"RJH" wrote in message
...
As an aside, I've always wondered about people who say they prefer vinyl
to CD. Do they prefer the imperfections and signal processing that vinyl
introduces, I wonder? Do they find a live performance (mic, amplifier,
speakers) as bad as a CD, or do they find that the digitisation modifies
the signal - can they distinguish live electronic (all analogue) from CD?


I don't think there's a single reason. Young folk, I suspect, like the
physical medium that's completely lost on mp3, and IMO largely absent on
CD. They like the tactile aspect, too. I don't think sound quality as such
figures to much of an extent - IME they don't have playback systems
capable of significant differentiation.

I can understand the preference for a physical, tangible copy of the
recording, though that's something which applies equally to records and CD
(and not to downloads).

I'm talking about audiophiles who prefer the *sound* of vinyl over CD. Now
they are perfectly entitled to, but I'm intrigued to work out what it is
that they prefer - they say that sound of CDs is cold and clinical, and too
perfect. Fine. But they make it sound as if the CD process *introduces*
something that the unrecorded electronic sound doesn't have.

Does anyone who whether anyone has carried out any trials of a live
performance (of whatever genre), reproduced to the test subjects:

1. by microphone, amplifier and loudspeaker

2. an identical sound mix by microphone, amplifier, CD mastering, CD
playback, amplifier, loudspeaker

to see whether they prefer one over the other. If they can't reliably
distinguish then all they are saying is that they prefer the imperfections
and modifications necessary to record on vinyl.