LPs (long-playing phonograph records) seemed to have been left by the wayside with the introduction of CDs (compact discs), but the vinyl is making a comeback in recent years. Some music connoisseurs claim that much of the magic, sound and clarity experienced on LPs is lost when music is converted to digital media, and science may back up this claim. Let’s take a closer look.

Recording methods between digital recording (produces CDs and MP3s) and analog recording (produces LPs and tapes) differ so much, and there is some support that analog recording may actually be the wave of the future for musical clarity and depth. Analog recording works based upon continual waves of sound, and digital recording converts the analog signal into discrete numbers that represent the air pressure of the audio file by taking a large number of digital snapshots.

Stating that analog recording is better brings us to the argument: LP lovers say that analog recordings sound better than digitals, and their claim is supported. Analog records the continual waves of sound as they exist in nature, picking up all of the natural beauty of a clarinet reed’s vibrations or Ella Fitzgerald’s silvery voice. The digital recording, however, only takes snapshots of the original and re-represents those snapshots into numbers. This means that many portions of the live performance may be missing, from the occasional missed snapshot to the sometimes ill-fitted re-representations. LPs can therefore produce more rich sounds, as complete and unaltered as the original.

Proponents for Digital Media Digital media, however, can be tweaked to either “fix” portions of the performance or to enhance a singer’s voice. These alterations can balance the performance or take out background noises.

Whether you prefer the digital or analog medias, many people agree analog is the only way to capture classic sounds of symphony performances and the excellence of greats like Ella, Blue Eyes and Louis Armstrong.