what if Master Tape is digital (most common)?
1. Master Tape to CD to DAC to amp
2. Master Tape to DAC to LP to amp
Both have one D/A conversion. Perhaps quality of D/A conversion is important since most of LPs now comes from digital Master Tapes?
Hi Kijanki,
I suppose that there are a number of comparisons along those lines that would yield useful data points. But I think that step 1 in resolving these kinds of debates, which is perhaps all that can ultimately be hoped for, is to get the debates out of the realm of ideology and theory (as to whether or not chopping up the signal into discrete samples and finite numbers of bits is inherently a flawed concept), and to the point where it is recognized that neither the digital nor the analog approach is inherently flawed, and what counts is the quality of the implementation.
I think that a re-do of the Wilson Audio recording I described would go a long way toward either proving or disproving that assertion, and thereby narrowing the scope of these debates.
I certainly don't profess to have the experience to be able to assert either position with certainty, but fwiw my own instinct is that digital is not inherently flawed, and that quality of implementation (in both the recording and mastering process and in the playback process) is what counts.
Best regards,
-- Al
