Digital Support

Umm...it sounds like there are personal issues here that go a bit beyond the discussion of analog vs. digital audio. I might suggest that a private conversation about this may be in order.

Gregm: My understanding of the encoding technology for CD's is that it does theoretically enable a precise extraction of the data from its encoded form, but because of the limitations of digital electronics, its extremely difficult, if not impossible to achieve. The newer formats presumably make attaining this goal easier given the known processing issues with DACs, but do not provide additional source information. Perhaps those folks better acquainted with digital electronics can chime in and correct me here.

Ken

Ken, I have no idea who Paulwp is and have never had any discussions with him before. Given his completely unwarranted responses above, I won't be discussing *anything* further with him--in public or private!

I think I generally agree with your understanding of the current CD encoding technology, although I think you might be overstating its limitations. To be fair, there are many who would point out that the limitations in analog encoding/playback are greater.

I think you may be right about the limitations of analog media being somewhat more pronounced than digital. From my understanding however, and from what I've been able to hear, the real differences lie more in the extraction and reproduction of the sound rather than in the recording. Certainly, the potential of digital electronics to reproduce the sound better than analog sources is there. However, my experience has been that the very good analog sources I've listened to (mind you, its always a package with very good amplification and speakers) have provided a more enjoyable listening experience than their digital counterparts. Some of this may be the way LPs are equalized relative to CDs, and my preference may simply lean in that direction. Its hard to say. In my home I don't have an exceptionally high quality vinyl setup, so almost everything I listen to is on CD. Still, when I treat myself to an afternoon of window shopping at the local audio shops, I always end up saying "ahhh" when the platters are spun.

It would be very helpful for me to get a layperson's explanation of differences and advantages of the SACD and DVD-A formats over the standard CD format. Also, if anyone is familiar with the equalization used with LPs (RIAA?), it would be interesting to hear an explanation of how it differs from CD eq.

Cheers,
Ken

I agree, it certainly becomes a more complicated issue when trying to compare analog and digital sources, as there are so many other variables involved in the extraction/playback process (unless one has access to the master tapes). Ironically, I think some of the complaints about "digital sound" expressed by many people may be due to the less-than-ideal *analog* circuitry that is/was used in even some high-end digital recording/playback equipment.

Of course I can't say what differences you are hearing in the systems you've listened to, although I don't think the RIAA equalization of LPs is likely to be a factor (if done properly). Perhaps you are reacting to euphonic colorations that are common in vinyl/analog playback systems? I can't say my experience with vinyl has been as positive, but again, we may be listening for different things.