I stopped playing Thomas Dolby’s classic in the background because The Flat Earth – Remastered & Expanded didn’t sound as good as I remembered it. Switching between the CD and my original signed LP, the vinyl is decisively better: deeper bass, better piano, way more realistic speaking voice. The CD isn’t any more detailed, it just brings instruments forward in the mix so most tracks have too much treble. My spouse noticed the improvement from vinyl immediately too.
It’s not a bad CD, every other Amazon reviewer says it’s better than the original CD and it doesn’t suffer from the loudness war. But it’s wanton cultural desecration that we’re losing sound quality when we have the tech to conserve or improve it. If you really love an album, try to hear the vinyl version on a great turntable through a good stereo before you die.
I’m no vinyl purist; I had just been listening to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine on CD and thinking how good it sounds. Although the negative comments from Beatles die-hards make you realize there’s no single perfect version.
