The character of analog and digital


Having just obtained some high quality analogue components, I want make some comments on the character of both analog and digital.
First of all it’s very difficult to speak of analog in general. Records vary widely (indeed wildly) in sonic character and quality. Digital recordings are much more uniform. When you play a digital file you more or less know what your getting. Of course some sound better than others, but there is a consistency of character. With records, it’s the Wild West. Variation in SQ and character are rampant.


Therefore it becomes very difficult to make generalizations on which categorically sounds better.

128x128rvpiano

'Vinyl captures much more of the original event'? The only ones who capture anything from the 'original event' are the producer, engineers, etc. The recording sounds how they want it to sound. No reason why good digital shouldn't be as good as good analog when it comes to capturing 'original events'. 

Since I can listen to hours of digital music in a day, these people who can't stand more than five minutes of it, supposing they exist, have nothing to do with me. That aside, far be it from me to argue with some else's religion.

 

Don’t expect to change any minds. Like I said, people listen for different attributes. Audiophiles love to justify music appreciation in technical terms. What I have seen, over and over again, digital just ain’t all that.

And yet digital can be all of that. If the listeners were not engage or interested in listening to the CDs, could simply reflect the digital hardware not up to the task. Fortunately I haven’t experienced this let down with digital sourced audio components if there’re up to snuff.

Both analog and digital are subject to the same range/spectrum of poor to sublime. Either is dependent on quality of the recordings and quality of the respective hardware. I’d take a deeper examination of what is being utilized and seek to improve. Digital is absolutely capable of delivering natural, captivating and exquisite sound quality if one has assembled a proper set up.

Charles

 

It suddenly occurs to me - suppose analog preference is simply an aversion to the digital sound, and nothing more? Going on and on about how analog is superior this way and that way would merely be a mirror image of your aversion to digital recording. I think there’s a real distinction to be made here. There are things about digital that displease some people, and when this kind of person is introduced to analog never having having heard it seriously it’s a revelation to them. I tend to prefer the digital sound, but I have no aversion to the analog sound so there's nothing to keep me from enjoying my LPs when I listen to him.

Second thing that just occurred to me: One comparison you could make to preferring analog to digital is preferring driving with a stick to driving with an automatic transmission. Automatic is easier and more convenient, but you might find driving standard shift is more enjoyable to you.

ghdprentice: “The late 50’s / early 60’s vinyl really stand out as jaw droppingly good.”

Agree wholeheartedly