Why Vinyl Is Better Than Cds

The simplest is to make a record that plays faster.

Why vinyl is better than cds.

Take a look at the graph below. Vinyl is in a resurgence of course with records outselling cds for the first time in almost three decades. You ll also hear vinyl enthusiasts discussing the warm sound they get from their record players. Digital got its act together but not until the death of the cd.

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. Maybe it was coincidence but vinyl began its resurgence at around the same time as recordings started this trend. On a theoretical level there s just no reason it should be the case that vinyl sounds better. The vinyl format can generate other issues.

There are built in problems with using vinyl as a data encoding mechanisms that have no cd equivalent. 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. Cds are now cheaper than lps. 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.

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. The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an lp can play is about 70 decibels db. 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. Cds can handle over 90 db.

A vinyl record is an analog recording and cds and dvds are digital recordings. 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. Cds give you more bang for the buck. Cds on the other hand have been on the decline.

Original sound is analog by definition. But this article isn t focused on why cds are better than vinyl. The answer lies in the difference between analog and digital recordings.