Worth pursuing analog sound from digital?
As a vinyl lover for years I was not able to enjoy digital as much as vinyl. But my perspective has changed! Several improvements to the power supply (including grounding) of my system and to my digital front end have further reduced the difference between digital and analog. A vibraplane platform and an oversized solid core silver power cord (DIY - not expensive!) were further improvements. I would have never thought a simple red book CD is able to deliver a 3-D stage with imaging while at the same time providing high resolution without sounding noticeably digital. Obvious flaws of early digital recordings remain unpleasant to listen to - but if the recording and mixing was done right even a red book CD is able to impress! |
cleeds2,434 posts09-11-2019 1:41pmelliottbnewcombjr Digital is a broken chain, no matter how many links, how much you polish those broken links, Digital will/can NEVER be the unbroken chain analog is.It isn't clear what you mean here. Digital isn't perfect - and neither is analog - but neither represent a "broken chain." Of course, some people believe that digital data is missing because of sampling rates (which is false, as long as Nyquist is observed) or that the LP has infinite resolution (which is false, or you could install Windows on it). ....................... ah, I used wrong terms, how about this: analog is unbroken ribbon, digital is an assembled chain. mouth, mic, lp cutter = unbroken ribbon. mouth, mic, tape = unbroken ribbon. lp groove, stylus, phono eq, amp, speaker = copy of an unbroken ribbon. tape, tape eq, amp, speaker = copy of an unbroken ribbon. digital is bits, assembled into a chain, no matter how many, how manipulated, how quiet, .... after some 45 years, my simple summation is: analog has unbroken overtones in perfect timing, relative strengths, decay strength, .... Analog is definitely higher noise ...Often true, but no inherently so. It depends on the analog recording and the digital recording to which it's being compared. Experiencing the Artist's conceived presentation of their chosen play list, in the order presented, is a part of LP ...And of CD, too. ... amplification, it's the same, transistors were the instant on, less heat, more affordable dream, again, just not nirvana, not Analog like tube amplification is ...Again, it isn't clear what you mean here. Solid state amplifiers for hi-fi use are certainly analog. .................................... yeah, I am wrong about that, audio transistor amps are analog, thanks for catching that. given analog source, why do I prefer tubes to digital amplification? they say tubes include warm distortion, whatever it is, given great speakers (high efficiency for tubes), properly matched to the listening space, both sound great. When I do comparison testing, i.e. Sgt Peppers, CD; LP; R2R tape, I, and everyone, pick LP over CD, and Tape over LP, and, without fail, my 30 watt tube amps over my 300 wpc SS McIntosh. The LP has more noise than the CD, the Tape has more noise than the LP, yet |
