Question regarding LPs

B

Blazingsonic

New Metal Member
Apr 28, 2013
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Hello there :)

I have have a question about the LP versions of Projector (original and reissuse), Character and the Gallery (not the picture disc one). How does the sound of the vinyl versions compare to the CD versions of these albums? Do they have a different Mastering (dynamic range for example)? I´m thinking about getting these and am eager to know how they sound like :)
 
I'm also curious about this, cause I'm going to buy my first vinyl soon.

One thing I've always wondered regarding vinyl sounding better is that most modern albums were recorded using digital equipment, not analog. Won't placing digital waveforms onto vinyl be pointless, negating the supposed "warmth" of vinyl?
 
Well, from a technical standpoint the 'analog warmth' could be in a couple of sources. There won't be any in the mixed product since everything is mixed digitally today (I am sure there are some obscure studios that don't, but still). There could be some when actually playing the vinyl either coming from the pressing of the vinyl due to the material or through the playing process since there is not a laser reading 0s and 1s, but a tiny needle reading the lines scratched into it. Technically the first kind (that won't be seen on the DT album) could be seen as a positive aspect since it is seen as the 'things' that get lost during the process of digitalization the cutting of analogous curves into digital edged curves. The second kind is the amount of imperfection that comes from the physical boundaries of perfectly reproducing sound.
The amount of difference between CD and Vinyl both depends on the resolution/quality of the recording and the resolution/quality of the medium (in a physical sense).

That said, I would love to hear more dynamic range on DT's albums. I sometimes miss that, especially after listening to classical music.
To the Vinyl listeners: Have the DT recordings been different on CD and Vinyl in that regard in the past?
 
Thanks for the great replies :)
I hope somebody can tell us something about the vinyl/ CD comparison.
But generally I would expect the DT LPs to be mastered differently/ better than the CDs as most of modern releases sound a lot better on vinyl. Just look at the new In Flames album "Sounds of a playground fading" which on CD has a DR of 4 (!) and on vinyl 11. That´s a huge difference.
 
Well, from a technical standpoint vinyl will always be better, as the recording is still analogue and not digital, it is made to vary in relation to the variation in air pressure of the original sound, whilst digital is the analogue sign compressed digitally. I recently managed to buy the LP version of Projector (I believe it's the 3rd rarest DT item in existence), but haven't been able to compare the sound with the original cd and the remaster, as I don't have a turntable (I'll buy one today, probably.) The speakers in my old place were sucky so the sound wasn't that great when playing vinyls, but I recall that the sound the original DD LP had, in comparison to the CD, was different and interesting, specially in regards to the electronics/keyboards, but it also had to do with the speakers I used at the moment. It, obviously, is the same with CDs/digital, if you've got sucky speakers it'll obviously sound worse (specially with the bass) than if you've got good ones.

And welcome to the forum, @blazingsonic; thanks for creating a cool thread! :)
 
Thanks for the warm welcome :)
Yeah most modern metal releases differ in sound quality when you compare CD and Vinyl as they are mastered differently. Especially in terms of dynamic range due to the Loudness War. CDs and digital downloads seem to suffer from this the most because they are the most mainstream formats. This is why I am really interested in how albums like Character sound on vinyl. I hope it isn´t as compressed as the CD version, although I like the sound of the album in general :)
 
I feel almost a bit embarrassed not to have read about the 'Loudness War' although it does answer my wonderings about why all the major label releases sound so dull compared to the minor label ones (this is a bit simplified, as is my not really existing definition of minor here, but mostly true for the CDs I own). In all the DT releases of the recent years I wondered why they don't put in more dynamics in the mixing process (or why they take them out).
Maybe one of the DT members can answer what DT's standpoint is in this or where in their production cycle 'problems' like this come in (Own choice, producer, label, etc.).
Niklas? Martin? Or is this interna that should be not discussed by band members in a public space such as the official forum?
 
Yeah I´m wondering that too. It would be really cool if one of the band members explained their standpoint on all of this. Although I have the feeling that many of the recent metal bands aren´t really involved in the mixing/ mastering process and therefor don´t actually know much about the Loudness War (DT might be an exception here). Normally they just say whether it sounds good to them or not.

I´m pretty sure DT vinyls sound a lot better/ less compressed than their CD equivalents. But honestly I wanna be sure about this before I buy one of them. It would be really frustrating to spend 20 € on a LP version that sounds the same as the CD.
 
Martin B. has his own recording studio so there should be some knowledge within the band and it was once said (don't remember who and when) that DT's contract gives them a relatively large amount of artistic freedom compared to other band signed with Century Media. But well, with them having two gigs the next two days we will probably have to wait for an answer for a couple of days.
 
Ah ok. Did you already send a message to some of the members about this?

I just tweeted Mikael. Maybe he will have an answer in the next couple of days :)
 
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