i was comparing the qobuz version of Dirt by Alice in Chains with my vinyl pressing (both 2022 remasters) and i noticed that the digital version is a little too bright and it felt more compressed (drums in vinyl are more punchy). I am curious about why, especially about why the qobuz version sounds brighter.thanks
I checked the Dynamic Range Database and your suspicions are exactly correct. The digital version is is compressed with minimal dynamic range and the vinyl is not. This is a prime example of the reason vinyl often sounds better even though it is a technical an inferior format.
It’s not uncommon to for vinyl to have its own master.
yea, it’s a shame that digital is so poorly exploited in terms of dynamic range because people tend to make things sound “louder” and “competitive”
There is zero evidence given here to support such a blanket statement. Fair to say some versions/mixes/masters may be better than others, including vinyl over digital? Certainly. Claiming vinyl ‘often sounds better’ based off of this n of 1? Nope.
‘better’ is probably wrong, but certainly vinyl is consistently more dynamic, as are CD releases from about before 1994.