I don't know if this is a factor but when ripping my LPs onto CD the big thing I found is that because of the fixed-point digital format you have to be really paranoid about not clipping the CD recording, cause it sounds BAD !!
There seem to be four options :
1. Keep the recording levels low -- sounds crappy and lifeless
2. Compress the he** out of the signal -- sounds loud and lifeless
3. Run through the entire recording to find the highest peak and adjust level for that -- you end up like #1 but only after 4 hours of cursing
4. Some combination of the above -- fudge recording levels on a track by track or moment-by-moment basis to get high levels and good sound normally but dampen down the peaks.
Strictly speaking #3 is a no-brainer these days -- just capture the audio at a much higher resolution than 16 bits/sample so you can play with the levels and not lose anything.
I think this is one of those tube/SS things. LPs are generally worse except for one important thing -- when you overdrive them the sound degrades gracefully unless the cutting needle rips through to the adjacent track. CDs are superior in every respect except they can't handle the peaks.
In theory I assume HDCD and SACD should be better, but so far I imagine the different mixes overshadow any technical differences. Thoughts ?
