Ask an Audio geek

[AFTT47]

Do you think there's anything to the idea that vinyl records have a "special quality" of sound, which in some way makes them superior?

As long as the sampling rate (44.1 kHz for CDs) is much higher than my upper limit (I think I'm still around 16 kHz, although without so many CRT TVs these days, haven't had confirmation on that for a while), the signals is not compressed, the signal is dithered and reasonable care was taken during the recording process, one can assert vinyl sucks.

Absolutely. The purpose of any recording medium or device is to as faithfully as possible, copy and reproduce the original material. CD is far superior in that regard by every conceivable measure. Dynamic range, signal to noise ratio, frequency response - all superior by a wide margin.

Vinyl is definitely snake oil. All it's got is nostalgia.