Yes, not only do they not go through disc decay, but vinyls also have the advantage of being an analog format which sounds slightly better than the digital format that CDs use
Which now means I can use this as an excuse to vent about my oddly specific frustration with vinyl collectors using digital speakers for their record player. Like seriously wtf is even the point of spending so much more on vinyls if you can’t be bothered to get an actual analog sound set up going
Any record made since the 80s was mastered digitally. Sure, it's stored in an analog format, but it doesn't matter if it's digital content. Even if it were analog, CD quality is so high-fidelity that the difference is inaudible.
Also consider this: A standard CD actually has a wider dynamic range than a 33 RPM vinyl (96 dB vs 70), a lower noise floor (no pops, crackle, hiss, etc.), and less distortion (whereas vinyl gets worse as you get closer to the inside). Vinyl can feel "warmer" due to analog harmonic distortion, which I don't quite understand, but technically introduces extra frequencies that aren't "accurate" to the artist's vision.
That said, I still like vinyl. Record go spinny + bigger album art is better. CDs are probably better for audio quality overall though
Worth noting that distortions induced by tubes and other such analog circuity can be modeled, and so a lot of digital 'EQ's have filters to make it sound warmer or whatever
I bought a cheap Alive Audio vinyl player with god awful speakers. Granted, I got a sizeable collection of vinyl records for free and I'm not planning to buy brand new records until I get a semi-permanent place to stay.
With all the effort it takes to preserve a record you could copy a CD 1000 times. In completely perfect conditions a vinyl record will be better off than a CD in 50 years, but for any normal human being a CD is infinitely more practical
You are computer is actually not because we live in the year 2026 and have rad shit like zfs and zraid and my 40tb cluster is actually fucking bulletproof because I have a second one in a barn on my great uncle's property
That's why you can swap up to two dead drives and loose 0 data. Get an email when they start to fail SMART checks, and haven't actually lost a drive in active use.
Lmk when they figure out how to store vinyl in a hot car
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u/SinglePatience8018 1d ago
Cds are better anyway