American Pie: LP vs. CD

Vinyl Asylum

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Interestingly I only recently aquired American Pie on both LP (the original LP in good but not mint shape) and on CD (a best hits CD from Curb Records). Well being one who has a morbid fasination with doing comparisons it was only a matter of time ...
The comparison unfortunately can't be definitive since it's clear that the copy on the CD has been slightly remastered ... they screwed up the central image (requiring a rather obvious balance adjustment to put McLean's voice in center) and other small details are different as well, e.g. the Tambourine is left stage on LP, right stage on the CD. So again it's a bit apples and oranges.
Overall impression is that despite not being mint the individual instruments are easier to follow on the LP, instruments more "layered" vs. "mixed". You can also hear fine details on the LP that you'd likely have missed on the CD (they're on the CD but if hadn't been heard on the LP would most likely have just been lost in the mix). The CD is also a tad "hot" compared to the richer/warmer LP but that could easily be due to the remaster/transfer.
But as it turns out another obvious difference was the electric bass ... it was beyond obvious that the walking bass line could be followed easier on the CD, with the LP the looser/louder bass generally obscured much of the bass detail; electric bass mixing with the kick bass in a "boom" soup was a large part of the problem. Truth of the matter is that the bass had been sort of bugging me recently for lack of definition and this surprising comparison immediate got me to thinking it could be improved by a loading adjustment.
First from 100ohm to 300ohm. I was now able to follow the walking bass lines much better. Then 300ohn to 1000ohm. Maybe a tad better still with the overall balance starting to lean toward the CD's sound, but only leaning.
So an interesting comparison that lead to optimizing cartridge loading ... go figure! I'll be doing some more listening to make sure I've get it correct but I'd be very surprised if loading returned to 100; my gut tells me it will settle at 300 but we'll see.
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CDP :: Jolida JD-100 (a sub $1000.00 player that is hellishly good IMHO ... very "analog" sounding if you ask me ... however does require good cables including power cord to perform at it's best)
LP :: Roksan Xerxes/Atremiz, Denon DL 103. (the 103 is likely the weak point in this combo but the 103 still deserves "hellishly good" (for price) status IMHO)

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Topic - American Pie: LP vs. CD - bjh 09:41:22 09/10/06 (5)

ps. DL103 loading - bjh 10:32:16 09/11/06 (2)

ps. II - bjh 07:32:46 09/12/06 (1)

ps. III - bjh 12:01:22 09/14/06 (0)

Re: American Pie: LP vs. CD - KIS 10:39:16 09/10/06 (1)

Re: American Pie: LP vs. CD - bjh 15:03:14 09/10/06 (0)

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