Vinyl / High qual analog tape / High-res digital -- One of these is not like the other

Thanks glupson.  Appreciate it.

"The sound of a very good well-tuned system can be expected to change week to week and day to day and hour to hour sometimes for any number of reasons."

Michael Green has entered the building.

roberttdid

No offence to Mike, but his room, his equipment, his sound, is still tuned to the sound he prefers, and that may even be a popular preference, but still a preference.

That's true of any audio system. An illusion is the best any system can create, and even the best illusions are imperfect. So it is always about preference.

I find listening to our main system far more pleasing than reference headphones, but when I need to pick out fine details, the reference headphones are my go to, and even those I have a few of and they all sound different.

Same here. At least with headphones, you eliminate any effects that are the result of room acoustics.

mikelavigne,

"so if you compare the golden age of 2 channel analog it’s mid 50’s to around 1970. you have the relative purity of the process and the gear. those recordings are hard for digital to compete with. plus in many ways the expectations to make ’live’ recordings were much greater on the artists. and more resources were devoted to the process by the labels. the best of this era can’t be touched by the digital era."



I would tend to agree. All of that cramming more and more tracks onto the same tape (ofen 1/4 inch) can’t have helped things, nor the bouncing down that was regularly employed increasingly throughout the late 60s/70s. Nor the loss of that ’live’ sound after innumerable takes. No wonder the lo-fi Nebraska sounds so fresh.

I think the main issue is whether the industry has even ever cared about sound quality? All the evidence I’ve seen suggests that sound quality was always a minor, maybe even a trivial concern for them. And it wasn’t all Phil Spector’s fault.

What about the artists themselves?
Certain bands like Pink Floyd and Steely Dan seem to have cared about their sound, maybe a few others like Dylan and Kate Bush too, but how many of the others? Obviously, not too many.

Apparently a new Dylan album is out soon. Should be interesting to see how it sounds / was recorded etc.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/culture/2020/06/bob-dylan-rough-rowdy-ways-album-review.amp

As an aside, I think you were quite brave on taking that controlled cable (or was it messing with your mind?) challenge. Especially with the results posted online.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/86-ultra-hi-end-ht-gear-20-000/941184-observations-controlled-cable-te...

A far more civil discussion than most. It can happen. 
I’d be curious to know the age and sex of most posters. I suspect most here are males over fifty or sixty. I’m over sixty. 
As you might have guessed: I‘d bet the hearing of many here is limited. (my dog whistle app tells me my high end hearing is going)

Does hearing, gear, the source or does the room matter? Yes. It’s all interconnected and those who proffer to enjoy the music may be the most sage. Good for those of you that can hear and chase the nuance. Great fun!

Is my room and gear like mikelavigne’s ( love your set up and I’m scheming on something similar that won’t get me divorced so in other words forgetaboutit) or millercarbon‘s, er no.

Do I love music and listen many hours a day. Y E S. Do I read, listen and tweak. Yes. Do discussions like this inspire. Yes? Do I have a soft spot for the likes of “ that casette guy” (pocket protector too?) geoffkait? Sure!