Format simulator
Format War: Vinyl vs CD vs Cassette
A free vinyl vs CD vs cassette simulator. Play any track and flip between the CD, the record and the tape without losing your place, then take a blind test to find out whether you can really hear the difference.
Free, no account. Your audio stays on this device.
1Choose a track
Sharing a tab passes its sound to this page. Only the sound is used; the picture is never looked at or uploaded.
Waiting for audio
No signal2Switch formats
Choose a track first. Then flip between them at the same moment in the track.
Silences Vinyl and Cassette for a moment, so you can be sure the switch changes what you hear before you listen for small differences.
Blind test: which one is it?
0 / 0 correctListen to all three, then pick Blind and say which one it is. Leave noise, hiss and wow off to judge tone alone.
Vinyl vs CD vs cassette: what is actually different
A CD stores sound as numbers and plays them back the same way every time. A record stores it as a groove, and every step from the cutting lathe to your stylus leaves a mark on the sound. Most of what people call the vinyl sound comes from those steps, and from records often being mastered differently from the CD. A cassette stores it as a magnetic pattern on a narrow, slow-moving tape, which is where its hiss and soft top end come from.
| CD | Vinyl | Cassette | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the sound is stored | 16-bit, 44.1 kHz digital samples | A wavy groove cut into vinyl, traced by a stylus | A magnetic pattern on tape moving at 4.76 cm per second |
| Dynamic range | About 96 dB in theory | Roughly 60–70 dB in practice, less on a worn record | About 55–60 dB, or 65–70 dB with Dolby B |
| Stereo separation | Complete: more than 90 dB | Typically 25–35 dB, set by the cartridge | Two separate tracks, but head misalignment smears the highs between them |
| Deep bass | Full stereo | Usually narrowed toward mono so the stylus can track it | Stereo, rolling off near 30 Hz |
| High frequencies | Flat to about 20 kHz | Can reach higher, but soften toward the center of each side | To about 16 kHz when quiet; loud treble saturates much earlier |
| Between tracks | Silence | Faint hiss, the odd tick, low rumble | Steady hiss |
| Speed | Exact, from a crystal clock | Slight wow and flutter from the turntable | Slight wow and flutter from the tape transport |
| Wear | None from playing | A little with every play | A little with every play, with occasional dropouts |
Why does vinyl sound warmer?
“Warm” usually means a little more body in the low mids and a little less edge in the highs. On a record that comes from several small things together: gently softened treble, a touch of harmonic distortion that thickens notes, bass gathered toward the center, and stereo channels that bleed slightly into each other. Records are also often cut from a less compressed master than the CD, so they can sound more open even before any of that.
The simulator lets you turn each of those on and off under Choose individual effects, so you can hear which ones you are actually responding to.
What does a cassette sound like?
Quiet music on a good cassette can sound surprisingly full, reaching about 16 kHz. The giveaway is loud treble. Tape runs out of room for high frequencies long before it does for the midrange, so cymbals and sibilance turn soft and slightly gritty while everything else carries on. Add a steady hiss, unless Dolby B is holding it down, and a little distortion on the loudest notes.
Measured against the others, a cassette has less dynamic range than a CD and, without noise reduction, less than a record, and its highs depend heavily on how well the deck’s head lines up with the tape. A misalignment of just 0.2° takes about 3 dB off 10 kHz on a stereo track.
What each control does
Bass toward mono
Cutting engineers narrow deep bass so the groove does not swing too far sideways for the stylus to follow. The Vinyl side does the same below about 100 Hz.
Groove position
A record turns at a constant speed, so the inner grooves pass the stylus more slowly than the outer ones. Less groove per second means softer highs and a little more distortion near the end of a side.
Cut level
A hotter cut is louder, but it is harder to track cleanly. Push it up to hear peaks round off and edges thicken.
Record condition
Wear dulls the treble and raises the noise floor. Turn on surface noise to hear hiss, ticks and rumble grow with it.
Playback character
Warm is a full-bodied moving-magnet style voicing and the easiest to hear. Clean is subtle. Open is brighter, in the style of a moving-coil cartridge.
Wow and flutter
Tiny changes in the speed of a turntable or a tape. Most noticeable on held piano or vocal notes.
Tape type
Type I ferric tape has more room for loud treble but more hiss. Type II chrome is quieter, but cymbals and sibilance saturate sooner.
Record level
Recording hotter lifts the music above the hiss, but adds distortion and squashes loud treble sooner.
Head alignment
The tape head should sit square to the tape. Tilt it and the highs fade, and one stereo channel arrives a few microseconds after the other.
Tape condition
A tired tape loses treble and drops out more often. Turn on tape hiss to hear the dropouts.
Dolby B
Boosts quiet treble when recording and cuts it on playback, taking the hiss down with it. If the tape loses treble on the way, playback cuts too much and the sound goes duller still.
Does vinyl sound better than CD?
By measurement, a CD is the more accurate format: quieter, wider in dynamic range and identical on every play. Whether that sounds better is a matter of taste, and plenty of listeners prefer what a record does to their music. Others love the sleeve, the ritual and the act of sitting down to listen to a whole side.
The honest way to settle it for yourself is a blind test at matched levels, which is exactly what the simulator above is built for.
How to run a fair blind test
- Use headphones, at a comfortable volume, with a track you know well.
- Press Check the switch once, to make sure Vinyl and Cassette really go silent and nothing is playing around the simulator.
- Turn surface noise, tape hiss and wow and flutter off, or the ticks and hiss will give the answer away.
- Listen to all three on the same passage, then pick Blind and decide which it is.
- Do at least ten rounds. Seven or more right is good evidence that you hear a difference; three or four is what guessing scores.
Questions
Is the vinyl vs CD vs cassette simulator free?
Yes. Format War is free for everyone, with no account and no sign-up.
Is my music uploaded anywhere?
No. Files are decoded and processed in your browser, and a shared tab’s sound goes straight into the same local audio engine. Nothing is sent to Unrip or anyone else.
Can I use Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube or Tidal?
In Chrome or Edge on a computer you can share any browser tab that plays audio, including web players. Some sites protect their audio and share silence; if that happens, open a file you own instead.
Which browsers does it work in?
Opening a file works in current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. Sharing a tab needs desktop Chrome or Edge, because only they can share one tab’s audio and mute the original at the same time.
Is this exactly what my record will sound like?
No. It is an illustrative model of a typical playback chain applied to your digital track. A real record is cut from its own master and played on your own turntable, cartridge and phono stage, and all of those change the sound.
Is this exactly what a cassette sounds like?
No. The model follows published figures for stereo tape on a good deck, but real cassettes vary widely with the tape, the deck, and how they were recorded or duplicated. Several details, such as the size of the bass bump and the wow and flutter rates, are illustrative.
Why are Vinyl and Cassette level-matched?
When two versions differ in loudness, most people prefer the louder one and hear it as clearer or fuller. Matching levels means you judge the tone, not the volume.
What is a blind ABX test?
You hear each format knowing which is which, then an unknown X that is secretly one of them, and say which. Here there are three formats, so guessing gets about one in three right, and only a clear majority over many rounds shows you can really hear a difference.
Choosing which format to buy? The buying guide covers editions, condition grades and shipping.