How do you determine which format to buy?

[wasp_f15ting]

Through the audio equipment thread and other online sources.. I convinced myself I needed a turntable.
I am glad I did now, but it has been a mixed bag as to what sounds good on it.

The first record I tried was Nirvana unplugged, my heart sank.. it was horrible it sounded light and horrible and just utterly joyless, when compared to a CD. Even the Spotify 320kbs version sounded better in my opinion. Secondly I went to listen to Portishead live in NYC, initially a similar story but then Beth's voice kicked in and all of the sudden the I felt chills down my spine. The CD version of the song has a sibilant undertone to her voice which the Vinyl was suppressing, and it sounded much better for it. The bass notes from the CD sounded muted though.

Anyway fast forward over 20 records I am really impressed by Black Sabbath (Self Titled), ELO, and all of the Jack White Albums, however the biggest shock has been Dead Kennedys. The California Uber Alles track sounds shirl and compressed on CD, the Vinyl version is so much nicer and cleaner.

So my question to the aficionados is how do you decide to buy one format over another. I am relatively new to this and finding there is so many variations of records out there. Initially I heard buy anything before the 80s on Vinyl then everything else on CD, but Jack White seems to be an exception here, and I am sure there are others.

Are there any resources which suggest one format over another?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Consumer reviews.

I'm not bothered about first pressings and am happy to buy represses, but I am a little weary of modern pressings. Basically there are only a few living people who can master records properly these days and since the vinyl revival they're really busy (repressing albums like rumours and dark side of the moon that were filling shelves of charity shops and skips only a few years ago). This means lots of records are just shipped out to czech pressing plants that use shitty digilathes and are mastered from digital files with the riaa curve applied.

Unfortunately there isn't much indication as to whether a release has gone down this route - lots of big artists can be guilty of it, I guess the music industry doesn't care and probably rightly assumes a lot of those records aren't going to be played because people are just going to use the download code that comes with them.

You can usually bank on smaller labels that didn't ever stop shipping vinyl though.

[wasp_f15ting]

What are these smaller labels seb? I know white has his own press any like that in Europe?

[Norton Canes]

'Buy'?

[Sebastian Cobb]

What are these smaller labels seb? I know white has his own press any like that in Europe?

Ah sorry - most small labels don't press their own stuff, they just seem to know the right people / routes to get something pressed well.

There's heaps...
Rough Trade
Bella Union
Domino
Chemikal Underground
etc etc

[Johnny Yesno]

Broadly, anything that was originally mastered for vinyl, I try to get on vinyl; anything that was mastered in the digital era I just get on CD. I don't think I've ever heard a transfer from analogue to digital or even a full remaster that wasn't a disappointment in the top end frequencies. And even taking into account that there is an ocean of badly executed transfers, I'm still not convinced by Nyquist.

That said, the early to late 80s is a tricky period for which to make this decision. It was a period of transition, with some but not all artists having two separate masters of their albums created. There are examples of muffled CD versions as well as oversaturated vinyl from that time, where there appears to have been only a single master.

There are some outstanding modern vinyl pressings, but my acquisition of these has been entirely down to luck. The Warp and Blast First record labels seem to know who to go to for vinyl masters and pressings, as does the artist Paddy Steer (he knows the Warp people).

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'd quite like to hear a vinyl version of Born In The USA. The CD version is utterly terrible with a big hole where the midrange should be. It was supposed to be a flagship for the digital process but it sounds utterly WANK.

Conversely the most analogue and natural sounding CD remains Neil Young's Harvest. It's so, I dunno, tapey.