Are 320s really better quality than vinyl?

notez_ · Post by **notez_** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:53 pm

this is an ongoing war between me and some of the mp3 djs in my college...

...does their argument have any truth in it?

paulie · Post by **paulie** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:57 pm

JimmaJamJamie · Post by **JimmaJamJamie** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:00 pm

No, in my opinion Vinyl sounds nice and warm and Digital just sounds cold and lifeless!

dermike · Post by **dermike** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:03 pm

Not better sound quality, but maybe they're referring to the "life quality" of not having to carry loads of vinyl around..

notez_ · Post by **notez_** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:07 pm

dermike wrote:Not better sound quality, but maybe they're referring to the "life quality" of not having to carry loads of vinyl around..

it was sound quality..sorry forgot to add it, apprently the gadget show did a test and 320s came out top...
but it never sounds the same (maybe because a lot of the mp3s i hear arnt 320s) as a big shiny 12"

Pada · Post by **Pada** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:07 pm

No vinyl is much better quality.

even a 320 kbps mp3 has to be compressed (and a 320 is still a lots of compression) and therefore frequencies are lost. Theoretically a WAV straight from the DAW would be the same quality as vinyl, but vinyl guarantees a certain level of mastering and I personally prefer the sound of vinyl - although this is personal taste.

reptilian · Post by **reptilian** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:17 pm

a 320 mp3 sounds shitter than a cd

i can understand arguing about cd vs. vinyl but 320 vs. vinyl? no contest in a million years

manuel · Post by **manuel** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:19 pm

I have Serato but think Im gonna sell it soon anyway.

I cant even mix it up with my real vinyls becuase the mp3's are at no where near the same standard of vinyl.

Their quieter and just sound horrible compared to vinyl.

your mum · Post by **your mum** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:21 pm

apparently some tests found kids these days prefer the sound of shitty mp3s to lossless formats or whatever

kids these days are fucking idiots

i blame lack of quality childrens television

paulie · Post by **paulie** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:36 pm

your mum wrote:apparently some tests found kids these days prefer the sound of shitty mp3s to lossless formats or whatever

kids these days are fucking idiots

i blame lack of quality childrens television

Probably more to do with them being used to hearing music on phones etc. Bloody kids.

selrahc · Post by **selrahc** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:50 pm

somebody should sticky a locked thread that says "320 sounds worse than vinyl but is more convenient, it can still be dubstep if it doesn't wobble and no, you don't HAVE to like caspa".

time · Post by **time** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:12 pm

JimmaJamJamie wrote:No, in my opinion Vinyl sounds nice and warm and Digital just sounds cold and lifeless!

agree with this.

orson · Post by **orson** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:26 pm

never !!

dreadnort · Post by **dreadnort** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:54 pm

vinyl sounds much better to me
it has a nicer feel to the sound.

Be-1ne · Post by **Be-1ne** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:02 pm

Mp3's sound crappy because of the compression process removing parts of the tracks frequency spectrum it feels are not needed. The lower the quality mp3 the more resolution lost on the top end of the frequency spectrum. I think technically that wav format is better than vinyl because it can contain all of the spectral information within a piece of music, where as vinyl does not. if a vinyl record was pressed covering the whole frequency spectrum it would not play as it would knacker the head of the cutting lathe due to how frequency information is etched into vinyl.

funk ethics · Post by **funk ethics** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:17 pm

Pro MP3 suggestion in that article

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/ap ... ronicmusic

dr h · Post by **dr h** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:31 pm

Well, look at it this way. Most modern productions are created digitally (or at the very least, mixed down this way via protools or whatever) so pressing them onto vinyl isn't going to magically make them sound "better". If anything, vinyl colours the original sound, simply because of the high frequency rolloff. It gives the impression of sounding warmer, but you're still losing something!

A lot of MP3's are unmastered too. A good vinyl master (and by this, I mean 24bit/96khz digital mixdowns or something completely analogue) could sound better, but again, it all depends on the source. Aphex Twin's Analord 12s sound lovely. You can tell Rephlex put a lot of effort into getting them sounding right. Still, it's usually the exception. A lot of pressing plants actually press to vinyl from a digital master anyway (meaning they give this wav master to the label/artist to play out with), so again, it won't make vinyl magically superior. When you factor in shitty quality vinyl stock or poor manufacturers who get loads of dirt/dust in the grooves before they even hit retail, it's always gonna be difficult to get it right.

320kbps MP3's are worthless anyway. If you're going to use a lossy format like MP3, at least encode using LAME 3.97+ with the -V2/V0 preset. Lower filesizes and as transparent as MP3 can get to the original source. 320 is complete overkill and I really wish webstores/artists would learn about the technology before just declaring it the standard.

If you want the truest version of an artists work, then get whatever format they originally released it on. If it's vinyl only, then this will be the one. If its vinyl and mp3, then chances are they used the same master for both, so get the mp3 (or preferably the wav/flac)

aggle ale · Post by **aggle ale** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:48 pm

vinyls dead bruv its all mp3's

cosmic_surgeon · Post by **cosmic_surgeon** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:51 pm

Paulie wrote:Probably more to do with them being used to hearing music on phones etc.

Aaah, the life affirming sound of tinny "bassline" tracks complemented by a roaring bus engine.

steshine · Post by **steshine** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:17 pm

What a silly argument!
The only positive for mp3s is practicality.
Vinyl is just pure uncompressed audio, even though the sample rate of mp3s may be upto 44.1khz, making the frequencies you hear 22khz, you still loose the feel of the record from frequencies that get cut off. Then there is the bass, which no other medium can compete with against vinyl, just clear deep, crisp sound.
Vinyl will never die and MP3s are definitely not better, in any way.
F CD and mp3 djs.

Are 320s really better quality than vinyl?

Are 320s really better quality than vinyl?

Re: Are 320s really better quality than vinyl?

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