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Old 2008-02-17, 01:27 PM
FalloutBoy FalloutBoy is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Re: Vinyl records vs. Cds.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tubular View Post
When the bit depth is increased is also means that those waveforms are more smoothly shaped, they more closely match the sine wave shape. This is because there are more available voltage values within the given range.
More bits give you a lower noise-floor and extended dynamic range (+6dB for every added bit).
That doesn't mean that lesser bit depths are less accurate in general, just that they are accurate in a lesser range.

Higher bit depths are often used in recording to keep noise added in the various steps from entering the final product.

Quote:
Analog has an infinite number of possible voltage values within a given range.
So does the electrical output-signal from the D/A-converter. You are confusing the stored representation of the signal with the signal itself.

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So even though vinyl may not have a great dynamic range, the sound is more accurate within that range.
The dynamic range of vinyl is sufficient in most cases. There are much worse technical problems with vinyl.

And I'm not sure what you mean by accurate.
The CD-system can accurately store and recreate any signal that is within the limits of the specifications of the system.
A CD is a (downsampled) digital copy of the digital master. There is no way to create a vinyl record with that kind of accuracy, if that was what you meant by accurate.

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Great vinyl sounds 'alive' to me, whereas CDs, even though they still often sound great, are lacking.
I like vinyl as well. It has a special sound and feel, and many albums are only available on vinyl (at least if you want them without "loudness"-mastering).

But it is never going to give you the accurate and precise reproduction the digital formats are capable of. And that may be a good thing since it would probably lose its special sound if it did.
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