Leaderboard

I write this more relative to any music not just trance. It is true that for vinyl some specific issues need care and attention, this includes not having overly wide (stereo) low frequencies below 300Hz, it does not have to be mono though, it just must not have a too wide bass which can end up causing groove tracking issues and skipping. Harshness in the upper mid range can very easily sound like nasty scratchy distortion on vinyl so sibilance and harsh frequencies in the upper mids must not be out of control. There must not be excessive highs above 13kHz. The ideal for a vinyl cut would be 24 bit masters at the sample rate of the artists DAW mix project. Cutting very heavily limited files is likely to have detrimental issues for the fidelity of a vinyl cut. It can be done but speak to the lathe engineer and present any such limited file/s to him or her to in advance and let it be known it is the only version you can get hold of. End results are not easy to predict but at least the lathe engineer knows about this issue and may be able to mitigate against a very poor sounding cut. Mastering for vinyl, as in a mastering engineer producing quality controlled pre masters can be done digitally, there are no technical reasons why it must be analogue. Of course analogue has its own sonic properties which may be desirable for a digital or vinyl release but this has no relationship to a rule that analogue eq/compression must be used for vinyl. Notwithstanding the lathe itself which is of course analogue by nature. As with most professional mastering a combination of both is highly likely but this is because the use of analogue and digital mastering tools tends to produce the most pleasing end result for many styles of music. Contrary to popular belief 16 bit digital has a wider dynamic range than the vinyl format can reproduce. Vinyl is not more dynamic than 16 bit audio. The difference is that the ideal for a good sounding vinyl cut is not using a file with extremely restricted dynamics which is often the case for a digital release. It is easily possible to create a digital release which has or even exceeds the dynamics of a vinyl release. It is just that virtually no one does it, because it would likely be 8dB-14dB (very approximately) lower in volume compared to todays releases. That would leave DJ's scratching their heads and the bigger psy labels would not release such material unless they had a complete reverse of philosophy that greater dynamics is better. So it is just likely that the audio that is committed to vinyl is more dynamic in itself. I would be surprised if an average non brick wall limited psy trance track mix has dynamics exceeding 12dB. (unless of course there is some ambient intro section faded in from zero) But average dynamics from the loudest power sections to ambient break downs, the dynamics are not very wide. Once they have been limited a dynamic range of 8dB would be a surprise. Modern music mixes tend not to have wide dynamic ranges, every channel will often have some compression going on, especially the backbone rhythm sections drums and bass. The exception of course would be acoustic forms of music. The theoretical dynamic range of 16 bit audio is around 96dB, audibly more if dithered correctly from a 24 bit depth source. Vinyl dynamic range is roughly between 65 and 80dB (rare) and is a moving target as the vinyl wears introducing greater noise and of course crackling. The top end can also soften quite quickly with multiple plays as the friction of the needle in the groove erodes the groove. I totally understand why people enjoy the sound of vinyl, much less or non limited mixes, different audio processing, softer top end and upper mids, easier on the ears and the feel of vinyl in your hands. But it is not that vinyl is inherently of greater fidelity as a format.

Exactly. I felt sick recently, well actually two weeks ago ... it was a strange kind of sickness, i felt like I had a flu but without the headache ... doctor let me at home for a week, no test was made. Well ... what can you say. But I'm not complaining. The only people I am genuinely worried about are my parents - they're 79 and both have pretty severe pre-conditions - mom had cancer, dad has a really (really, really) bad heart ... both of them are not gonna make it if they got sick with that new thing. We are trying our best not to have any contact - I am, however, the only person that can go shopping for them. Whenever I go to them and give them new groceries it's like we are exchanging hot potatoes ... it's all then wiped with a disinfectant cloth (I insisted on that). Guess that's all we can do. I really hope big time that I did not carry this to my parents as I was sick... this!! It is exactly the same here. You, sir, are one of the heroes of this time - kudos to you and please keep it up. That's also meant for @Aspartic Government-wise you and me are in the same boat anyway, both from Austria And I cannot stress your second paragraph enough - I am thinking the exact same thing! In fact I WANT to move to Asia after witnessing the ignorance and stupidity taking place around here. This Covid-19 will make us BIG touble and it's unclear whether Europe afterwards will still be around, honestly ... it's not gonna be the same at least, that's for sure. I am genuinely worried if this country or, say, the EU, can guarantee for my health and safety when I'm getting older ... granted, this is not sure either if I move to Asia, but the current handling of the crisis over there shows me that China is going to extraordinary efforts to stop this virus, which is remarkable to say the least and Europe is way, way behind on measures and mindset. Okay, the chinese government is very heavy on propaganda and we have to be very careful with the information they give, but having seen videos from "the zone" and what people do ... it's unthinkable here. For example, the little things: in China they realized the most common place to get infected is the elevator in people's own houses - sick people use it, you push the button, that's it, you get sick ... so they put up toothpicks besides the keypads - you take a toothpick, push the elevator button with it and throw the toothpick away. Who's doing that here?! And why not move to China ... at least you get a lot for your money there -- oh wait, *darnit*, this is gonna change !! --> which brings me to the last sentence: everybody, please consider that the Covid-19 sickness is only the tip of the iceberg, we are right now heading into the beginning of a financial crisis and into an uncertain future ...and when I really wanna move to Asia, I need to act pretty soon for afterwards I'll be too old to found an existence there!

It's like people finally start wiping their asses. Considering everything, it was fun to watch.