I find it very interesting that LP and CD lovers actually have time capsules with their collection. I have some recordings that go back to the fifties and I have some from last year such as Neil Young's Prairie Wind. Boy, has the LP gone through a revolution! On that note, I look at my collection and have guessed that the average age of most of the albums centers around 1979-1980. That is roughly 25 years since the 12" 33 1/3 album has really been around, of course +/- a few years. In that time period, it is evident listening to the recordings in a chronological fashion that the technology simply got better and better. There were better and bigger studio recorders, microphones, processors, cable, cutting machines, guitars, drums and so on. Everything improved. The sound of the LP kind of hit the ceiling where the technology couldn't take it much higher anymore. Today, records still come (new) warped, off center, scratched and bubbled as they always did.
The evolution of the turntable, cartridge and tonearm have also made fantastic leaps, especially as of late. There are many models of really good RIAA preamps as well.
LP's, like CD's, have a sort of filter mechanism, however, it's at the other end of the audio spectrum. I'm talking about the RIAA compensation curve used to restore the lowest bass notes that simply couldn't be lathed onto the disc without the tonearm/cartridge launching off of the record surface. This is where I think the LP has it's short comings. That doesn't mean I'm not going to listen to them, because they are less than perfect, I love them for what they are. I love the fact that this 100 year old format can deliver such sonic realism. I play records every night. I use all three of the turntables I have set-up. They all have their own virtues and flaws but that's fine. They're all damn old too, just like me.
The CD has gone through a revolution as well. I remember buying my first player (a Fisher)
and I still have the first CD I ever bought. It was by Jefferson Starship called "Knee deep in the Hoopla" with the hit song "We built this city on rock and roll". That CD was dated 1985. Here we are soon coming into the 25 years of CD and look at the evolution again. Compare the early CD's to today's releases. They really don't compare very well, just like early to late day vinyl. The CD is now coming into it's own and unfortunately, the current generation has chosen to be satisfied with a less than capable format with the flourishing of the Ipod. The new CD players have improved with better transports, D/A converters and playback equipment.
I think we all have examples of great and terrible recordings in either format. Of course, this debate will never end and hopefully the improvements to both formats will never end either.
What's my point? I don't have one. aa
