Wintersun's Groundhog's Day Thread

[TedEH]

I didn't know there even were disc drives that don't read CD's

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think CD vs. bluray lazers are a bit different? So in order to read both, you need two distinct lazers. I think. I could be very wrong.

 

[p0ke]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think CD vs. bluray lazers are a bit different? So in order to read both, you need two distinct lazers. I think. I could be very wrong.

I guess, yeah. I just never thought about it. The name literally says it, the actual color of the lazer is different.
So I guess Sony's consoles don't play DVD's either since PS4? That could theoretically suck (personally I don't care, I just download whatever isn't available to stream...)

According to Wikipedia Xboxes still read CD's though, maybe it's a remnant of the xbox360 using Dual Layer DVD's when the ps3 already switched to bluray...

 

[TedEH]

Hm... no, supposedly, PS4s also play DVDs. There's a good chance I'm just wrong on this one.

 

[couverdure]

Hm... no, supposedly, PS4s also play DVDs. There's a good chance I'm just wrong on this one.

The PS4/PS5 can play DVD. I remember pulling out my copy of Muse's Live at Rome Olympic Stadium and the DVD worked on my PS5 whereas the CD couldn't be recognized.

 

[works0fheart]

Ok, like this?

View attachment 148695
View attachment 148696

Much better.

The PS4/PS5 can play DVD. I remember pulling out my copy of Muse's Live at Rome Olympic Stadium and the DVD worked on my PS5 whereas the CD couldn't be recognized.

I had this issue with my PS5 the other night with some of my old concert DVDs actually. It kept telling me the region code was incorrect and when I checked the DVD cases it was region code 0 (works in all regions) but for some reason this meant not on my ps5

 

[Ataraxia2320]

On average, a low-end turntable will sound better than a low-end CD player of the same price. This is because one technology is older, simpler and cheaper to manufacture.
However, the best CD player is superior to the best turntable. This is because one is more advanced technology than the other.
Most people own low-end audio equipment, so that's what most opinions are formed around.
The influence of this on the debate could be heightened by the fact that a lot of people (at least from my perception) prioritise upgrading speakers over turntables / CD players / amps and will use the same speakers for both formats. Assuming someone selects speakers to achieve a balanced sound with their turntable, but runs a CD player through the same speakers as an afterthought, the speakers will be brighter than is optimal for that CD player. Guitar players encounter the same issue if they select bright pickups to compliment a dark amp, but then plug that same guitar into a bright amp - it sounds harsh / sterile / thin / stiff / ice-picky.

Some modern vinyl is more compressed than the same music in CD format, so is objectively inferior.
There was a similar issue with music that predated CDs being re-released in CD format without being suitably remastered, so the end result was invariably worse than the original vinyl version. This will have heavily influenced many people's opinion on the CD vs. vinyl debate.

A cheapo cd player will 2000% sound better than a cheapo vinyl player. It's digital audio so as long as the cd plays back, the main limiting factor is the dac amp and speakers. Pretty much all dacs made in the last 30 years sound great, and amp and speakers are going to be the same limiting factor for a vinyl player. You have way more variables when it comes to a vinyl player, such as needle quality, drive train uniformity etc.

As for speakers being brighter than what is optimal for a cd player - unless you get a pair of speakers that are terribly balanced this wont be a thing.

Music mastered for vinyl can have less dynamic range because the medium is not as good with dealing with extreme low end due to the physical nature of analog audio. It also has a lower maximum dynaic range of 60db in comparison to CD's which is something like 95db - not that this matters because modern music doesnt tend to need the extremes anyway.

Vinyl sounds good, its tangiable, big album art and promotes active listening. I love it but it's never going to be the "optimal" way to listen to anything in terms of raw sound quality.

 

[TedEH]

I found it kinda shocking when cassette tapes started making a comeback. I remember using those out of necessity. They sucked. They still suck. Physical media is great just to collect things, but for the actual listening process, the convenience of digital beats everything by miles.

 

[nightsprinter]

I drove so many shitty cars mixed in with the cool ones I had that cassettes never really left my life. Up until 2019, I don't think I was ever without a vehicle equipped with a cassette deck.

I wound up collecting some gems on cassette. Amon Amarth, Opeth, Suffocation, X Japan, etc. Had quite the decent selection in the car for awhile lol

 

[GunpointMetal]

The extra "warmth and depth" of vinyl is literally noise.

 

[TedEH]

The extra "warmth and depth" of vinyl is literally noise.

I'd be willing to bet that it's more the master process. If you have less total range to work with, you're less likely to master "loudly", Loud mastering tends to sound thinner because low frequency content eats headroom faster. That's my best guess.

 

[Ataraxia2320]

I'd be willing to bet that it's more the master process. If you have less total range to work with, you're less likely to master "loudly", Loud mastering tends to sound thinner because low frequency content eats headroom faster. That's my best guess.

The simplified answer is that its a rolled off top end and higher harmonic distortion.

Note - disortion does not necesarily mean bad. Gentle saturation sounds pleasant.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

I guess, yeah. I just never thought about it. The name literally says it, the actual color of the lazer is different.
So I guess Sony's consoles don't play DVD's either since PS4? That could theoretically suck (personally I don't care, I just download whatever isn't available to stream...)

According to Wikipedia Xboxes still read CD's though, maybe it's a remnant of the xbox360 using Dual Layer DVD's when the ps3 already switched to bluray...

Blue rays can read DVDs and CDs. Anyone who says otherwise is talking crap.

 

[Rubbishplayer]

A cheapo cd player will 2000% sound better than a cheapo vinyl player. It's digital audio so as long as the cd plays back, the main limiting factor is the dac amp and speakers. Pretty much all dacs made in the last 30 years sound great, and amp and speakers are going to be the same limiting factor for a vinyl player. You have way more variables when it comes to a vinyl player, such as needle quality, drive train uniformity etc.

As for speakers being brighter than what is optimal for a cd player - unless you get a pair of speakers that are terribly balanced this wont be a thing.

Music mastered for vinyl can have less dynamic range because the medium is not as good with dealing with extreme low end due to the physical nature of analog audio. It also has a lower maximum dynaic range of 60db in comparison to CD's which is something like 95db - not that this matters because modern music doesnt tend to need the extremes anyway.

Vinyl sounds good, its tangiable, big album art and promotes active listening. I love it but it's never going to be the "optimal" way to listen to anything in terms of raw sound quality.

I used to have a true hi-fi set-up (Linn Sondek, NAD amp, NAD CD player, Rogers speakers) and, to be frank, while CDs had less noise, I preferred vinyl on the Linn. I tested this with back-to-back tests on an acoustic recording (Guitarras by Strunz & Farah). While some would say that vinyl's "warmth" is a form of distortion, it is equally true that early 16-bit/44khz CD suffered from a different form of distortion (aliasing) where at the very highest frequencies, there were insufficient samples per wave to render them perfectly accurately.

Of course, they're all gone now. The value proposition of pure digital music on a mobile platform, first successfully delivered through the iPod, made all of the above academic.

 

[mastapimp]

Blue rays can read DVDs and CDs. Anyone who says otherwise is talking crap.

It's because they include diodes for the different wavelengths used for each media. In the case of my old Sony blu-ray player, the 405nm diode went bad so it could only read CD/DVD using the other diodes. I imagine it's pretty cheap to include the extra elements to make all 3 forms work on the same player.