The vinyl craze is relentless, and I certainly could never have predicted that when we tossed away our last record player, anyone but a few die-hards would be interested in those PVC discs again. Yet here we are.
We’ve covered some of them The main myths behind vinyl beforebut this is only the tip of the iceberg. Likewise the mythical supposed sound quality of vinyl audioyou will never hear the end of what people make up about this media.
Myth: Colored vinyl sounds worse than black vinyl
Paint without surprising me
Why is vinyl black? Today, all vinyl records are made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is transparent. Black carbon must be added to make the record black. The idea is that carbon has improved the durability of vinyl and is what people consider the standard for vinyl.
The 1970s and 1980s saw the introduction of colored vinyl, which had a reputation for sounding bad, and the lack of carbon and the addition of colored dyes were blamed. The thing is, these were novelty records at the time, and so there were other factors that affected the quality of these novelty records. The mastering, writing and printing of inscriptions was not the best, but people only paid attention to color.
today, According to Victrolathere’s no reason to expect a color record to sound worse than a black one. There are some exceptions, but pressing, mastering and recording quality are more important. Record manufacturers have simply perfected their techniques enough that color recordings sound as good as anything else. Especially in the case of expensive collector’s editions, the color notes are carefully produced to the highest standards.
Myth: Heavier (180g) vinyl sounds better
“Heavy metal” is just a metaphorical name
We consider heavier objects to be of better quality, and therefore there is an assumption that a 180 gram record will sound better than a 120 gram record. These notes “audiophile“it’s good, but a heavier record doesn’t sound better than a thinner, lighter one.
Audio information is in grooves and grooves are identical. Thick, heavy logs resist bending better than standard logs. That’s all.
Myth: Expensive turntables automatically sound better
Mo money and problems
Years ago, I spent a lot of time ghostwriting for a website (no longer online) that sold record players. This was before the current mainstream vinyl renaissance, so it was really for the vinyl freaks who had been around for years. You know, true believers.
So I’ve written about some really expensive record players. We’re talking thousands of dollars to buy a record player with a solid marble plinth and gold-plated bits for no apparent reason. Listening to your record on one of these should result in a best-case scenario for vinyl audio, but the truth is that if you put one of these expensive turntables into a bad sound chain, they’ll sound awful, whereas a carefully and properly built mid-range turntable can sound amazing.
There’s also a point of diminishing returns where you need those legendary audiophile “golden ears” to tell the difference between a $1,000 turntable and a $4,000 model.
Myth: record clamp or weight always improves sound
More weight!
At first we had heavier records. Now we have a heavy weight that you put on top of your records. The idea is that these heavy clamp weights can reduce vibration and keep slightly bent vinyl straighter so it plays properly.
If your notes are straight and your setup is solid, the clamp may not change anything.
Myth: The notes sound the same all the way through
They have their ups and downs
One thing that people rarely bring up when it comes to the quality of vinyl audio is that it is not consistent from start to finish. If you think about it, how could that be? The record’s outer grooves move faster under the stylus than the inner grooves, allowing for better detail and less distortion.
As the tonearm moves inward, the available space narrows and distortion increases. This is known as intrinsic groove distortion and is a format-specific limitation.
This can even affect where record producers decide to place tracks, with more dynamic tracks needing more detail at the edges where fidelity is better.
So if your vinyl sounds less crisp at the end than it did at the start, it’s not just your imagination!
