Why Is Vinyl Superior To Cd

They sound different and that s exactly the point.

Why is vinyl superior to cd.

Original sound is analog by definition. The answer lies in the difference between analog and digital recordings. Take a look at the graph below. The quality of a digital reproduction is dictated by how many of those samples of the original are made.

Records aren t exactly known for their portability for example. Vinyl is great but the idea that its sound quality is superior to that of uncompressed digital recordings is preposterous. To many the superior sound quality and physical collection are enough to justify the investment. For sure hi res digital music is a vastly superior format in both convenience and quality so why would someone side with vinyl over mp3 or streaming.

There is less interference from hissing turntable rumble etc better stereo channel separation and have no variation in playback speed. Vinyl may be an underdog to streaming but it has outlasted the cd. Vinyl is a limited market which attracts hipsters and enthusiasts. Cd quality sits somewhere in the middle with 44 100 samples per second at 16 bit accuracy.

What vinyl can t do. Cds have a better signal to noise ratio i e. 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. However that s not to say there aren t advantages to digital music.

Vinyl is one of the best ways to listen to music. Thus the well built stationary record player exists in the minds of many as a hi fi ideal despite the fact that cd quality over the same system would be superior. From a technical standpoint digital cd audio quality is clearly superior to vinyl. Even as cd sales eclipsed and nearly exterminated vinyl the format was plagued by accusations that its sound was inferior that it was merely a convenient alternative to the lp.

A vinyl record is an analog recording and cds and dvds are digital recordings.