Shall I make the move or just wait for the SACD/DVDA ? Isn't SACD dying? It seems like many new pieces of Audio gear do NOT support SACD. For example, I am hot to buy Nagra's high-end CD player and it does not support SACD. Plus many new recordings are not coming out on SACD. It looks like Redbook CD is here for a few more years. Regarding Vinyl, I just don't get it. I have heard a fancy system with really good vinyl and yes, it sounded great, but... Can you put up with the pops, and scratches? I am also thinking of what Peter Aczel wrote in the Audio Critic: "Digital audio has brought us flatter frequency response, deeper bass, wider dynamic range, lower THD, lower noise floor, safer storage, and greater editability than any other technology in the history of sound reproduction. It has every reason to sound better than analog, and it does the possible exception being 30-ips analog tape with Dolby SR, which is capable of sounding just as good
but which the tweaks arent even talking about. They talk about vinyl, for crying out loud; they say digital just doesnt have the same airiness, smoothness, front-to-back depth, dimensionality, tonal gradations, etc. etc. This is truly sickening drivel, without any foundation in logical thinking or accurate hands-on observation.
Vinyl is not a primary medium; it is nearly always a transfer from tape, sometimes even digital tape, except for the very few direct-to-disc recordings. The process of transferring tape-recorded material to vinyl entails measurable losses and distortions, not to mention mechanical ticks, pops and swishes. |
I've been reading Peter Aczel on and off since the mid-1970s. IMHO, he shouts to make his point of the day, but is as likely to flip-flop as a fish in the bottom of the boat. Yes, CDs can sound pretty darn good and digital can sound extremely good, but what we can order online is usually much better in vinyl. It has to do with the format first, but also the care with which the perveyors of vinyl put their offerings together.
Now it's getting harder and harder to buy a CD that's not seriously overcompressed. The SACDs are getting all screwed up trying to offer a surround version of a two-channel recording. With vinyl they're forced to stick to the basics and do a really good job of that.
I've got an incredible DSD recorder that'll give me 130dB of dynamic range and make better than vinyl 5.6MHz recordings, but there's no software available. We'll see what happens, but with the transition to downloads, all the momentum is toward mp3. There are some really good downloads, but they're few and far between.
Anyway, I wouldn't but a lot of stock in Mr. Aczel's rants.
Dave |
I personally think that vinyl will outlast all digital forms in the end. Certainly there is no doubt that it will outlast CD. SACD is a joke. Downloads will be the next thing, once they loose all compression and more easily can be played from a hard drive. Yeah, yeah, I know...lossless still sucks. Vinyl beats everything and probably always will. |
Chashmal, why would you say SACD is a joke? I'm finding that it meets and/or beats vinyl, depending on the engineering. For instance, all the SACD reissues of the classica RCA recordings of the 1950s are as good or superior to my "shaded dog" copies of the same.
With the right playback equipment, even CDs are not "a joke." They leave something to be desired, but with new upscaling schemes to DSD, elimation of jitter in some machines and other enhancements, the format is finally living up to it's promise.
I too like the hi rez download direction, BUT downloading 3-gig files is a drag, particularly when there are errors in the middle of the download. Even on a T1 line the downloads have been slow and inaccurate for me.
Dave |
Vinyl can sound great on cheap equipment, I know since I've been listening to it for 50 years. You don't need an expensive turntable etc,to enjoy vinyl. Yes, it's better but not necessary.
Yet, not all vinyl is equal. Some vinyl really sucks and is not as good as it's digital equivalent.
In many instances it comes down to the recording quality, and some digital, anyway, keeps getting better.
The wild card is digital played from computer files where there is no moving playback (such as a cd player). This has enormous potential and is believed by some (when lossless) to be far superior to any current cd player. If this is perfected and storage capabilities are improved then it could get very interesting. |
