It's been a long, long time since I listened to Prince on vinyl. Even so, as far as I remember, my 12" singles sounded better than the albums. I'm no expert, but maybe it's because the tracks are more tightly arranged on albums and the information is more densely packed when played at 33 1/3 rpm. Also, it's possible the album tracks were mastered to play well in sequence, whereas a single track can be given more punch. Anyway, I'm just guessing.

I'm fully digital now, but damn, how I miss my Prince vinyl collection. Happy days.

getwild180 said:

What a classic album! Every song could have been a hit in my opinion. I found the vinyl versions online a few weeks ago, burned it to a cd and man I can't get enough. The 24 but lossless vinyl rip sounded better than the actual cd. The sound is much warmer and crisp. It added that extra umph to the audio that wasn't on the original cd. I also found the original vinyl singles of the album with their b-sides and burned that as well. I must say that the vinyl singles sound a lot better than the vinyl version of the actual album. The sound is even more crisp and more clean. It's also definitely a hell of a lot better than the cd. So I'm wondering if the original vinyl version of the album and the original vinyl singles were mastered differently because to me the singles sound a lot better? Any input would definitely be appreciated.

So it's safe to say you think the vinyl sounds a lot better than the cd.

1986 - 1988; Probably his most prolific, most creative and most driven period. Which probably explains why we got his 3 most incredible albums - Parade, SOTT and Lovesexy (not forgetting TBA thrown in there along with the cancelled Camille, Roadhouse Garden and Crystal Ball). And the outtakes from this period (not including those on the cancelled albums) could probably make another 2 or 3 great albums. Incredible.

I am of the opinion that if things were not so leaky back then and very little escaped from the studio he may well have brought so many of the outtakes from this period back to life on future albums. I think that the fact that so many leaked, and he knew they leaked, meant they were dead to him... maybe. Perhaps those that didn't leak did in fact end up on all sorts of albums in the future. Imagine if songs on albums like 3121, AOA, Rave, Emancipation etc actually had versions created in the mid 80s, with that SOTT feel and sound, that are sitting quietly in the vault somewhere.

getwild180 said:

In my personal opinion yes. However, I also think that the vinyl singles sound better than the actual vinyl album. Maybe it's because it's not as compressed?

The SOTT album hardly suffers from excessive compression. If anything, I've heard people complaining that it doesn't have enough compression - you know, real recording engineers and hifi enthusiasts, not just kids that do not know what they are talking about.

I suppose the masters might be a bit different. The quality of the materials used during the manufacturing, as well as the thickness of the record itself, influence the perceived sound quality as well.

novabrkr said:

rusty1 said:

Have had to purchase 3 SOTT CD's as thru time they get played so much, dropped, damaged, scratched always need new since the release...wish I knew a total count of how many times I have played this album...both discs.