2. analog
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Beyond the sound of things, and into the soul of things.


Beyond the sound of things, and into the soul of things.

Hi-res audio blows MP3s and AAC files out of the water. Essential data is lost when you listen to music via MP3 files because of the lossy compression that makes these files smaller. High-Resolution Audio can replicate the whole range of sound that the artist created when recording the content. Sony understands the importance of preserving the originality of music, which is why we’ve developed Hi-Res Audio products that allow audiophiles (like you) to listen to music in the best sound quality.

I listened to a file that I had downloaded in WAV which is a higher resolution than FLAC; this was Santana "Abraxas", an LP I bought in 1970, and since that time, have worn out many copies; to say I know every note on that LP is an understatement.

When I compared that file to my pristine LP, it was first in the lineup. As I listened, "It just doesn't get any better than this," I thought.

Now it was time for the LP; as the wax spun, I was floored on the first note; it was so definitive; after that keyboard intro, Santana's guitar just hung in the air, followed by the banging notes on the keyboard again, and then those unforgettable chimes; "Singing Winds and Crying Beasts" is the most perfect instrumental ever; IMO.

While the Hi-Res sounded good, the LP in my room felt good; I was flooded with all the memories I had experienced with this music playing in the background. Does anyone remember "Black Lights"; they made ladies legs glow in the dark when they wore certain kinds of stockings, what a scintillating sight.

So many colorful memories of my misspent youth passed before me as I listened, if only I could misspend them again. That's what the LP did for me; it regenerated my soul with it's soul; LP's have life, digital is the sound after it has been stripped of it's life.



              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn50ipwWarg



Can you relate to the "Soul" of things?


     
orpheus10
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Kudos should go to tape, the medium the recording was made on. Tape is a natural medium. It breathes. Vinyl is simply the neutral repository for the taped information.howver, as I opined recently imho there’s nothing really wrong with CDs per second. The problem in terms of their sound quality arises when they are played using CDCplayers that are still fraught with problems. Like background scattered laser light getting into the not too swift photodetector.
orpheus10 OP
8,668 posts
 

Geoffkait, what I spoke of, possibly has to do with one's ability to perceive, as well as the best rigs ability to deliver all that is on the LP.

A Hi-Res download is from the Master-Tape, and should be close to identical. What I spoke of was almost ethereal; the sound was transferred on the Hi-Res, but not the emotional impact of the music; the music was stripped of it's emotional soul during the transfer.

With the right rig, in addition to the audio, there is an emotional component that is received in the sub-conscious which triggers all the memories, and experiences surrounding the music that is generated by the LP, that's not generated by the Hi-Res.

Intensity of listening is required to experience this.


harold-not-the-barrel
895 posts
 
Digital is a series of sliced pieces of the original analog sound flow. Analog on tape is a natural flow. Digital tries to mime that analog flow. Original analog on tape is the best.
falconquest's avatar
falconquest
1,108 posts
 
Consider this. The digital signal is a series of reference points selected from the analog waveform. A magnetic tape is the alignment of magnetic particles by the record head. Slices, particles, are they really that different?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Digitally remastered cassettes are an interesting medium. While not the last word in air and warmth they are a lot more analog-sounding than most CDs. Which i submit is evidence there’s something wrong with the CD playback machine, not with the CD per se.
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