Vinyl Dynamic Range Vs Cd

The difference between the loudest and softest sounds an lp can play is about 70 decibels db.

Vinyl dynamic range vs cd. Vinyl s dynamic range is dependant on frequency because vinyl doesn t have a flat maximum output curve. The dynamic range of human hearing is roughly 140 db. Dynamic comparison of lps vs cds part 4 by chris tham september 02 2004 yes you have heard all the arguments before and you are probably sick and tired of it. With the above in mind i began exploring why some vinyl records have greater dynamic range rightly concluding that mastering lay at the heart of the issue.

When i cut a master for vinyl and a cd master from the same digital master tape they sounded pretty much the same except for the noise floor. Pcm of any flavor has a flat response to fs. In practical terms this means that cds have more than 10 times the dynamic range of lps. The dynamic range of music as normally perceived in a concert hall doesn t exceed 80 db and human speech is normally perceived over a range of about 40 db.

Here lp actually wins over cd. Cds can handle over 90 db. Vinyl records typically yield 55 65 db. 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 cd audio is digitally encoded and read by a laser while analog vinyl audio is physically read by a needle. Dynamic range is the difference between the loudest signal and the noise floor. The maximum dynamic range we can put on a vinyl record is around 60 db. The digital music format of cds and increasingly mp3s is the dominant choice today for professionals and consumers alike.

Yes vinyl was noisier. 16 bit cd digital audio has a technical dynamic range of 96 db though many argue the perceived range is higher when taking dithering into account. Cd 16bit on the other hand can achieve 96 db dynamic range.