Why Vinyl Is Better Than Cds

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.

Why vinyl is better than cds.

The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an lp can play is about 70 decibels db. 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. Maybe it was coincidence but vinyl began its resurgence at around the same time as recordings started this trend. 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.

The simplest is to make a record that plays faster. Cds on the other hand have been on the decline. 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. 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.

It s for this reason that vinyl sounds better than digital. Take a look at the graph below. A vinyl record is an analog recording and cds and dvds are digital recordings. In practical terms this means that cds have more than 10.

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. But this article isn t focused on why cds are better than vinyl. It didn t used to be this way which is part of what made collecting used vinyl in the 90s and early aughts such a gas.

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. Cds give you more bang for the buck. Digital got its act together but not until the death of the cd. Cds can handle over 90 db.

Vinyl is in a resurgence of course with records outselling cds for the first time in almost three decades. The vinyl format can generate other issues. Original sound is analog by definition.