vinyl releases

[Stripey]

So I just looked into this and saw a spectral analysis of both the vinyl and digital versions of a song from Stadium Arcadium and it turns out that no compression was used on the vinyl, unlike the digital version.

So at least some, if not most vinyl is mastered better (ie. not just for loudness) than cd.

Have you got a link to that page?

[la mula]

It's from what.cd, I would have embedded the image but it's not mine, I can send it though.

[Stripey]

So I just looked into this and saw a spectral analysis of both the vinyl and digital versions of a song from Stadium Arcadium and it turns out that no compression was used on the vinyl, unlike the digital version.

So at least some, if not most vinyl is mastered better (ie. not just for loudness) than cd.

First off, mastering a case of getting what you pay for, and in the case of small indie bands and labels mastering barely factors into the equation. When you buy a short run 7" like milner is talking about, it's very likely to just be a studio mix with no mastering involved atall. A cheap small scale pressing plant is even less likely to have good engineers who care about the material.

An act like the RHCP with the backing of a major label can afford to spend large amounts of money with the best mastering engineers, who own the best equipment in the industry, so it's not really fair to compare this to a small indie act/label who are maybe just getting a run of 200 done on a tight budget.

Spectral analysis doesn't inform us atall about what kind of processing the source material has gone through, there will be one master and I absolutely guarantee it will involve some degree of multiband limiting/compression.

What this spectral analysis will be showing is actually the natural properties of the medium and also the system which has been used to produce the analysis. It sounds very fishy to me indeed.

[la mula]

Haha, no wonder it sounds fishy, I got confused, it's not a spectral analysis, but a wave comparison. Sorry about that.

I thought this image would be useful since it's the same kind as shown in the video you linked.

Edit: Bet you wish you hadn't used that forehead slapping image already

[Huw]

is a lot of it not down to what your playing it through ie. a CD through your computer into some crappy aiwa speakers compared to like a separate amp CD deck and vinyl deck, the latter will make all the difference whether its vinyl or CD or mp3 etc.

i play my music through some decent old school amp and decent speakers, one channel from my computer (with no D/A converter - from my little knowledge i think thats what you do) straight to the amp and it sounds great. I do run my deck direct into the amp and although i think it sounds marginally better, that is probably only due to the whole process...

i'll take the music however it comes though.. mp3 download, CD, vinyl, but i appreciate

it on a slab of plastic the most.

i think it would be cool if you bought the vinyl then were able to get maybe the mp3 download aswell purely for practicality: listening to it in the car on ipod/mix CD etc. if i got a vinyl press i'd be most inclined to do it that way.

[la mula]

Have you got a link to that page?

Here's a page at the hydrogenaudio forums with a similar image.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium - Hydrogenaudio Forums

[framheim]

' date=' post: 461555"']is a lot of it not down to what your playing it through ie. a CD through your computer into some crappy aiwa speakers compared to like a separate amp CD deck and vinyl deck, the latter will make all the difference whether its vinyl or CD or mp3 etc.

i play my music through some decent old school amp and decent speakers, one channel from my computer (with no D/A converter - from my little knowledge i think thats what you do) straight to the amp and it sounds great. I do run my deck direct into the amp and although i think it sounds marginally better, that is probably only due to the whole process...

i'll take the music however it comes though.. mp3 download, CD, vinyl, but i appreciate

it on a slab of plastic the most.

i think it would be cool if you bought the vinyl then were able to get maybe the mp3 download aswell purely for practicality: listening to it in the car on ipod/mix CD etc. if i got a vinyl press i'd be most inclined to do it that way.

there seems to be a growing trend to give a copy of the cd away with the vinyl release for certain artists. shellac do it everytime as does jason molina/songs:ohia/magnolia electric company. it's cool cause you get the aesthetic goodness of having the vinyl but the handiness of having the cd(for putting on your mp3 player for instance).

i like vinyl cause you buy second hand records for 50p. but at the end of the day, i'll take it as it comes. from a business point of view it makes more sense to release something on a format which is most accessible so cd or digital download would probably make the most sense but who wants to think like that all the time, sometimes you have to do things just for fun or because it feels right. there will always be 7inch singles and that is a good thing.

[Stripey]

Here's a page at the hydrogenaudio forums with a similar image.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium - Hydrogenaudio Forums

Ok, when you're talking about a band like RHCP, vinyl will sell to a limited audience, CD's are volume sales, and the master they have put on cd probably reflects the master they have sent to radio stations etc for airplay. Again, this says nothing about the medium, it's just a decision made by marketing men rather an engineers.

ultimately none of this means anything to small local indie bands and labels anyway who can't and don't afford to pay someone to limit their tracks in that manner without it sounding shit.

[la mula]

Yeah I understand that this means nothing in regards to this thread, I said that on page 2, just thought you might be interested since you contradicted me on the matter.

[glennbuchan]

Milner!

If you are talking about Do You Feel safe, then it's out on CD too, it's awesome!

hope that helps?

[Sam 45]

Aye Milner. You can get all the Xcerts vinyl releases on CD as well as digital download.

[Guest Jake Wifebeater]

but what about when the hole has been made too big in the first place?

I know what you mean about having an actual product but why buy a product you may not be able to ever use? How many people now-a-days do you think actually have vinal players in their homes?

The hole being too big (apologies again, vicar) is something I've never encountered in all my years of buying/trading vinyl, so I'm really not sure how to solve that one.

As for buying vinyl, it's pretty daft to buy vinyl if you don't have a vinyl player. So if people who don't have vinyl players are buying vinyl, well, they should have bought the vinyl player first. Did I mention vinyl there?

[The Milner]

The hole being too big (apologies again, vicar) is something I've never encountered in all my years of buying/trading vinyl, so I'm really not sure how to solve that one.

As for buying vinyl, it's pretty daft to buy vinyl if you don't have a vinyl player. So if people who don't have vinyl players are buying vinyl, well, they should have bought the vinyl player first. Did I mention vinyl there?

how many sexual connotations can we get out of vinal?

[emergency72]

The hole being too big (apologies again, vicar) is something I've never encountered in all my years of buying/trading vinyl, so I'm really not sure how to solve that one.

As for buying vinyl, it's pretty daft to buy vinyl if you don't have a vinyl player. So if people who don't have vinyl players are buying vinyl, well, they should have bought the vinyl player first. Did I mention vinyl there?

You mean you've never bought a record thats been pressed in Italy or wherever to cut costs and has one of those huge holes in the middle that needs a thingamywotsit in the middle to play it (which always go missing) ?

Check this shit if you love vinyl....Retro Thing, a home horse racing game that features the races on a record, the records are cut with a concentric groove (ie. serveral different tracks adjacent to each other) so the drop of the stylus on the record randomly picks a track! Awesome!!

[Guest Giles Walker]

how many sexual connotations can we get out of vinal?

Dude don't talk to me about vinyl, you can't even spell the word.

lolz

[framheim]

You mean you've never bought a record thats been pressed in Italy or wherever to cut costs and has one of those huge holes in the middle that needs a thingamywotsit in the middle to play it (which always go missing) ?

Check this shit if you love vinyl....Retro Thing, a home horse racing game that features the races on a record, the records are cut with a concentric groove (ie. serveral different tracks adjacent to each other) so the drop of the stylus on the record randomly picks a track! Awesome!!

i've got one of those records with the huge hole. where do you get the thingamywotsits to stick in the middle?

[emergency72]

They usually came with your record player....or you could pop to your local record shop and pick one up (yeah right!)

This is the best album I ever bought, its right up there with some other great hardcore punk bands

[lovers_spit]

-

I agree with the whole romantic aspect of it

I collect vinyl. Yeah it is unnecessary and much less accesable than say what hadouken did wth the whole memory card thing, but the artwork and things, the size and feel of the vinyl etc

i know hat sounds stupid. but thats what i enjoy doing, or i didn until my mum recently sold 90% of it.

[davewarden]

Hahahaha pwnd

[Mouse]

Awesome pic.

On a related note for Metallica fans, the 1st two albums have been remastered at half speed. Expensive though

[Guest Jake Wifebeater]

You mean you've never bought a record thats been pressed in Italy or wherever to cut costs and has one of those huge holes in the middle that needs a thingamywotsit in the middle to play it (which always go missing) ?

Of course, the famous jukebox pressing! Got a fair few of those. If that's what he means, then that's easily solved. But if it's just a case of the hole being slightly too large but not big enough ( I know, vicar) for a jukebox press, then I don't know how to solve that one as it's never happened to me.

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

Of course, the famous jukebox pressing! Got a fair few of those. If that's what he means, then that's easily solved. But if it's just a case of the hole being slightly too large but not big enough ( I know, vicar) for a jukebox press, then I don't know how to solve that one as it's never happened to me.

It's happened many times to me. My solution, which works, is to get sticky tape (masking tape is best cos it's thicker) cut little rectangles that are thin enough to go through the hole, just fold them in half around the inner edge of the hole, and repeat until it fits.

[The Milner]

It's happened many times to me. My solution, which works, is to get sticky tape (masking tape is best cos it's thicker) cut little rectangles that are thin enough to go through the hole, just fold them in half around the inner edge of the hole, and repeat until it fits.

nice one ill give that a shot.

[Alan Cynic]

Could you not wrap a strip of paper round the record player spindle?

[Lemonade]

The penises. What's next. Cassette releases?

Seriously though, I'm all for vinyl but only if they release CD as well. Zombina & The Skeletones for example released 3 vinyl only LPs on very limited release, but then once they had all sold they put out a CD with all three of the LPs on it for a tenner, so I can have the cool vinyl to show off, but I can also listen to it in much much higher quality, and put it on my ipod. Everyone's a winner, especially the band who get me paying for the same songs twice.