Binaural: Official Album Thread

[Strat]

NEED THIS ONE ON VINYL FUCKERS, RELEASE IT.

It's overrated on vinyl. CD sounds exactly the same.

Have you tried on vinyl with headphones?

yup

well, there are definitely layers on the vinyl i don't hear on the CD. A CD can't sound exactly the same as a vinyl, its impossible.

What he means is that, as far as anyone is aware, every Pearl Jam LP is sourced from the exact same digital master as the CD.

There's no extra musical information magically stored in the vinyl, other than the inherent character and distortions of vinyl itself.

Correct. Because real vinyl is cut from the original analog tapes, or a flat hi-res file. Pearl Jam's albums have already been squeezed out like digital sausage once they reach the vinyl stage. Anyone can counterfeit a Pearl Jam LP if they have the ability. You just cut the vinyl straight from the CD.

I have to say, when I first learned this, several years ago, it was the first time I was disappointed in the band.

For all their bluster you would think this would be a particular sticking point for them.

I think (from memory) Jack White does the exact same thing.

I recall a fan criticising him online for it and he responded by claiming he didn't even understand the difference; said it sounded fine to him, so who cares?

This I dont want to believe.

[Birds in Hell]

NEED THIS ONE ON VINYL FUCKERS, RELEASE IT.

It's overrated on vinyl. CD sounds exactly the same.

Have you tried on vinyl with headphones?

yup

well, there are definitely layers on the vinyl i don't hear on the CD. A CD can't sound exactly the same as a vinyl, its impossible.

What he means is that, as far as anyone is aware, every Pearl Jam LP is sourced from the exact same digital master as the CD.

There's no extra musical information magically stored in the vinyl, other than the inherent character and distortions of vinyl itself.

Correct. Because real vinyl is cut from the original analog tapes, or a flat hi-res file. Pearl Jam's albums have already been squeezed out like digital sausage once they reach the vinyl stage. Anyone can counterfeit a Pearl Jam LP if they have the ability. You just cut the vinyl straight from the CD.

I have to say, when I first learned this, several years ago, it was the first time I was disappointed in the band.

For all their bluster you would think this would be a particular sticking point for them.

I think (from memory) Jack White does the exact same thing.

I recall a fan criticising him online for it and he responded by claiming he didn't even understand the difference; said it sounded fine to him, so who cares?

This I dont want to believe.

“i can tell that my vinyl is from a digital source.”

no you can’t. i’ve a/b’d them myself along with engineers and mastering professionals and
you’d have to be a scientist to tell the difference. you only think that because of some outside
info.

Here's the whole thing, it's a really great read (if you're interested in these things.)

http://adventuresinmastering.wordpress. ... ack-white/

[Strat]

Ill read it but that is a very different quote than what you paraphrased.

[Birds in Hell]

Ill read it but that is a very different quote than what you paraphrased.

I wouldn't call it very different, it's a snarky (and ill-informed) response that manages to both miss the point of why people prefer vinyl and insult anyone who actually understands (even partially) how sound reproduction works.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

As I said, there's nothing wrong with cutting an LP from a flat hi-res digital file. Jack White is correct in the basic jist of what he says. The difference is that Pearl Jam uses digital sources that have already been mastered/butchered for CD production. Already mastered files. That's not how vinyl is supposed to be cut. But the fans are too stupid to know the difference anyway. Viva la vinyl!

[Birds in Hell]

As I said, there's nothing wrong with cutting an LP from a flat hi-res digital file. Jack White is correct in the basic jist of what he says. The difference is that Pearl Jam uses digital sources that have already been mastered/butchered for CD production. Already mastered files. That's not how vinyl is supposed to be cut. But the fans are too stupid to know the difference anyway. Viva la vinyl!

Indeed.

I think Jack White might have, at least in some cases, been doing the same thing - which was why people had been hassling him about it, since he's supposedly the guy who cares so much about analog warmth.

Apparently the new Soundgarden LP is more dynamic than the CD, so hey, at least someone gets it. I presume it was cut from the 24-bit digital files, prior to it being smashed for the 16-bit CD mastering.

[epilogue]

Ill read it but that is a very different quote than what you paraphrased.

I wouldn't call it very different, it's a snarky (and ill-informed) response that manages to both miss the point of why people prefer vinyl and insult anyone who actually understands (even partially) how sound reproduction works.

I don't know, man. I think people love hating Jack White. To me, the tone of the person "responding/breaking down what Jack's saying" sounds a whole lot more snarky. I think it's pretty cool that Jack took the time to even respond with that much detail.

Is he Ill-informed? Maybe. I have no way of knowing. But even Wendy Carlos's Twin said "Jack White is correct in the basic jist of what he says." And you seem to be agreeing. So how ill-informed is it? Like I said, I have no idea. I don't know anything about all this stuff. But I do think it's fascinating.

[Strat]

People love hate jacking white and Spenno usually leads that charge here....

[BurtReynolds]

i hatejack white people all the time.

[Strat]

who's jealous who's jealous who's jealous of who?

[pnjguy]

NEED THIS ONE ON VINYL FUCKERS, RELEASE IT.

It's overrated on vinyl. CD sounds exactly the same.

Have you tried on vinyl with headphones?

yup

well, there are definitely layers on the vinyl i don't hear on the CD. A CD can't sound exactly the same as a vinyl, its impossible.

What he means is that, as far as anyone is aware, every Pearl Jam LP is sourced from the exact same digital master as the CD.

There's no extra musical information magically stored in the vinyl, other than the inherent character and distortions of vinyl itself.

Correct. Because real vinyl is cut from the original analog tapes, or a flat hi-res file. Pearl Jam's albums have already been squeezed out like digital sausage once they reach the vinyl stage. Anyone can counterfeit a Pearl Jam LP if they have the ability. You just cut the vinyl straight from the CD.

If that's the case then that's real disappointing.

[Norah]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

[epilogue]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Tell me more.

[Birds in Hell]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Shame about the music, though.

(If I get time later, I'll respond with some more detail to Joey and Strat's posts above.)

[Norah]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Tell me more.

http://www.arcadefire.com/vinyl/

[Norah]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Shame about the music, though.

You shut your whore mouth.

[Jorge]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Shame about the music, though.

Jesus, spenno.

[Birds in Hell]

You know who presses really good vinyl? Arcade Fire.

Shame about the music, though.

Jesus, spenno.

They're AWFUL.

[Strat]

Spenno.

[Norah]

They're the modern Fleetwood Mac. And I mean that as a compliment.