What was the last CD you bought


Been after this for a while, the joy of “saved searches” on that well known auction site.

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By definition Red Book CD is 16 bits. Each bit represents 6.02dB so that’s 96dB. Not 120dB.

Also humans can hear 20dB into (below) the noisefloor and still discern discrete tones, like harmonics of instruments or decaying notes so the fact that vinyl often sounds better might not be completeley a subjective evaluation.

That said CD can sound better than a vinyl. The latter rely greatly on a condition, engineering and manufacturing process of the media themselves. Tho CD also not completely immune from it either.

The 96dB ignores the effect of dither which extends the potential dynamic range to 120db. In either case 96dB is still a long way ahead of the 75-80dB maximum from vinyl. The ability of human hearing applies to both CD and vinyl, so the potential 20db additional is the same in either case when dither is used (as is normally the case).

The technical advantage is firmly with digital, subjective quality is, well, subjective!

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I understand the dynamic limitation of vinyl. but that does not mean that resolution gets lost.
CD chops off the frequency bandwidth at the top at 20khz (I guess this is why a high resolution DSD might sounds better than a CD )
For vinyl, they compress and low level information is amplified before the cutting process to fall into the 80db range.
I think that the biggest achilles heel for CD is a possible timing error and necessary filtering process which can trigger our brain to notice some unnatural-ness.

But you are right when it comes to hifi, what sounds good is subjective. ( audiophiles might aruge with this however ) :grin:

Anyway,what was the last CD anyone bought?

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Wow…only recently discovered this…with amazing versions of Walk On By and


By the Time I Get to Phoenix

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Something different.

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I may have complained that Oxfam seem to be getting ‘more’ expensive but others just want to get rid of cds as they really dont see people buying them at all. The woman at the till patiently explained they were 50p each including doubles and refused to take more. A donation was made elsewhere in the shop as even I couldn’t pay that for all of these without feeling guilty!

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Scott LaFaro was a member of the legendary Bill Evans Trio and one of the most accomplished bass players in jazz history. Sadly he died early in his life, only some days after this picture was taken during a session of the trio in a car accident.

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Strictly this isn’t true. So long as the recording is analogue, being a continuous variable, the resolution is based on the number of sample points and is infinite. Digital is a discrete variable and samples according to bit depth; 16-bit CD is 65536 values and 24-bit is 16777217 values etc.
This doesn’t factor in dynamic range where digital outperforms analogue because of its lower noise floor.

The resolution of analogue tapes is limited by the size of the magnetic domains in the crystal structure and the hysteresis of the magnetic material, vinyl is limited by the size of the vinyl acetate molecules (which are very large polymers). In both cases this provides a significant limit to the resolution.

Analogue audio signals may be near infinite resolution when conveyed as an electrical signal, but magnetic and particularly mechanical media impose physical limits to the resolution.

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So does this been that I should use metal TDK tapes? :wink:

You should use tapes that best match the tape recorders capabilities; there is no single answer.
This is particularly true for recording, where flux density, bias properties, tape speed, head geometry, head material & required lifespan also become factors.

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Markdowns in the local charity shop, 50p a pop. A fine romance looks like fun, and Verve are invariably good.

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Double album is great introduction to virtuoso guitar player. Listen to Angie/Anji; better imo than Paul Simon’s version on Simon and Garfunkel’s first album. Just makes me want to pick up the guitar. The rest makes me reach for the whisky bottle. Enjoy!

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Well said, and of course Paul Simon certainly heard Anji gigging in the UK folk clubs circa 1965 being very aware of both Bert and Davy Graham the song’s author. He also took Martin Carthy’s arrangement of traditional song Scarborough Fair and had a worldwide hit with it, all part of the well respected “folk process of course”.

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Reminds me of my only casual brush with stardom. PS sat on a bar stool next to me at a folk club near Ware in Hertfordshire. We were both a lot younger than we are now.

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This evening I am enjoying the company of Joan.

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I’m a bit late to the party with this one, I suppose, but I’ve been listening to it a fair bit on Spotify, and as Amazon are offering it for under £15, I thought I might as well buy it.

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Got this from a charity shop yesterday. I quite like Kirsty but I could NOT resist the title. One of the best titles I have seen - it made me laugh out loud in the shop. Which got me several strange looks.

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