I bought a brand new 180 gm virgin vinyl LP the other day featuring Erroll Garner - " Concert By The Sea". It was released by Columbia records who are now part of the Sony Music entertainment group.
The LP was originally recorded in 1956. It sounds fantastic and a far as I am concerned Erroll Garner is a genius of jazz; I could listen to his records all day. He can even play musical jokes that get me smiling.
Columbia records claim that they use quality control methods at every stage of the record producing process to ensure absolute high fidelity sound reproduction. Their record is able to cover the full frequency range of a high fidelity recording from 30Hz to 15khz within a 2 decibel tolerance. I have no reason to doubt this claim as the sound reproduction is wonderful even though the original recording was made with equipment from 1956.
The frequency range encompasses all of the musical frequencies that most adults can hear. The LP itself has very little surface noise and at the volumes that I use I could not hear any surface noise between the tracks. My modest turntable runs so quietly that I could not hear any noise from the equipment itself, and I could hear no wow and flutter from the piano which means that the platter was running at a more or less constant speed and that the spindle hole of the record is accurately positioned. All in all listening was an enjoyable Hi-Fi experience. The record sounded almost as good as a well mastered CD recording.
The frequency response of my moving magnet cartridge is from 20 Hz to 20KHz. A moving coil cartridge is capable of producing a much wider range of frequency response. But I ask myself the question why should I change the cartridge when a moving magnet cartridge already encompasses all the frequencies that the record can produce with a considerable amount of headroom.
I could invest in an improved turntable to reduce noise and distortion but why should I? The record and turntable combination are already so good that they compete with a cd as far as high fidelity is concerned.
I am going to digitise the record. I shall convert the recording to a 16/44.1 WAV file - cd quality. This resolution can easily encompass the dynamic range and frequency response of the record. A cd quality file can manage a dynamic range of 96 decibels which is much more than an LP record can and it can cover a frequency range of 20Hz to 22Khz. This is all the resolution that is needed.
If I am to believe some of the comment on Hi-Fi forums and all of the comment in Hi-Fi magazines then I need to spend a lot more money on cartridges, cables, heavy weight platters, phono-stages, power supplies etc. to achieve Hi-Fi nirvana: I do not.
If I am to believe the same media when I come to digitise the records then I need to use "high resolution" files - 24/96 or even 24/192 to digitise the LP: I do not as "high resolution" files sound no better than 16/44.1.
Most of what is written about Hi-Fi is irrational bunkum without any supporting evidence using measurements which take into account the limits of human hearing. Usually no one provides any evidence from double blind listening tests. Most commentary regarding the quality of sound reproduction is useless. You are better off deciding for yourself.
One form of advice is sensible , however, to ensure the longevity of the LP listening experience it is best to digitise your LPs as soon as you can after buying them. In this way you can protect them from scratches, dust and dirt and static build up. You then only need to play the actual vinyl record on a special occasion or when you are in the mood. A good digital recording will sound exactly like the original.
If you cannot bear the thought of digital then why not copy them to audio-cassette? A well recorded cassette will sound almost as good as the original but it will wear out and you will have to repeat the process after a few years - even so this is a good way to preserve you records and you can still look at the sleeve when you play the facsimile!
