Vinyl Compression Dynamic Range

The dynamic range of a direct cut vinyl record may surpass 70 db.

Vinyl compression dynamic range.

Analog fm broadcasts rarely have a dynamic range exceeding 50 db. 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. Another significant impact of finite quantizing resolution is finite dynamic range. As implemented the bit depth of cd and dvd digital audio formats accommodates a higher dynamic range than vinyl is capable of.

There s very little compression so the loudest parts of those sounds often. The dynamic range of digital audio systems can exceed that of analog audio systems. As many of us know in a fair amount of digital masters the dynamic range is typically limited. Participants on the dynamic range database use the dynamic range meter a foobar2000 component to take their measurements.

Dynamic range compression is a lossy compression. The noise floor is even lower for an audiophile pressing on good quality vinyl. 17 in late 2008 mastering engineer bob ludwig offered three versions of the guns n roses album chinese democracy for approval to co producers axl rose and caram costanzo. An album would have to be remastered to get the range back.

Pcm of any flavor has a flat response to fs. You can t get back the dynamic range once it s gone. This is clearly a significant difference but what does this have to do with needle skipping. Vinyl s dynamic range is dependant on frequency because vinyl doesn t have a flat maximum output curve.

On the site users can search by artist or album. Any user can submit their test results to the site. His post on why custom mastering for vinyl isn t necessary is well worth a read if you d like to know more about his take on the topic. That s why snare drums cymbal splashes and other loud instruments have so much more punch in vinyl recordings.

The only signal that can exist between the bits of a cd is drowned out by random noise from the vinyl surface grain. 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. Lp s surface noise which is responsible for the poor dynamic range is mainly concentrated below 500hz where the noise level is around 50db. And this is for a mass produced commercial lp purchased second hand from a thrift store for around 1.

The dynamic range meter is designed to give the same information as the popular pleasurize dynamic range meter. Consumer analog cassette tapes have a dynamic range of 60 to 70 db.