played. When we play a digital recording from a CD, we will hear exactly what was recorded on it, without any changes or distortions (unless of course you have a good sound that truly conveys all frequencies). What happens in the case of vinyl?
Here it is necessary to deal a little with the mechanism itself sounding vinyl player. So, we have a plate on which tracks with very small grooves are cut. A special lifting needle is put on the tonearm (a metal rod on which the needle cartridge is put) of the player, which passes through these grooves and reproduces sound from them. Moreover, this process is purely mechanical, i.e. if we even turn off the player from the network and disconnect from the sound, and rotate the plate, raising the ear close to the needle, we will hear a sound.
Then, the same sound is converted into a weak electrical signal using an internal needle cartridge remover (akin to a microphone), which is then fed to the input of the mixing console, where the preamplifier passes and then goes to the channel, where we control it.
However, in addition to a pure, effective signal, the needle also removes to a small extent the sound of everything that is happening around. First of all, it is the sound (mainly low-frequency, bass) from the monitors and speakers in the club - the so-called feedback (from the English. Feedback - feedback, return). In this case, it creates an effect similar to reverb. Also, small distortions are mixed in with the fact that the needle cannot pass the tracks the same way every time, and the spinner in the club itself cannot stand absolutely still (the vibration from the subwoofers will somehow affect the entire content of the DJ and the spinners - not an exception).
And in this way, by adding the described impurities to the main signal recorded on the plate, we get that very soft and bold sound at the output.
From the above, a single conclusion follows: vinyl, of course, gives a much more pleasant, bold and harmonious sound.
But, as always in such cases, there is one big “BUT”, or rather not even one, but several, but for now let's analyze the most essential: you have to pay for the quality, and a lot of it: the cost of one plate now, as before, is about 10 - 13 dollars.
The second “BUT” is a temporary factor in the appearance of material at the end user, that is, our brother DJ. From the moment a newly released vinyl release comes to you from England or Germany, CD DJs will be driving it from CDs to the fullest. And there are also so-called anti-releases - tracks written by, say, your friends or simply friendly musicians who agreed to give you a promotional recording before its official release. There are simply no such tracks on vinyl, and when it appears is unknown.
In addition to vinyl records and CDs, there are options such as Serato and Final Scratch. If you have a laptop and the sound module itself, these options will allow you to create a visual sensation of vinyl, however, you will not replace vinyl sound.
Behind:
Vs:
PS
Here perhaps the first pancake is ready, I do not know the truth how much lumps he is. Please love and respect.
UPD
The description of the technical questions is taken from the Promo DJ website. Thank you gribozavr , the article has long been kept saved - I could not find the official source!
I will lead the story from the point of view of the DJ.
')
How many praises are sung by the “warmest, unique, sweet and unique, real” analogue sound that only a black record and a vinyl record player can give. The rustling of a needle, the warmth of a 12-inch vinyl pancake, cardboard square packaging, which you open, like a letter from a loved one, a true music lover will not trade for anything. To this day, the vinyl albums of popular artists that are coming out on the market are stably bought up, and there can be no doubt that the disc will survive the CD. (my subjective opinion)
To begin with, let's understand how and where music comes from on these or other media. So, initially, all electronic music is written using special computer sequencer software. Accordingly, the final entry is a file of good quality and high resolution, such a format as WAV (most common), or AIFF (a format similar to WAV, only promoted by Apple and is native to all its products). Further, after getting a record on the label, depending on the type of label and the release itself, the record is either sold in its original form (WAV), or encoded into the format with the least loss of quality (MP3 itself with a bitrate of 320 kbit / s), or cut into a vinyl record.
In a word, there is no difference between a WAV file and a vinyl record - the track is the same. However, if you put a track recorded on a CD from the original WAV file and the same track from vinyl, the difference in sound will be very significant: the vinyl will sound softer and fatter. Why, you ask? - because the original record was completely identical.
The answer here lies not in the actual recording or vinyl cutting technology, but in the way it is played. When we play a digital recording from a CD, we will hear exactly what was recorded on it, without any changes or distortions (unless of course you have a good sound that truly conveys all frequencies). What happens in the case of vinyl?
Here it is necessary to deal a little with the mechanism itself sounding vinyl player. So, we have a plate on which tracks with very small grooves are cut. A special lifting needle is put on the tonearm (a metal rod on which the needle cartridge is put) of the player, which passes through these grooves and reproduces sound from them. Moreover, this process is purely mechanical, i.e. if we even turn off the player from the network and disconnect from the sound, and rotate the plate, raising the ear close to the needle, we will hear a sound.
Then, the same sound is converted into a weak electrical signal using an internal needle cartridge remover (akin to a microphone), which is then fed to the input of the mixing console, where the preamplifier passes and then goes to the channel, where we control it.
However, in addition to a pure, effective signal, the needle also removes to a small extent the sound of everything that is happening around. First of all, it is the sound (mainly low-frequency, bass) from the monitors and speakers in the club - the so-called feedback (from the English. Feedback - feedback, return). In this case, it creates an effect similar to reverb. Also, small distortions are mixed in with the fact that the needle cannot pass the tracks the same way every time, and the spinner in the club itself cannot stand absolutely still (the vibration from the subwoofers will somehow affect the entire content of the DJ and the spinners - not an exception).
And in this way, by adding the described impurities to the main signal recorded on the plate, we get that very soft and bold sound at the output.
From the above, a single conclusion follows: vinyl, of course, gives a much more pleasant, bold and harmonious sound.
But, as always in such cases, there is one big “BUT”, or rather not even one, but several, but for now let's analyze the most essential: you have to pay for the quality, and a lot of it: the cost of one plate now, as before, is about 10 - 13 dollars.
The second “BUT” is a temporary factor in the appearance of material at the end user, that is, our brother DJ. From the moment a newly released vinyl release comes to you from England or Germany, CD DJs will be driving it from CDs to the fullest. And there are also so-called anti-releases - tracks written by, say, your friends or simply friendly musicians who agreed to give you a promotional recording before its official release. There are simply no such tracks on vinyl, and when it appears is unknown.
In addition to vinyl records and CDs, there are options such as Serato and Final Scratch. If you have a laptop and the sound module itself, these options will allow you to create a visual sensation of vinyl, however, you will not replace vinyl sound.
And so if you take stock of the pros and cons of vinyl!
Behind:
(I think this is a disease when you hear a good composition and there is always a desire to buy it on vinyl ... - it is sick :-)
- The visual effect is nice to watch and nice to play on vinyl
- More volume sound - space drawing
- Also ... there are a lot of tracks every day, Beatport and other services are crammed with low-quality material by pseudo-musicians who have no idea about mastering. Vinyl, at least in part, insures against "poor quality", since the manufacturer must be sure that it can realize circulation
- Vinyl gives more opportunities to remember where a track
Vs:
(there is a way out of every minus given here - options are given in brackets)
- It is heavy to carry plates (there are bags on wheels, example: UDG Trolley)
- The record is expensive (but looks expensive)
- Long wait, usually from 2 weeks or more (unfortunately nothing can be done about it)
- In some places, you have to deal with resonance (we put napkins under the legs of the player)
- Envelopes are quickly torn (we use a wide adhesive tape)
- The layers themselves also wear out ... if you play a lot of them and / or on stupid or mis-tuned needles (you should buy good needles and adjust)
PS
Here perhaps the first pancake is ready, I do not know the truth how much lumps he is. Please love and respect.
UPD
The description of the technical questions is taken from the Promo DJ website. Thank you gribozavr , the article has long been kept saved - I could not find the official source!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/66945/
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