Dynamic Range Vinyl Better Than Cd

Here are the reasons why.

Dynamic range vinyl better than cd.

Even though digital music has a higher theoretical dynamic range 96db vs. Vinyl has greater resolution than cd because its dynamic range is higher than for cd at the most audible frequencies. The dynamic range of a direct cut vinyl record may surpass 70 db. The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an.

However by any measurable criterion cds are superior to lps. The dynamic range of digital audio systems can exceed that of analog audio systems. The dynamic range of vinyl when evaluated as the ratio of a peak sinusoidal amplitude to the peak noise density at that sine wave frequency is somewhere around 80 db. Consumer analog cassette tapes have a dynamic range of 60 to 70 db.

With the above in mind i began exploring why some vinyl records have greater dynamic range rightly concluding that mastering lay at the heart of the issue. 70ish db than analog analog recordings sometimes have a higher effective dynamic range because their mixes weren t made with boosting loudness as an end goal. Analog fm broadcasts rarely have a dynamic range exceeding 50 db. And so are mp3 and aac files with bit rates above 300k which in most cases are indistinguishable from cds.

Narrow dynamic range sounds very odd to the ear when sounds that are supposed to be loud are quiet and so on. Add to that the 96db dynamic range and the peak output level from your speakers would need to be 136db to experience the full dynamic range from a cd. Vinyl records typically yield 55 65 db. A sound level of 136db is jet engine loud.