Dynamic Range Vinyl Vs Cd

In practical terms this means that cds have more than 10 times the dynamic range of lps.

Dynamic range vinyl vs cd.

Consumer analog cassette tapes have a dynamic range of 60 to 70 db. It s just designed to. When i cut a master for vinyl and a cd master from the same digital master tape they sounded pretty much the same except for the noise floor. Vinyl records typically yield 55 65 db.

Lp vs digital is a religious war that has been played out by various audiophiles ever since the cd format was introduced in the early 1980s. The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an lp can play is about 70 decibels db. Dust particles in the grooves of an lp cause crackles and ticks that are present and audible no matter how well you clean the record. Cds can handle over 90 db.

70ish db than analog analog recordings sometimes have a higher effective dynamic range because their mixes weren t made with boosting loudness as an end goal. Yes vinyl was noisier. Vinyl s dynamic range is dependant on frequency because vinyl doesn t have a flat maximum output curve. Lp s difference between maximum to average is around 11 56db compared against the cd recording at 11 11db and even the digital rip at 11 35db.

The dynamic range of a direct cut vinyl record may surpass 70 db. Here lp actually wins over cd. 16 bit cd digital audio has a technical dynamic range of 96 db though many argue the perceived range is higher when taking dithering into account. Pcm of any flavor has a flat response to fs.

The dynamic range of vinyl when evaluated as the ratio of a peak sinusoidal amplitude to the peak noise density at that sine wave frequency is somewhere around 80 db. Even though digital music has a higher theoretical dynamic range 96db vs. Cds appear to sound harsh unlistenable lacking in dynamics plus a myriad of other faults. The second one was recorded completely digitally with 90db of dynamic range to work with and it has almost no dynamic variation.

The first one was recorded when the dynamic range of tape and vinyl was fairly limited yet the recording retains plenty of dynamic shading and expression. With the above in mind i began exploring why some vinyl records have greater dynamic range rightly concluding that mastering lay at the heart of the issue. Vinyl has greater resolution than cd because its dynamic range is higher than for cd at the most audible frequencies. Vinyl vs cd fidelity.

Vinylphiles claim that cds do not sound as good as lps period. Narrow dynamic range sounds very odd to the ear when sounds that are supposed to be loud are quiet and so on.