Why Vinyl Is Better Than Cds

Their sales have dropped by 95 percent since 2000 the peak days of cds according to a new report and are currently at their lowest level since 1986.

Why vinyl is better than cds.

A vinyl record is an analog recording and cds and dvds are digital recordings. Maybe it was coincidence but vinyl began its resurgence at around the same time as recordings started this trend. Take a look at the graph below. Cds give you more bang for the buck.

You ll also hear vinyl enthusiasts discussing the warm sound they get from their record players. Crackles and pops records that skip and the whine of a needle against the lp all problems that the cd advertised itself on solving decades ago. It wasn t long before vinyl recordings of the same content often had better sound quality at normal listening volumes simply because they had higher dynamic range. Digital got its act together but not until the death of the cd.

The answer lies in the difference between analog and digital recordings. The vinyl format can generate other issues. On a theoretical level there s just no reason it should be the case that vinyl sounds better. There are built in problems with using vinyl as a data encoding mechanisms that have no cd equivalent.

What is perplexing is that when the eventual resurgence of high quality audio came it wasn t via a glorious return of the compact disc but rather a hipster fueled vinyl record revolution. Vinyl is in a resurgence of course with records outselling cds for the first time in almost three decades. Cds on the other hand have been on the decline. It s for this reason that vinyl sounds better than digital.

Cds can handle over 90 db. The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an lp can play is about 70 decibels db. For comparison listening to vinyl as opposed to digital is like viewing the mona lisa with your own eyes rather than looking at a picture of it on a smartphone. Cds are now cheaper than lps.

In practical terms this means that cds have more than 10. But this article isn t focused on why cds are better than vinyl. While coloured vinyl and picture discs are an easy way to ensure degradation to a record s playback there are practices made to better the way an lp sounds.