Roots Archives Forum

greetings and level vibes to all! first off, let me say i am a CD listener - out of neccessity and convenience ONLY - i would scour the earth for reggae vinyl, had i the time and $ to do so...
my latest EB package came today, and i am treated to Wailing Souls "Wailing Souls". it's amazing (as i knew it would be), but is there a remaster or "better" cut of this on CD out there? this release (SOCD-1126) makes this classic seem obscure - no liner notes and VERY basic artwork... i'm glad it's available, but this CD should get the star treatment!
blessings to you all!

A lot of those Studio One CD's are pretty crappy for sound quality. The Heptones' classic On Top is particularly bad. Heartbeat is now re-releasing some of these great albums. Keep your fingers crossed for Wailing Souls.

tingjunkie wrote: Heartbeat is now re-releasing some of these great albums. Keep your fingers crossed for Wailing Souls.

Thanks, tingjunkie. I've picked up a few of the Heartbeat reissues (Heptones, Alton Ellis, Roots Man Dub) and they've done a great job - high marks! I will keep my eyes on the prize...
Buyer beware, I guess!

....don't get me started.....

Ha! Thanks, Leggo - didn't want to start the storm, just trying to find a happy medium! We all KNOW that vinyl is KING and CD is strictly convenience...

check out this YOUTUBE video that gave me goosebumps...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JBEhz0HIIH0

A properly mastered CD should sound better than vinyl. Sadly, a properly mastered CD is almost non-existent in reggae. And even if you find one, you need a very high end CD player to get the best out of this medium. When the format was first released, it was seen as a high quality sound thing and aimed at the classical music set who were prepared to pay silly money to hear the pianist grunting as he played. But playing through some of the reggae CDs I have reveals some really poor transfer onto the format. In fact some of them are just vinyl ripped onto CDs - and these are proper CDs not copied CDRs!

So I still prefer to collect and listen to lovely old fashioned vinyl, even if some of them sound like the ground music being played at a Rice Crispy eating tournament. Snap, crackle and pop!

But lets face it, those rows of plastic jewel cases look crap on the shelves compared to a room full of vinyl.

You said: "A properly mastered CD should sound better than vinyl."
I disagree totally, the bass sound completely different, a vynil is much deeper and genuine. More, CDs are often too hissy (the high hat of a drum set sounds awful).

What you said about the hissyness is a total lie.

Thanks for all the thoughts!
Even though i am STRICTLY CD, i miss spinning the old vinyl - i never had the chance to collect reggae on vinyl, but had MANY punk records on 7" - you can't beat the FEELING of putting on a 7", and my old (now gone) tube hifi was CRUCIALLY loud and bright... but i admit, i do love the convenience of walking into my local shop and buying Keith Hudson's "Entering the Dragon" with 17 bonus tracks for $15.00 - an unobtainable (though enticing) goal if vinyl hunting...
so: i miss the romance and warmth of vinyl, and love the convenience of CD...

reggae originator wrote:You said: "A properly mastered CD should sound better than vinyl."
I disagree totally, the bass sound completely different, a vynil is much deeper and genuine. More, CDs are often too hissy (the high hat of a drum set sounds awful).

That's, mainly, because they haven't been properly mastered! Although it probably also has something to do with the difference between analogue and digital sound.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like CDs and always think they sound metallic and false. Anyone who has been around this forum for a while will know that I am a vinyl man through and through. I always think vinyl sounds real and warm.

But I recently did a bit of research on the subject, as I was wondering why CDs sound like this. And, according to 'experts', much of the poor sound of CDs is down to production, or lack of it, in CDs.

Once you go as low as MP3s then you really are losing sound quality, no doubt. I've used the expression here before, listening to MP3s is like passing razor blades through your ears, especially at high volumes on decent hi-fi.

Now who was it that got me started! I warned you....