Curious of your thoughts... I collect vinyl LP's. I have lots of Prince stuff and find I Prince's material from the 1980's sounds much better on vinyl than disc. I have seen some discussion about this here by others too.

I am curious if anyone thinks there is a difference between the sound of his later albums on vinyl compared to disc (let's say after 1990 when people started really mastering for disc instead of vinyl).

Anyone else out there with sensative hearing care to share their thoughts?

Also, is there any particular vinyl album you own that you adore and why?

chickenman said:

Curious of your thoughts... I collect vinyl LP's. I have lots of Prince stuff and find I Prince's material from the 1980's sounds much better on vinyl than disc. I have seen some discussion about this here by others too.

I am curious if anyone thinks there is a difference between the sound of his later albums on vinyl compared to disc (let's say after 1990 when people started really mastering for disc instead of vinyl).

Anyone else out there with sensative hearing care to share their thoughts?

Also, is there any particular vinyl album you own that you adore and why?

I know nothing of how much better or worse vinyl sounds to that of cd, because i do not have a turntable, i think the last vinyl record i played was in the early 90's.

I do however have some pretty cool prince vinyl, all mint and unplayed.

The most recent ones i bought are:

Lotusflower/Mplsound-French limited edition of 2000 copies.

Planet Earth-US double vinyl.

Sign O The Times-UK 12".

My Name Is Prince-12" picture disc.

[Edited 8/4/10 12:18pm]

The two most recent Prince albums I have on vinyl are 1999: The New Master EP (on purple vinyl), and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. I've never played either; didn't really have reason to.

Vinyl is always warmer and more desireable. Pulling out the old 12" singles, or albums, and playing them against the CDs is just stellar. Vinyl always wins. I'd actually love to hear Come and The Gold Experience on vinyl.

I'd actually love to hear Come and The Gold Experience on vinyl.

I own two different copies of both of these and they are awesome!

ernestsewell said:

The two most recent Prince albums I have on vinyl are 1999: The New Master EP (on purple vinyl), and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. I've never played either; didn't really have reason to.

Vinyl is always warmer and more desireable. Pulling out the old 12" singles, or albums, and playing them against the CDs is just stellar. Vinyl always wins. I'd actually love to hear Come and The Gold Experience on vinyl.

I had the chance a few months back of buying the Rave album on vinyl. Noticed it tucked behind a Police album in the racks, still sealed, decided i had to have it but had no cash or card on me.

Instead of asking the guys in the shop to keep it for me (which they would have) i left it and planned to return the following day. Shit happened and i could not return for two days, and surprise surprise it was gone. The guys told me that someone had bought it the day i noticed it.

I recently picked up Lotusflow3r on vinyl, and it sounds TERRIFIC. I highly recommend anybody interested in vinyl picking it up. It's available on amazon.com, and wasn't that expensive at all.

NoVideo said:

I recently picked up Lotusflow3r on vinyl, and it sounds TERRIFIC. I highly recommend anybody interested in vinyl picking it up. It's available on amazon.com, and wasn't that expensive at all.

I got that, too. Cost a crapload to have it sent from France, but worth it.

MikeyB71 said:

Where's DJDaffy? He loves him some vinyl.

I have all the vinyl through Lovesexy, including all the US 12" and many 45s. I haven't hooked up my turntable for years though. I prefer the convenience and lack of pops and clicks that CDs bring, even though Prince's 80s CDs sound really bad in comparison.

[img:$uid]http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac268/squirrelgrease2009/AnimatedGifs/Paisley45Loop.gif[/img:$uid]

How'd I miss this one!? I do love me some vinyl

His 80's material was recorded for vinyl and in the transfer to disc it lost something. The technology wasn't as good back then. Vinyl (Prince or otherwise) is just warmer and more listener friendly.

[Edited 8/5/10 6:17am]

Listened to "Lovesexy" all the way through on vinyl last night; there really is no comparison it's so much better than the CD.

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

Poiple said:

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Another factor is the visual aspect of it; having a large version of the artwork, a nice physical copy of the album - - there's something appealing about that (to me, at least)

Poiple said:

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

I agree that the main flaw with vinyl is that it collects dust like a magnet. But a clean slab of vinyl can be the sweetest, deepest audio experience possible. Some vinyl does sound really shitty compared to CD releases though. I have a ton of punk rock records that when mastered for CD, sound way more detailed than the old LPs. It's all in the care taken during the respective transfers from the stereo mix-down tapes. WB had some very good engineers in that department during the vinyl heyday.

NoVideo said:

Poiple said:

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Another factor is the visual aspect of it; having a large version of the artwork, a nice physical copy of the album - - there's something appealing about that (to me, at least)

Yeah, cool, I respect the information in the article. And I get it, especially with lossy audio files (like mp3), but I don't quite get it for lossless formats. Seems they are the formats closest to the actual recording.

You know, sometimes the cracks and hiss add to the sound, if not, why would people like Prince add fake pops to songs like "Somewhere here on Earth"? Of course, a lot of us grew up with records. It is a nostalgia thing too. There is also the packaging. I enjoy nice album artwork and liner notes.

I have no problem with anyone liking CD's (I have over 10,000 CD's in my collection) or mp3's. I have over 40,000 mp3's. I just like the sound of vinyl the best.

[Edited 8/5/10 13:29pm]

Poiple said:

NoVideo said:

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Another factor is the visual aspect of it; having a large version of the artwork, a nice physical copy of the album - - there's something appealing about that (to me, at least)

Yeah, cool, I respect the information in the article. And I get it, especially with lossy audio files (like mp3), but I don't quite get it for lossless formats. Seems they are the formats closest to the actual recording.

Here's what the article says about lossless formats:

"MP3's and other files incur yet another layer of losses which further reduces the quality in audio. Listen to a vinyl record after an equivalent mp3 and if you can't tell the difference, there might be something wrong with you! Just kidding, but there is a very clear difference. There are certain audio formats such as FLAC, which are higher resolution digital encodings, but this is when compared with a CD track. Essentially, it is still digital, and still does not replicate the sound in the same way as a live performance or a vinyl record."

Ultimately it's up to the listener's preference. I get vinyl for certain artists and albums, but i'm perfectly happy with CDs/mp3s most of the time. For my favorites, though, I tend to listen on vinyl when I can.

squirrelgrease said:

Poiple said:

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

I agree that the main flaw with vinyl is that it collects dust like a magnet. But a clean slab of vinyl can be the sweetest, deepest audio experience possible. Some vinyl does sound really shitty compared to CD releases though. I have a ton of punk rock records that when mastered for CD, sound way more detailed than the old LPs. It's all in the care taken during the respective transfers from the stereo mix-down tapes. WB had some very good engineers in that department during the vinyl heyday.

But necessarily better than CD? Or just a different, but nonetheless equally enjoyable, experience?

NoVideo said:

Poiple said:

Yeah, cool, I respect the information in the article. And I get it, especially with lossy audio files (like mp3), but I don't quite get it for lossless formats. Seems they are the formats closest to the actual recording.

Here's what the article says about lossless formats:

"MP3's and other files incur yet another layer of losses which further reduces the quality in audio. Listen to a vinyl record after an equivalent mp3 and if you can't tell the difference, there might be something wrong with you! Just kidding, but there is a very clear difference. There are certain audio formats such as FLAC, which are higher resolution digital encodings, but this is when compared with a CD track. Essentially, it is still digital, and still does not replicate the sound in the same way as a live performance or a vinyl record."

Ultimately it's up to the listener's preference. I get vinyl for certain artists and albums, but i'm perfectly happy with CDs/mp3s most of the time. For my favorites, though, I tend to listen on vinyl when I can.

Oops, sorry, I guess I glazed over that part! Huh, interesting. I always thought formats like FLAC "picked up" virtually every sound. I guess to most people, the difference is unnoticeable. Like the article said, a trained ear could pick up the difference between analog and digital (which I ain't got).

djdaffy1227 said:

You know, sometimes the cracks and hiss add to the sound, if not, why would people like Prince add fake pops to songs like "Somewhere here on Earth"? Of course, a lot of us grew up with records. It is a nostalgia thing too. There is also the packaging. I enjoy nice album artwork and liner notes.

I have no problem with anyone liking CD's (I have over 10,000 CD's in my collection) or mp3's. I have over 40,000 mp3's. I just like the sound of vinyl the best.

[Edited 8/5/10 13:29pm]

That's cool. I do agree certain formats (CD) are more "sterile," if you will.

just noticed TGE on vinyl German 99bucks and promo $125 wondering if I should buy one of them

PEJ said:

just noticed TGE on vinyl German 99bucks and promo $125 wondering if I should buy one of them

I own them both. I love having the artwork on the German release, but the promo double Lp has some remixes on the end of it so that is nice to have. Personally, I would go with the German version, but that's just me.

never mind I just bought the promo

chickenman said:

I am curious if anyone thinks there is a difference between the sound of his later albums on vinyl compared to disc (let's say after 1990 when people started really mastering for disc instead of vinyl).

The thing is now since people started mastering for disc, those cannot be used for vinyl editions, so the vinyls (LPs or singles) would have their own master. I can't say I know for sure, but I would be surprised if they somehow used the CD master for the vinyl.

Maybe that's what you were saying all along and was just wondering what later albums to get on wax. All I have is Come, and I'm not sure I'm that impressed with how it sounds on wax compared to the disc.

NoVideo said:

Poiple said:

Just curious, but why all the love for vinyl (not just this thread, but so many others as well)? I remember listening to my dad's vinyls as a youngster, and the biggest thing I recall is all the hissing/popping of the record. And with today's technology, why listen to music in any other way than its "purest" recorded form (ie, CDs)? Okay, let the stoning begin.....

[Edited 8/5/10 12:56pm]

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Somebody should explain the autor of that article the difference between than and then.

BartVanHemelen said:

NoVideo said:

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Somebody should explain the autor of that article the difference between than and then.

how do you spell author?

PEJ said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Somebody should explain the autor of that article the difference between than and then.

how do you spell author?

making a typo when nitpicking about typos? pretty embearissing, no?

BartVanHemelen said:

NoVideo said:

here's a good explanation as to why vinyl sounds better than CDs:

http://www.buzzle.com/art...an-cd.html

Somebody should explain the autor of that article the difference between than and then.

oh the irony

[img:$uid]http://www.funnymotivationalposters.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Holy-Facepalm.jpg[/img:$uid]

[Edited 9/1/10 2:36am]

Mistadobalina said:

PEJ said:

how do you spell author?

making a typo when nitpicking about typos? pretty embearissing, no?

embarrassing

Dewrede said:

Mistadobalina said:

making a typo when nitpicking about typos? pretty embearissing, no?

embarrassing