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

One common theme I read on forums here and elsewhere is the view by many that there is a pecking order in quality:

Top - High Quality Analog TapeNext - VinylBottom - Digital

I will go out on a limb and say that most, probably approaching almost all those making the claim have never heard a really good analog tape machine and high resolution digital side by side, and have certainly never heard what comes out the other end when it goes to vinyl, i.e. heard the tape/file that went to the cutter, then compared that to the resultant record?

High quality analog tape and high quality digital sound very similar. Add a bit of hiss (noise) to digital, and it would be very difficult to tell which is which. It is not digital, especially high resolution digital that is the outlier, it is vinyl. It is different from the other two.  Perhaps if more people actually experienced this, they would have a different approach to analog/vinyl?

This post has nothing to do with personal taste. If you prefer vinyl, then stick with it and enjoy it. There are reasons why the analog processing that occurs in the vinyl "process" can result in a sound that pleases someone. However, knowledge is good, and if you are set in your ways, you may be preventing the next leap.
roberttdid
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
You’ll never believe what happened. I bought some of the original Mercury Living Presence recordings on cassette. For example Suppe Overtures with Paray and Detroit, also Saint-Seans Symphony No. 3 Organ also with Paray and Detroit. Absolutely better dynamics than CD, maybe on par with the record and better tonality than CD. Also listened to Fennell and Eastman Wind Ensemble - Ruffles and Flourishes. Sweet! These tapes exhibit tremendous fullness and speed in the lower and upper bass. 
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Ferit Odom's Dameronia with Strings sounds really good on Quboz flac 44.1
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
djones51,

I bought orange vinyl and when I sent that link to mikelavigne before my purchase he said it was the same record that he has (number, I guess). He did not comment on the color, though. In any case, the orange one sounds just fine to me, but do not tell geoffkait. He will recommend you paint it green. At the same time, I do recommend you play it in clockwise fashion. It is, in fact, directional.

this record only was pressed in the orange vinyl to my knowledge. in any case it sounds superb.

i have 2 copies; one that i got in a box set directly from Turkey, and another from Acoustic Sounds as a back up.

on another forum one member is a local Turkish friend of Ferit Odman;

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/zero-distortion-tango-time.26464/page-173#post-656827

i might actually be able to acquire a copy of the master tape of this recording.

I wonder if people would be interested in a r2r edition of Dameronia with strings. He has the master tape. If enough people is commited, I can convince him for a limited run.

here is where it gets interesting to compare the source tape, the vinyl and a digital transfer. then a few get an ’ah ha’ moment. done it many times. i compare vinyl and the digital every day for years. don’t always pull out the tape.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
I ordered Dameronia with Strings on XRCD24
  Directly recorded to half-inch analog tape
• Mastered Using K2 Technology!
• Mastered by Tohru Kotetsu at JVC Mastering Studio in Japan
I'll see if I can tell a difference to Flac 44.1 on  Quboz. 
glupson
7,842 posts
 

"...here is where it gets interesting to compare the source tape, the vinyl and a digital transfer..."

I was considering ordering a CD together with LP, just for the fun of comparing them on my, admittedly, lowish-level equipment.

• Mastered Using K2 Technology!

I have a few of the K2 CDs and I cannot say I find them strikingly better than regular ones.





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