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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
glupson
7,842 posts
 
For whatever it is worth, I followed mikelavigne's recommendation and bought Ferit Odom's Dameronia with Strings LP.

My system, especially turntable, is very limited but I do have to admit that this LP sounds "good". I will not claim it has this or that, loudness wars, natural, accurate, and whatever else is argued here, but, if you like that kind of music, I would recommend you try it. There is also a CD version of it. I think it comes from same analog tapes, but it exists.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Empirical evidence is the information received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and documentation of patterns and behavior through experimentation.[1] The term comes from the Greek word for experience, ἐμπειρία (empeiría).

It’s clear robberrttddidd is a pseudo scientist, not a very good one.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

roberttdid OP
When a dude who lies about his qualifications as a physicist (I read old posts), sells Magic Pebbles to improve sound, and claims to improve audio via a telephone call .. just the call, not a call about audio, ...calls you a pseudo scientist, I will take that as high praise. Must really burn your Geoff that you never got published, not once, after that paper in what Junior High and people who actually contribute to science like me get published, cited, even invited to speak. Your envy and jealously is really ugly but keep doing you.

>>>You are one angry pseudo scientist. 😡 Are you trying out for the angry old fart on 12 Angry Men? 😃 A device only has to be ahead of the average Joe Blow’s understanding to be considered magic or a hoax. Everything’s topsy turvy, me topsy, you turvy. 🤗
glupson
7,842 posts
 
It is getting tangled in here.
isochronism
2,893 posts
 
I just checked that out on YouTube. Very nice!! Recorded on Ampex tape, Neumann cutting lathe, etc. 👍
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