Blackbird & Fortress On Vinyl

[TremontiFan4Life]

I've done a search and I couldn't find a topic talking about this in detail. I have a turntable and after receiving live in Amsterdam and live at Wembley on vinyl but not having listened to them yet it's made me want to get into collecting vinyl. I like the idea of buying a big jacket to have something really special for the band to sign instead of your everyday run-of-the-mill CD booklet.

I really want to buy these two albums on vinyl but at a cost of about $50 a piece plus the cost to import I wanted to ask if the vinyl versions of the albums sound any better than the CD? I've done some reading and you have some people that say that if an album is recorded in analog it sounds absolutely amazing on vinyl however if you record an album digitally it doesn't sound that great when transferred to vinyl.

Would anybody mind giving me their impressions if you own the albums on vinyl?

[BSC]

The quality of the equipment you play your vinyl on is also a huge factor in determining its sound. I don't think the Fortress or ABIII vinyl sound any better than on the CD, and I'm fairly confident that any minimal improvement in sound quality is because I play my vinyl on a much better set-up than when I listen to MP3s.

On the whole, you may be right about the whole digital v analog thing, but at the same time, there's so many variables that can affect the sound quality of a vinyl. I own some vinyl albums that sound stunning, and some that just sound okay, and unfortunately Fortress and ABIII only sound okay.

[LouNRoses]

Blackbird on vinyl sounds really awesome. Better than the CD, indeed!

[TremontiFan4Life]

I'd be listening through a $200 pair of headphones

[Andy92]

I think the way an album is recorded, mixed, and mastered has a larger effect on the sound than whether it's played on a CD or a vinyl. Now if you play a recording at some crappy sample rate like 192 kbps, then yeah it'll sound worse, but for the most part even the difference between a CD and a 320 kbps MP3 is pretty negligible to my ears.

If you really want to test the difference, have someone play you an album on CD, vinyl and a high quality MP3 download and keep everything on the same sound system. See if you can guess which recording is which. I think sometimes the placebo effect comes into play when determining what method of playing music sounds the best, or maybe my ears just suck.

[TremontiFan4Life]

I think I'm gonna give the vinyls I have a spin

[RoelSmoel]

ABIII is on vinyl too. Don't know if it's still for sale for a reasonable price.

[TremontiFan4Life]

I'd get them all, but even for double LPs $50 a shot is a bit steeo at the moment. Ideally I'd like to get the jackets signed and but them in a frame with felt backing with the records underneath

[Ryan]

I'd get them all, but even for double LPs $50 a shot is a bit steeo at the moment. Ideally I'd like to get the jackets signed and but them in a frame with felt backing with the records underneath

that's my plan too

[vChris]

Are you sure it is 50$ plus import? Because Fortress is sold for 23€ in Germany (Amazon), which would be $30? Or am I missing something?
(I don't have much experience with import/export stuff...)

[TremontiFan4Life]

$40.97 to be exact not including import and other tax

[vChris]

So you give a 10$ tip?
I mean, if you have to import you are ordering at a European company right? Import would make it more expensive of course. But without the import and shipping cost, shouldn't it be roughly the same price?

[TremontiFan4Life]

43.63 is the total cost for Fortress

[chtimixeur]

If they used the compressed CD master to create the vinyl (only a lower volume level, because otherwise the vinyl would skip), then you're wasting your money. A brickwalled master is gonna be a brickwalled master, no matter what format it's used on.
I wish they released a 24 bit 96 kHz uncompressed version (which means more dynamics and less ear fatigue) of all albums at HDTracks.com. This way, we'd hear details we've never heard before. But guess what ? It won't happen, because this is AB we're talking about !