Are Vinyl Records Truly Better Than CDs?

A commenter on my YouTube channel recently stated that vinyl “sucks”, and they would put their CD version of Van Halen’s 5150 up against the vinyl version to prove it.

I’m not a huge fan of the band’s “Van Hagar” lineup. I’m on team David when it comes to Van Halen frontmen. That’s an argument for another time. When confronted with that claim, what am I to say? Do I defend vinyl and take the challenge? That would be difficult for me because I’d have to buy both the vinyl and CD versions of the album. Although I have the entire Van Halen “Dave” discography, including 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, I don’t own a single “Van Hagar” disc. I’d also have to buy a CD player. I no longer own one and haven’t for at least a decade.

Given my passion for vinyl records, can I honestly say the commenter is wrong, and the vinyl version is far superior? I can’t. Could I say the vinyl version is superior to the streaming version? I would put money down that it is, but only a little. I’d have to hear it. The CD and streaming versions of that recording would also have to be played through the same system I listen to my vinyl records with. It could very well be that the CD version of 5150 is better. Does the fact that I admit it’s possible mean I’m misguided when I promote the sonic value of vinyl records?

Let’s set 5150 aside. A better example of where I’m going with this is Neil Young’s 1990 album Ragged Glory—a truly fantastic album from Neil and Crazy Horse. If I’m being honest, the CD version was superior to the vinyl version when it was first released. There’s a lot of music packed into that album, and the CD handled it very well. The vinyl record version suffers dynamically. It contains over sixty minutes of music; more than a single vinyl record should be expected to play back with any hope of sounding good. On vinyl, Ragged Glory sounds thin. Billy Talbot’s bass is almost nonexistent, and Ralph Molina’s bass drum seems to have rolled out of the studio. No amount of mastering could have saved that record or improved upon what the CD could deliver.

In that instance, it’s fair to say the CD version was better. Not much thought went into the vinyl presentation. You also have to consider that the CD was the new kid on the block, and that’s what record companies wanted to push and promote. It was much cheaper to produce than pressing a vinyl record. As a result, a vinyl offering of Ragged Glory was probably more of an afterthought—or one that Neil demanded, given his love of analog sound.

I may not be a fan of compact discs or streaming music, but it’s also not fair to say that it’s all over-compressed because it’s digital. Digital doesn’t mean compressed, nor does it demand it to be. That’s in the mastering.

For over thirty years, I could confidently say the CD version of Ragged Glory provided a better listening experience.

This changed in July 2023 when Neil re-released Ragged Glory in an Official Release Series box set. The Ragged Glory reissue was remastered at the Bernie Grundman Mastering studio using the original analog tapes.

A lot of care went into that reissue. The engineers involved were meticulous. It was remastered to sound amazing on vinyl. To accomplish this, they took that hour-plus of music and spread it over three records to reproduce the sound of Ragged Glory in all its glory (pardon the pun). The bass is present, it’s loud, and it’s intact. Given the three-record treatment, there’s room in the grooves for the music to breathe.

Compare the vinyl 2023 version to the 1990 CD version, and vinyl wins hands down.

So where does all this land? Comparing CDs to vinyl is like comparing the proverbial apples to oranges. You can put a piece of cheddar cheese on an apple slice, and it will taste great. Do the same with an orange slice? No thank you. It depends on the situation, the playback equipment, and how it was all originally mastered or remastered for the format in question.

My ears love the sound of vinyl. I love the experience involved in listening to a record. I’m engaged. As for the sound, I’ve always compared it to that magical sense of umami, that savory “essence of deliciousness” that is indescribable when encountered. For me, that’s delivered with vinyl record playback.

As for 5150, I won’t buy it, but I will give it a listen if I find it under the Christmas tree someday.