there are lots of technical, physical and emotional reasons why people prefer vinyl; best left at a good recommendation for gear, methinks, rather than bringing out the "fact guns" ("vinyl can't reproduce highs so accurately, so it sounds warmer!") and the placebo argument ("it sounds good because you're convinced it does!").

really, really hoping they do things right with Ocean Machine and Terria... but looking at how CM did City, i am doubting we will get any particularly well-done vinyl releases. i must say, though, the review of Infinity is making it seem like the clear winner so far.

please post pictures of the vinyls!

The whole vinyl sounds better than a cd argument is a hoax. If I buy vinyl then it's only for the huge artwork.

You need to listen to a nicely mastered record on a good system, preferably a Technics 1200 with a Shure White Label stylus. Slays a CD, no competition.

Don't take my word for it either. Do the AB test with that gear and tell me I'm wrong.

the Technics 1200 is hardly king shit of fuck mountain. It's good, but not the best.

What would you recommend?

Any news at all on the Ocean Machine release?

I've ordered some of the other vinyls, I'll throw in my 2 cents worth once I get them and have had a chance to listen. I'm well acquainted with the "cd to vinyl transfer trend" and although I love vinyl, if they really don't sound any better/different than the CD I am objective enough to say so. The difference between one of my original Judas Priest LPs versus the CD is significant and apparent to even the most apathetic listener; OTOH, the only difference between my Type O Negative "October Rust" LP and CD is the presence of surface/tracking noise.

I'm pretty sure that we're dealing with standard digital masters here, they may or may not necessarily be direct cd-to-vinyl transfers but if the source is 16bit/44k then it's really not going to be any better... and these days with everyone doing their recording with Protools and its ilk, I suspect most music nowadays is being recorded in 16/44 anyway. Only Devin knows if he records his tracks at 16/44 or at a higher bitrate, maybe he will be kind enough to enlighten us... but I'm betting that he goes with the default 16/44k. Really, in order to get vinyl that is of full quality and lives up to its potential, you have to have an artist who himself loves vinyl and records and mixes with vinyl in mind, and the Dev has already gone on record saying that it's not something he's really given any thought to.

Most music nowadays is recorded in 24bit 48kHz or 24bit 96kHz, some at 192khz and others still on tape

Digital masters can be transferred beautifully to vinyl if the original mix-downs are provided. It's only when they're taking the literal finished master for CD that the bets are off. I mean I think Meshuggah are the greatest band in the world but their records don't sound very good because it appears that Nuclear Blast (or Night of the Vinyl Dead, as it were) just had them cut from the CD masters.

Contrast this with Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. That one was definitely recorded at 16bit 44kHz so primitive by today's standards but that triple LP is one of the greatest sounding releases in history. Absolutely awe-inspiring depth and clarity, and such a perfect record to demonstrate those qualities!

Contrast this with Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. That one was definitely recorded at 16bit 44kHz so primitive by today's standards but that triple LP is one of the greatest sounding releases in history. Absolutely awe-inspiring depth and clarity, and such a perfect record to demonstrate those qualities!

i'm afraid exactly the opposite is true. Trent Reznor has been recording at high, high bitrates for decades — see the Ghosts I-IV 24/96 Blu-ray disc release for solid proof, but since i've got a 24/96 rip of The Fragile vinyl that visibly spikes far above the frequency storing capability of 44.1 kHz, you're just way off the mark on this one. (with that said, his How to Destroy Angels project recorded all their wonderful analog synth stuff in 48kHz — pitiful!) however, the masters are still blasted volumewise, so you get squaretop transients even on a format that can't reproduce that.

and i highly, highly doubt Dev records at anything under 24/96 (he records with microphones, so it's just a good idea regardless of who records with them), so they really should have pushed to get the high-quality mixdowns from him rather than using the CD master.

i emailed Prophecy Records about the Green Carnation 6LP box that came out several years ago, and the guy blatantly admitted to the fact that two of the three albums were sourced from the studio (re: CD, same thing to him) master. it's ridiculous.

So, I listened to some vinyls this weekend (each record for about a minute or so), this is what I heard:

- Meshuggah - Obzen (Nuclear Blast version and Back on Black version). Both sounded awful. I dont know if its possible, but they sounded way louder than the CD.
- DT Ziltoid - sounded great
- Enslaved - Ruun (sounded fantastic)
- Opeth - Deliverance (sounded great)
- BTBAM - Colors (sounded great)
- Symphony X - Paradise Lost (not so good, a lot of distortion because of the brickwalling)
- Dream Theater - Black Clouds and SIlver Linings (sounded fantastic, definitely a different master from the CD)
- Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos (despite everyone saying bad things about it, I though it sounded very good, at least a lot better than the above Symphony X and Meshuggah records)
- Metallica - Death Magnetic (sounded awful, same as the CD)
- Behemoth - Demigod, the first print (sounded fantastic)
- Behemoth - Evangelion picture disk (not so loud as the CD, so better than the CD)
- Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down (sounded ok, but could be better)
- Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh reprint (a lot of distortion because of the loudness thing, I have the original too and if I remember correctly it sounded as bad)

Anyone else have these records?

Contrast this with Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. That one was definitely recorded at 16bit 44kHz so primitive by today's standards but that triple LP is one of the greatest sounding releases in history. Absolutely awe-inspiring depth and clarity, and such a perfect record to demonstrate those qualities!

i'm afraid exactly the opposite is true. Trent Reznor has been recording at high, high bitrates for decades — see the Ghosts I-IV 24/96 Blu-ray disc release for solid proof, but since i've got a 24/96 rip of The Fragile vinyl that visibly spikes far above the frequency storing capability of 44.1 kHz, you're just way off the mark on this one. (with that said, his How to Destroy Angels project recorded all their wonderful analog synth stuff in 48kHz — pitiful!) however, the masters are still blasted volumewise, so you get squaretop transients even on a format that can't reproduce that.

and i highly, highly doubt Dev records at anything under 24/96 (he records with microphones, so it's just a good idea regardless of who records with them), so they really should have pushed to get the high-quality mixdowns from him rather than using the CD master.

i emailed Prophecy Records about the Green Carnation 6LP box that came out several years ago, and the guy blatantly admitted to the fact that two of the three albums were sourced from the studio (re: CD, same thing to him) master. it's ridiculous.

That's interesting as I have the box set and recently re-listened to A Blessing In Disguise and it sounded spectacular. Much, much better than the CD.

Its going to cost me £120 to get the 7 back on black ones, is it worthwhile, or should I just save my money?

I'll post reviews as soon as I get mine and get to listen. I've ordered Ziltoid, Addicted, Accelerated Evolution, Infinity, and Synchestra... hopefully they won't take a month to get here, coming from the U.K...

That's interesting as I have the box set and recently re-listened to A Blessing In Disguise and it sounded spectacular. Much, much better than the CD.

that was the one he wasn't sure about, as it was pressed by The End Records and they just used copies of that pressing. glad to hear they did a fine job on it (i'm pretty sure The End usually do). i don't suppose you own Light of Day, Day of Darkness on vinyl? it's only included in the box, and it was the selling point for me.

also, i ordered the Agalloch Wooden Box set - Viva Hate are being very slow about saying anything, but i was expecting this after reading reviews of their business practices. will drop a detailed review if anyone wants to read it.

as for Dev vinyl, i'm hoping Devy can push Century Media to do vinyl right for the first time ever, and also supply them with proper files for pressing each side. i know there probably isn't much emphasis on the format for Dev, but i know he wants to make quality products, and the fact is that CM don't usually do that for vinyl.

and for god's sake, would people stop making picture discs?!

You know, it's ironic that there seems to be more Black Metal vinyl out there than any other genre of metal... the irony being that "true" Black Metallers deliberately seem to go for poor production/sound quality, probably to make the music sound more raw and visceral. Of course, the reason there are so many black metal titles on vinyl is probably due to the comparatively high percentage of turntables to this day in Northern Europe, but still...

...or maybe I just need to shut up and go to bed. It's been a long night.

I bought "addicted" on ebay (unopened), it costs me 14 GBP (shipping include).
I listenened to it but I haven't got a great equipment, I need a good turntable.
But it's great, it sounds good and very loud.
There's the same "mistake" with the lyrics, some of "Ziltoid" lyrics comes before "resolve".

Listening to Ki now. Seems to be the best of the vinyl I've heard so far (AE and Synchestra). There's only one repeat thing when you switch sides, but the first side ends, then you flip and it plays the first few seconds of the previous track before the next one. I don't know why, but this is far less annoying. I'll probably go for Infinity next.