The article compares the sound quality of vinyl, CDs and digital music that is available for the public to buy. Digital music is still not the best if you care about the quality of music but the huge perk about digital music is that you can listen to it anywhere. Kind of obvious but I literally listen to music wherever I go and my friends comment on how much I listen. The main focus on the article is about Cds and vinyls, comparing the dynamic range, surface noise, mechanical noise, speed variation, channel separation, continuous speed and longevity of each. CDs can handle over 90 db, which is 10 times the range of LPs (or vinyl). Surface noise relates to how materials on the surface effects the music when being played. Vinyl can accumulate dust on the top while CDs do not since the CDs are enclosed. Mechanical noise is produced by the machine being used to play the music. The mechanical noise on vinyl is less than the CDs since there are more parts to stop the distortion in the machine. Speed variation deal with the change in songs and the variation of the music distortion. Vinyls suffer from speed variation due to scratches made by the needle and the vinyl can rotate slightly while being on track. Channel separation is when the needle or the player skips part of a song due to the CD or vinyl getting off track. CDs is not that affected by the separation since the frequency while being played is higher than the vinyl. A lower frequency means that the needle could move while playing and mess up the entire song. Continuous speed refers to being chopped up while being played. Both Cd and vinyl is not affected by this since they are both analog music styles. Longevity refers to how long you can play the item in the player. Vinyl can get broken down very quick and CD last forever due to lasers. There is no clear winner hear because opinions will still stand out. I like CDs since I grew up on them and enjoy collecting them on my shelf.
Article found here
Kelsey M
Thanks for sharing! I’ve never had the opportunity to learn the difference between Vinyl, CD’s and Digital. Your post had me thinking about the quality of cassette tapes. I am curious where they fall on the spectrum of quality. Might have to do some independent research.
Eric T
I am by no means a music snob but it always irks me when someone plays a lower quality song that was clearly downloaded off of Youtube. I have never had the opportunity to listen/ personally own vinyl but I did enjoy CDs when I was younger to the point that even now with aux cords and bluetooth connections in cars, I still make playlists and burn them to a CD so I can listen them while I’m driving. I really don’t know why I prefer CDs over digital playlists, but I think part of it is that while I’m on my iPhone I just jump from one song to the next whereas with a CD I put each song on there for a reason so I listen to it in its entirety.