This explains why so many vinyl editions seem cleaner on paper despite using the exact same master as digital.
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A forum investigation set out to measure vinyl’s actual signal-to-noise ratio stumbled onto a measurement scandal instead.
When members of Audio Science Review began measuring vinyl’s noise floor, they expected to confirm what engineers already knew. Quality pressings deliver 55-70 dB of usable dynamic range, not the 80-120 dB sometimes advertised.
The confirmation came, but so did something stranger in the data. Dynamic Range meter readings showed vinyl measuring 40-70% higher than digital versions of the same albums.
Suddenly, the question wasn’t “how quiet is vinyl” but “why do the measurements lie?”
What Causes the DR Gap in Vinyl Measurements
For example, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic shown in both vinyl and CD formats.
The numbers were stark. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic measured DR7 on CD but DR12 on vinyl, a 71% increase from what appears to be the same compressed master. Norah Jones’ Visions showed DR5 on digital, DR9 on vinyl, an 80% jump.
Engineers also support these findings.
Ian Shepherd, a mastering engineer with 20+ years of experience and founder of Dynamic Range Day, demonstrated the problem using Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. Even with an identical digital master, the vinyl rip showed higher DR readings than the CD.
His conclusion: DR meters can’t reliably compare vinyl and digital.
What DR Meters Miss
To understand the jump, you have to know what the meter actually looks at.
Dynamic Range meters don’t calculate the difference between a recording’s quietest and loudest passages. Instead, they measure peak-to-RMS ratios within tiny time windows. It’s more like “dynamic density” than true dynamic range.
“It is quite possible that these changes are entirely inaudible, despite their effect on waveform shape,” notes the Hydrogenaudio Wiki, the audio engineering community’s consensus documentation.
The meter reacts to artifacts that alter waveform shape without expanding audible dynamics.
That doesn’t make DR meters useless, though. They’re helpful for comparing different digital releases of the same album or spotting how aggressively something was crushed. But they fall apart when comparing vinyl rips to digital files.
Format processing reshapes the waveform. Past a point, the meter reports the format more than the music.
Three Ways Vinyl Fools the Numbers
So, what in the vinyl chain inflates those readings? Three common mechanisms explain it:
- High-pass filtering introduces phase rotation, creating peaks that weren’t in the original signal
- Bass reduction via elliptical EQ is often the largest contributor to RMS, which is typically the biggest driver of higher DR readings.”
- Mechanical de-clipping naturally “restores” flat-topped peaks. Vinyl’s physical limitations prevent the reproduction of brick-walled waveforms, producing effects similar to digital de-clipping algorithms that can add 4-5 dB
The widely repeated claim that vinyl goes “mono below 150 Hz” is misunderstood.
According to mastering engineers, cutters typically use a gentle elliptical EQ that narrows the stereo low end with a 6 dB/octave slope (≈-6 dB at 75 Hz; ≈-12 dB at 37.5 Hz), not a hard mono switch.
Forcing full mono from 150 Hz down “would sound awful” and remove important instrument positioning.
One cutting engineer with thousands of records to his credit put it bluntly: “I’ve never received ‘mastered for vinyl’ tracks that didn’t need adjusting.”
However, this gradual slope is precisely what lowers RMS and inflates measurements.
Identical Masters Still Produce Higher DR Readings on Vinyl
The 2017 reissue of Purple Rain. (From: reddit/_Sky_44)
The measurement inflation would matter less if vinyl received dedicated mastering. Unfortunately, separate vinyl mastering is an expensive additional process, so labels routinely skip it.
Most vinyl releases skip separate mastering entirely, as they’re cut directly from the same compressed digital masters made for streaming or CDs.
The casualties pile up across genres and decades. Prince’s Purple Rain 2017 reissue was heavily compressed compared to the 1984 original. Meanwhile, Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. 2024 pressing suffered similar treatment compared to the 1984 Japanese pressing.
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication also reused the same brickwalled master as the CD in its initial release, with no improvement.
These are just some of the records measuring DR12 on the meter, even though they’re cut from DR5 digital masters.
The Problem With Using DR Databases for Vinyl Purchases
The Dynamic Range Database at dr.loudness-war.info, trusted by audiophiles when choosing which version to purchase, is built on these flawed vinyl-to-digital comparisons.
Consumers pay $30-40 for vinyl, believing they’re getting superior dynamics over $10 digital files. But in reality, they’re often getting the same compressed master, dressed up in measurement artifacts.
“All music that is compressed can’t be uncompressed,” noted one commenter on Archimago’s analysis. Higher DR reflects measurement quirks, not recovered dynamics.
So, How Should You Read DR Claims?
You just have to remember three things:
- Don’t compare DR of vinyl rips to digital; compare digital-to-digital releases instead.
- Look for notes that a separate vinyl master was used.
- Treat big DR jumps from vinyl as format artifacts unless a different master is documented.
Colin Toh