When is digital going to get the soul of music?


I have to ask this(actually, I thought I mentioned this in another thread.). It's been at least 25 years of digital. The equivalent in vinyl is 1975. I am currently listening to a pre-1975 album. It conveys the soul of music. Although digital may be more detailed, and even gives more detail than analog does(in a way), when will it convey the soul of music. This has escaped digital, as far as I can tell.
mmakshak
Mmakshak,

Way way back in this thread you were told that digital was not compatible with two channel playback. As you have found even stuffing tubes (lol) in a Cd player can't over come the fact you only have two speakers. I know how this topic rubs audiophiles the wrong way, but to say "digital"
is lacking when you haven't even tried to tap the real strenght of its abilities then your comments have an asterisk attached. And I am talking about stereo redbook Cd's

*when listening to digital on a two channel system, analog appears to better it.

Did you ever think that LP's enjoy homefield advantage on a two channel systems? as they were developed together at the same time over 5 decades?

Why is home theater so popular? surround sound of course! Now do you really think if audiophiles put their money where their mouth was and supported digital (better sound) and the surround companies who matter that it would be a matter of 6 months a year before improved multi-channel music systems would begin to appear for the music enthusiast!

I find that most audio equipment designers are clueless when it comes to the potential of surround. Most just slap the chips in from Dolby, Cirrus and car stereo EQ DSP's and call that a processor.

Think about how far back in the stone age audiophiles are when they are embracing amplifiers that have circuits that were used to send morse code from ship to ship in 1917! Have systems with no room correction or cannot adapt to the soundstage of an orchestra than to a soloist....these nuances left homogenized by room acoustics and the limitations of the basic pair of loudspeaker.

Funny thing is you never mentioned what speakers you have, which is likely a the source of yourpercieved "problems". It has been my direct experience that the high frequency problem likely exists in the speakers not the cd player.

New Records are not $3 a pop, used records are $3 a pop. So are used CD's $3-$5. Why is there a double standard applied? I'll tell you why, because any jr. high shop class can make a working turntable, its not that hard.

It takes a serious company with real tooling capacity to make a Cd transport. I've never seen a DIY Cd transport. Fear of the unknown, how many audiophiles are control freaks,,,lots its part of the personality.

IMO, the best CD transport were made in the early to mid nineties, they were overbuilt, pioneer stable platter. etc.

DVD transports are built so marginally its no wonder we still have significant jitter and data loss problems. But since we don't "see" the transport we likely don't perceive its part of the problem....so we fix what we can see...new cables or we buy a new more expensive transport
when the one we had was simply out of specification.

Having watched my grandfather (a true audiophile) and learning from him, todays audio enthusiast is a Consumer not a participant of the hobby. Knowledge is replaced by belief. Did jesus walk on water or did he walk across a reflection on the sand? What do you believe?

If a $20,000 preamplifier doesn't come with the right power cord, is the designer competent? What do you believe?

The right answer will never be a concensus as opinions represent beliefs. In the face of facts, there can be no opinion.

Have a good one
IMO, the best CD transport were made in the early to mid nineties, they were overbuilt, pioneer stable platter. etc.
You are overlooking the Teac Esoteric VRDS transport. The manufacturing on this unit is way ahead of what Pioneer were doing with the Stable Platter.

Regards,
the soul is in the listener not the music.

the listener is the most important variable, more so than the music or the equipment.
The soul is in the artist's performance. Whether a stereo system can convey it or not, specifically, whether or not the digital format is capable of preserving the soul of the original performance is the question here. My feeling, from listening, is that it can.

And whether or not a specific individual is capable of grasping the "soul" of a particular artist's performance is yet another matter.
Sorry, wrong again. The soul starts in the composer. If the composer does not commit the right notes to the score, no amount of performing skill and passion, no amount of artsy recording engineering, no amount of fanciful analog or digital reproduction, no amount of angst, passion or hyperactive neurotransmitters in the listener are going to make an Iot of difference. . . In other words, the elusive 'soul' of music lives in the chain of artistic, technical and emotional causality.