2. tech-talk
  3. 157932-137904

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
 
cd318
Needless to say that cable merchants, snake oil doctors, magic pebble peddlers etc all tend to all be firmly on the subjectivist side.

No surprises there.

>>>>>Logical fallacy alert. 🚨 No surprises there if you’re a self-annointed pseudo skeptic. Typical phony baloney argument presumably made to create a false concept of US and THEM, everything is BLACK and WHITE with them. Controlled blind tests promoted by Olive and Toole are in fact.... subjective. Hello! I like Toole, he was great in Lawrence of Arabia.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

glupson
In fact, it was "pseudo scientists" that caught my attention.

>>>>>Never get into a technical argument with a history major, if history has taught us anything. How can a non technical person be expected to decide which argument is correct. Answer at 11. Cue glubson for clever retort. 
glupson
7,842 posts
 

Answer promised for 11(ish):


geoffkait is pseudo-glupson.


(hint: glupson actually gives answer at 11ish)

roberttdid OP
534 posts
 
Good question! Maybe you can answer it as being non-technical on the topic has never stopped you before.

geoffkait23,053 posts07-01-2020 6:53am
How can a non technical person be expected to decide which argument is correct. Answer at 11. Cue glubson for clever retort.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Oh, geez, two snappy retorts in a row. Be still my heart. Which illustrates what I’ve been saying all along, two 1/2 wits doesn’t always equal one whole wit. 😳😳 it’s nice to know I can always count on you two knuckleheads for something stupid. In robberrttddidd’s case probably too much time in front of an oscilloscope fried his brain. 🍳 We can probably blame the public school system on glubson.
More to discover