For this installment, I've decided to talk about formats, which does factor in the Loudness War somewhat, instead of talking more directly about the Loudness War. A lot of people like to pit CDs against vinyl, or CDs against MP3s/downloads. I'm not really wild about lossy downloads, and prefer just about any physical product over them, whether it's CD, vinyl, or even (*GASP*) cassette tapes. For some reason, downloading just doesn't appeal to me, I'm not sure why. I especially can't condone illegal downloading because I'm all for artists getting paid. The only time I'd really do it anymore is when I want something that is extremely rare and unlikely to get reissued, like Pantera's first four pre-major label albums.
Of the most popular physical formats, I like CD the most due to it's convenience, and since a well mastered CD can sound just as good, possibly even better, than vinyl. To get the best out of your vinyl, you need to give them a deep cleaning. With CDs, you just pop them in the player and enjoy! Unfortunately, it seems that the pooch has been screwed in the mastering department, with an assist sometimes coming from the mix. When I first learned about the Loudness War, a lot of people touted vinyl as being an alternative to ultra-compressed CDs. I soon learned though that vinyl has it's mastering issues as well. Vinyl is only as good as the source it is mastered from, and the plant that it's pressed at. Good vinyl editions are usually sourced either from analog master tapes or high resolution (or at least higher than 16/44.1) digital masters. Some vinyl are sourced from CDs, and in that case you're better off just buying the CD! One example: a record from The Who from Universal's "Back To Black" series? Bad*. The same Who record from Classic Records? Good! (*There are very few "Back To Black" series records I know of that aren't sourced from CDs, so I'm assuming that the ones from The Who are CD-sourced as well. But I could be wrong.) Before you get into vinyl, you really want to do some research. A lot of albums are licensed out to other companies, and you'll want to find out which companies are good, and which ones you'll want to avoid. You'll also want to find out about pressing plants.
Another reason that I currently prefer CDs over vinyl is that with my current living arrangement, I have nowhere to put my turntable. It's been boxed up ever since I moved out of my brother-in-law's place two years ago. That makes me a sad panda. Vinyl can be really neat sometimes. In 2008, I bought My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges" on vinyl since it conveniently came with the CD. The CD was definitely good for car listening. One of the tracks that was getting played on the radio was "I'm Amazed", which never really impressed me. But there was something about listening to that song on vinyl that made it downright magical. Maybe it was the fact that I was sitting down and listening to it, letting it soak in, rather than hearing it on the go. The art of just listening to music is one I hope to rediscover someday, but that's another story for another day.
Cassette tapes aren't really a good format. They're probably better used to make copies of your vinyl or CDs than they are in prerecorded form, but I think I'd still rather listen to a prerecorded tape than to lossy downloads. Cassette copies of other cassettes? UGH! I seriously can't stand those.
My next installment will probably be about mastering and remasters.
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