Yes, but it would depend on the mastering as well. You shouldn’t just convert a cd master to be cut onto vinyl, it should be remastered first, so it’s not something that should be an issue. That being said, newer records do this with only the necessary mastering done to insure it actually works, but not sounds good lol (most of the time, there are still respectable vinyl releases)
but continuing from my last question, so basically the way to go is legally with FLAC? in case they try to upscale an MP3 which wouldn’t be good?
and concerning on whether or not the player can handle FLAC quality or not, how can you tell? is it just safer to use foobar since it’s so popular or how could I tell if the windows default music player can
I mean I would suggest getting them from a legal source or getting a lossless streaming plan, or also you can get cd’s pretty cheap and rip those yourself.
Regarding the player if you are using windows, foobar 2k stands out as a really solid option I hear people talk about Audirvana, Jriver, Jplay, MusicBee, MediaMonkey, and even stuff like VLC
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isn’t lossless streaming kinda pointless due to the limitations of the streaming concept?
If you are actually streaming lossless files no, as it’s still lossless music. The only downside is if you have limited music or really like to keep everything on a physical drive. But it is much cheaper in the long run imo
Mastering on vinyl is basically manipulating the audio so that it falls within the capabilities of the medium.
An example would be that too much low frequencies have wide grooves which decreases the playtime, while too many high frequencies will cause distortion and damage to the groove.
The end result is a rich, warm, and good dynamic range album
Thanks for sharing this. I remember taking it over a year ago and I got 3 out of 6, with a ASUS STX card and my HD58X. Today with a about $1000 of audio gear “listening” to it I got 4 out of 6.
Both then and now I can clearly tell the difference between 128 and the others. So I never picked that. Between 320 and Lossless it was a lot tighter of a choice although some of the clips were much easier to pick out than others.
None of you guys have mentioned Tidal $9.99 a month with a student discount but their Masters collection, that I can clearly hear an massive improvement in audio over 320.
I understand that, but don’t see why that inherently makes it better then a digital master of the same quality
I never said that.
If a digital master is done well, you will most likely not hear the difference between them. In fact the vinyl may sound worse.
All the albums I have in vinyl were originally released between the 50s to 80s. Remastered from either Analogue Productions or MFSL. I can tell you right now that every single one of them sound so much better than any digital master I have heard.
If you have a good source for illegal FLACs it shouldn’t be an issue. I like to support the artists I like so I buy their albums.
Concerning whether or not a device is capable of playing FLAC is a non issue. FLAC is the gold standard for compressed lossless codecs, and is supported on nearly every device.
(Android added FLAC support all the way back in v3.1)
My bad then, I must have misunderstood.
I was considering getting into vinyl, but I actually think I might get into reel to reel instead, and see if I can get my hands on some good tapes
my only issue with buying albums to support artists is that I don’t usually like all the songs in an album, if it’s not orchestra
That, sir, is some next level shit.
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I just remember some of my family with some pretty nice tape setups and it would be nice to use them again
The best way to support artists you like is to go and see them live in concert wherever you can. That’s how they make the overwhelming majority of their income.
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What actual audio playback program do you recommend for Mac? I see foobar does have a Mac version but idk if it’s the best choice for an apple machine
I used iTunes for a long time (now just called Music) but it doesn’t support FLAC (you can use ALAC, which is Apple’s lossless codec).
I am now using Roon which I would highly recommend if it weren’t for the price. It’s fantastic, but good lords, it’s expensive.
Ah yes roon, something excellent that I could never really recommend to anyone lol (anyone sane and normal that is)
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Here’s the skinny on Mac audio for those in the Windows universe. It’s a hand-holdy sort of thing. It’s designed to provide a seamless experience for the non-tech user with very-good-but-not-necessarily-great sound quality.
For hardware, typically, you can use an external DAC or amp simply by plugging it into the appropriate headphone or USB port or adapter — no driver install hassles. That’s the upside.
For software, it expects you to use iTunes software and play mp3 or aac/m4a files in it. It ignores audio formats like 16/44 and 24/96 and simply converts everything to 16/44 on the fly. If you want to actually play back a non-16/44 file in its correct resolution (up to PCM 24/96 only) in iTunes you have to use an applet called Audio MIDI Setup to manually switch from one format to the next.
ITunes has no provision for DSD or for many common file formats like FLAC. It does play WAV and an Apple uncompressed lossless format called AIFF. There is a lossless compressed format it will recognize called ALAC. You can play your FLAC files by converting them from FLAC to ALAC.
There are multiple Mac-only audio alternatives to iTunes that I never heard of until I did a search to see what’s out there. There is an apparently well-regard minimalist app called BitPerfect that provides the seamless format-switching that iTunes lacks, but BitPerfect uses iTunes as the file player, so it doesn’t help with playing FLAC.
Audirvana, JRiver and Roon have MacOS versions.