Maximum Dynamic Range Of Vinyl

Vinyl s dynamic range is dependant on frequency because vinyl doesn t have a flat maximum output curve.

Maximum dynamic range of vinyl.

In the video below ian uses a record he mastered to demonstrate the inaccurate readings produced by. The tt dynamic range meter doesn t work on vinyl. Another significant impact of finite quantizing resolution is finite dynamic range. For the first time consumers could purchase a recording in a medium whose dynamic range exceeded that of 20 000 professional tape machines.

Consumer analog cassette tapes have a dynamic range of 60 to 70 db. It turns out the dynamic range meter that folks are using to measure different releases doesn t work accurately on vinyl records or at least according to mastering engineer ian shepherd. But right now i m talking about signal to noise ratio and dynamic range. Here lp actually wins over cd.

Lp s difference between maximum to average is around 11 56db compared against the cd recording at 11 11db and even the digital rip at 11 35db. The only signal that can exist between the bits of a cd is drowned out by random noise from the vinyl surface grain. Fdr vinyl our full dynamic range releases were made in response to the so called loudness wars with the dynamic range of music being restricted more and more in an effort to make it sound louder. Yes vinyl was noisier.

The loudness war or loudness race refers to the trend of increasing audio levels in recorded music which reduces audio fidelity and according to many critics listener enjoyment increasing loudness was first reported as early as the 1940s with respect to mastering practices for 7 singles. The dynamic range of a direct cut vinyl record may surpass 70 db. That s why snare drums cymbal splashes and other loud instruments have so much more punch in vinyl recordings. Analog fm broadcasts rarely have a dynamic range exceeding 50 db.

The dynamic range of digital audio systems can exceed that of analog audio systems. Vinyl can still push music to the limits of its dynamic range 55 70db but it often shies away from doing so in order to maintain sound quality. Relative dynamics is the difference in db between any two points in a waveform. As implemented the bit depth of cd and dvd digital audio formats accommodates a higher dynamic range than vinyl is capable of.

Dynamic range is the difference between the loudest signal and the noise floor. Pcm of any flavor has a flat response to fs. There s very little compression so the loudest parts of those sounds often. Now i know that there are vinyl philes who still swear that lps sound better than cds.