Fleetwood Mac on Vinyl

[JamieSPC]

Hey fellow fans...

I recently spoke to a former producer who adamantly holds on to his vinyl records and turntable. He said anything produced before 1985 was basically mixed with vinyl in mind, and that CDs of those albums (that have never been remastered) don't sound near as good as the records. The music was intended for vinyl and that's how it should be listened to.

So, naturally, I buy a turntable from eBay and start looking for FM on vinyl. I haven't received my turntable yet, but I've picked up several albums (the obvious White Album, Rumours, Tusk... plus Buckingham Nicks... along with Bare Trees and a few other pre-BN).

I wonder, have any of you ever experienced what this producer guy is talking about? I'm not so young that I don't remember vinyl... I had a huge record collection as a kid that has mostly been sold off in parents' yard sales and the like. I remember listening to my uncle's copy of Rumours when my grandmother was babysitting me. But I also remember what a revelation CD audio was when I first heard it (my first CD was the green Greatest Hits album).

What do you guys think? Any credence to this?

~Jamie

[chiliD]

Yes, what the guy said is absolutely true...especially since most of the first go around of CDs were just the LP mixes. And, all the imperfections that would be lost by hearing it on vinyl are magnified to an excruciatingly annoying level on CD. Once record companies started going back to remix/remaster/reEQ albums from scratch, that's when the CDs started sounding better.

One case in point, Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue album...when the engineer mixed the album for CD, he mistakenly thought the ride cymbal was tape hiss and removed it from the mix. Then to correct the problem, they added the tape hiss back in. It took CBS/Sony three attempts (they've re-released it on CD three different times!) to get this album to sound correctly on CD.

There'll always be those who prefer the analog sound of LPs over the digital sound of CDs. Just like guitarists who prefer the ancient technology of vacuum tube circuitry in their amplifiers over the "solid-state" or "modeling" circuits of modern amplification.

[DownOnRodeo]

Another parallel is the mp3 v CD audio (wavefile) debate. As it is, according to the literature I've read and a big survey that was done by one of the audio magazines, people can not really tell which is which in the end, unless you are a professional audiotechincal expert, or a pedant ;)
I actually err in favour of CDs (even of something like Rumours) - BUT that is probably becuase if I listen on CD it's with my headphones and soundcard, and if it's LP it's on an old stereo/dodgy speakers. I haven't seen a PC with a turntable on top yet ;)

[JamieSPC]

Yes, what the guy said is absolutely true...especially since most of the first go around of CDs were just the LP mixes.

And the Mac recordings are, for the most part, still in their first go-round. Some of the tracks on "Very Best Of" and the green GH disc sound much fuller and more "satisfying" than the ones on the regular album CDs. But I'm anxious to hear the LP mixes and get an idea of what my producer friend is talking about.

My band is currently working on a self-released debut, doing all the work digitally. Funny how ProTools makes even an acoustic guitar sound like a machine. We're seriously considering doing some of the cuts analog.

~Jamie