When is digital going to get the soul of music?

(Sure thing. Here's my poor system...LOL at you...)

I said poor performing system not poor system. I also did not indicate that digital was better. Actually, in most cases I agree that analog is better, just that your statement that all cymbals sound the same with your digital front end means that something must be wrong with your digital front end. As a part time Recording Engineer, that uses a high rez multi track system on locations to record up to 50 concerts a year, and having been in the field for almost 30 years, with the first 10 being analog.....I can tell you that if you can not hear a difference in cymbals then either your hardware or software is compromised.

Now the arguement to which is better is another story for another time.

Folks, when I said... cymbals sound the same, I meant to really say that with analog, on my system...I am getting much more enjoyment from the cymbals having much better timbre with a more natural attack and decay than achieved with digital...After all, digital is only an aproximation of the natural analog sound wave. To me, it's like the analog sound wave was passed through a very fine filter, stripping the music (instruments) of it's natural space, air,textures and nuances. The soundstage is much deeper and wider with analog. Digital just doesn't do the cymbals justice like analog. Heck, I was a analog naysayer up until early last fall when I decided to plunge into analog head first. I haven't looked back. That said, enjoy the music. Cheers !

I agree with your statement and when I have the time to really relax and enjoy music and not wear my engineer hat I usually take a spin down the vinyl highway.

Best wishes!

I have found that a spoon full of tube magic helps the digital go down....the digital go down, the digital go down! Specifically, the Yaoin Tube Stage Buffer, which adds harmonic completeness t a digital front end!

I think it's a relative question. For years, analog off of records and tape resolved much more resolution - just like analog film reolved more detail than digital! Same deal.
Another point of issue, is that most home audio speaker systems aren't dynamic and nibble enough to accurately portray what's on the source material, in a dynamically realistic way. That's what I find anyway. Basically, you're mostly dealing with "non-perfect systems", that have holes and flaws somewhere along the way. So how can you capture it all? Always compromises, regardless