Before I get started, let me note that one of the things I did during my misspent youth was to run a disk mastering lathe--transferring master tapes to the lacquer masters used to make metal masters used to press phonograph records.
It is quite easy to get all of the information contained in a record groove on to a CD. The mechanical imperfections (such a surface smoothness of the lacquer and the cutting stylus) of the system limit the dynamic range of the master disk to less than 70 dB. The bandwidth of the cutter heads used is below the cutoff frequency of the anti-aliasing filter in a digital system. And, of course, the vinyl is never as good as the lacquer master! Less dynamic range, less bandwidth--yes, you can get all the information in a phonograph groove on a CD.
The dynamic range of a phonograph record is, in fact, substatially worse than analog magnetic tape. It is not uncommon to have to uses peak limiting to prevent excess stylus velocity and expansion of the low level passages on the tape to keep signals out of the mechanical noise in the grooves.
This does not mean that some phonograph records don't sound better than some CDs. A well done record will be superior to a badly done (insert format here).
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Before I get started, let me note that one of the things I did during my misspent youth was to run a disk mastering lathe--transferring master tapes to the lacquer masters used to make metal masters used to press phonograph records. It is quite easy to get all of the information contained in a record groove on to a CD. The mechanical imperfections (such a surface smoothness of the lacquer and the cutting stylus) of the system limit the dynamic range of the master disk to less than 70 dB. The bandwidth of the cutter heads used is below the cutoff frequency of the anti-aliasing filter in a digital system. And, of course, the vinyl is never as good as the lacquer master! Less dynamic range, less bandwidth--yes, you can get all the information in a phonograph groove on a CD. The dynamic range of a phonograph record is, in fact, substatially worse than analog magnetic tape. It is not uncommon to have to uses peak limiting to prevent excess stylus velocity and expansion of the low level passages on the tape to keep signals out of the mechanical noise in the grooves. This does not mean that some phonograph records don't sound better than some CDs. A well done record will be superior to a badly done (insert format here).