Inventor creates CD-Vinyl hybrid that sounds better "than any other format"

Num7

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Creator T Bone Burnett said it's the "first breakthrough in analog sound reproduction in more than 70 years."

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Producer T Bone Burnett has announced a new analogue disc, dubbed 'Ionic Originals', which transcends the technology of CDs and vinyl found today.

Using both lacquer and aluminium, Burnett claims that the sound quality of this analogue technology is greater than in all other formats - including digitally streamed music.

A sample disc held up by Burnett in the press photo looks very much like a shiny vinyl record.

Vinyl LPs are made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic and contain no metal. Polycarbonate plastic with a metal layer, generally aluminium, makes up standard compact discs. This combines aspects from both - Loudwire explains.

Loudwire claims it appears that the method combines contemporary vinyl production with how mastering professionals produce metal "stampers" (and test acetate discs) to press records. Stampers are primarily used as "masters" for duplication, and because they aren't produced in big quantities, and therefore don't reach many listeners.

Speaking on the Ionic Originals, Burnett says: " [I have] developed an analogue disc that possesses a depth, resonance and sonic fidelity that exceeds that of vinyl, CD, streaming or any other means of experiencing recorded music.

"It is archival quality. It is future proof. It is one of one. Not only is an Ionic Original the equivalent of a painting, it is a painting. It is lacquer painted onto an aluminium disc, with a spiral etched into it by music. This painting, however, has the additional quality of containing that music, which can be heard by putting a stylus into the spiral and spinning it.

"Analog sound has more depth, more harmonic complexity, more resonance, better imaging. Analog has more feel, more character, and more touch. Digital sound is frozen. Analog sound is alive."

Variety reports that Burnett, a former Bob Dylan bandmate, says he's re-recorded some of Dylan's work for the new medium, though no release date has been set.

Beyond what was mentioned in the statement, representatives for Burnett and Dylan said there will be no new information regarding the Dylan project coming soon.

Burnett has also since established NeoFidelity Inc - a new company - to record musicians' best tracks and create a distribution platform for Ionic Originals.

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Beholder

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MP3 in highest quality always sounds like a dial-up modem of random tones that were not in the music to begin with, and clearly discernable compression blocks. That's why I try to buy CDs, so that I can use better compression methods in the future. Purely digital speakers removes the static noise when playing digital music, but there are limits to how smooth the output can become when only using one DAC per channel.
 

Mayhem

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Is there a way to gauge by a meter of sorts whether it has more depth than the cds or vinyl?
 

Beholder

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Is there a way to gauge by a meter of sorts whether it has more depth than the cds or vinyl?
Removing the static noise from a song composed for vinyl is like removing the drum beat, so hard to make a fair objective comparison.
 

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