When is digital going to get the soul of music?

Learsfool,

IMHO people object to digital playback and not the recording itself. Most of the LP material comes from digital masters but very few object to that. Perhaps the real problem is in the playback where in redbook CD (16/44.1) higher frequencies are represented by just few samples while resolution is only 1 part in 65k. Making 10 kHz sinewave in 4 points is very difficult while 20kHz in 2 points is practically impossible. AFAIK Nyquist requirement guarantees only preservation of the frequency (no aliasing) and not the amplitude. SACD is roughly equivalent to 20/96 and is already much better sounding than redbook CD. I've never heard 24/192 masters but few people who did said that sound is incredible.

Kijanki,

I think your analysis is spot on!

THis evidences itself as lesser detail and resolution at higher frequencies. This will offend some more than others. Those with younger highly trained ears are likely more susceptible in general since ability to hear high frequencies is typically far superior when young and declines with age.

While it really depends on the recording, I think the remaining issue in digital is occasional glare in vocals and maybe a woodwind or upper-midrange piano note sometimes.
But this is much less prevalent nowadays.

Learsfool,
It`s fine that you1re a professional musician I don`t think it gives you any more or less authority on the topic. I have several good friends who play music for a living and when listening to music together in various home systems with a digital source have expressed complete joy and emotional connection with the performances. These people have had exposure to good analog and enjoy that as well. These sources were the Well tempered table and a Linn LP12. I certainly agree with fast42 and niacin, a properly setup using high quaility digital sources can sound absolutely soulful,passionate,vital etc. We have at times listen to the same titles in both formats to compare, one is`nt consistently superior to the other.

Learsfool, thanks for the thoughtful response. Unfortunately, however, your guess was wrong -- I am particularly interested in achieving the results I mentioned in the very areas that concern you, "the human voice, or other acoustic instruments, such as a full symphony orchestra". I have experienced one of the world's most respected classical guitarists playing on a couch opposite me, my brother blowing on a saxophone full bore a few feet away, and a time listening to a big band in full cry, where I stepped around the typically hopeless PA setup, and stood right next to the front side of the low stage, only a few feet away from the trumpet and trombone, etc. The latter experience was magnificent, effortless and massive sound; as a test, I "shouted" at the top of my voice during a dense passage, but could not hear myself at all, while the sound from the instruments was effortlessly enveloping and flowing over me, fantastic stuff. This level of reproduction is my benchmark ...

All those deficiencies you mention can be there in setups, but, and sorry, "distortion is distortion is ...". A very key point you make is "analog has more surface noise - but this type of distortion is not embedded in the music itself, and can be listened through". That is exactly the principle that I use for making digital playback (which is what I am using exclusively) work properly. Yes, the type is distortion is "different", but can, and I repeat, can be reduced to the point of being effectively, musically, inaudible. This is nothing to do with readings someone has got on a distortion meter, they are about as useful as saying a car has been measured as being capable of 100mph, for picking which vehicle is superior on the road!

I have certainly been able to enjoy, on a digital setup, the famous climax of Beethoven's 9th with the impact I mentioned earlier, and at the other extreme, the earliest recordings of Melba, 1910's or so, and the ambience and realism of the piano accompaniment in the distance delicately and convincingly captured ...

Frank