Vinyl vs. top-notch digital

Jeff,

Here is a commentary on the misconceptions in the wired article. It tries to point out there is most likely a subjective basis for preferences.

For those who have a DSP preamplifier with any half decent DAC's from the past ten years, I would suggest trying to listen to your Vinyl rig through 'direct path' versus A to D and D to A (with no filtering or tonal adjustment from the DSP). If you have the volume levels matched precisely and a good quality DSP then it should be impossible to tell which one sounds better or when the DSP is in the loop and when it is not (best to do this blind). If this does not convince you that digital is transparent then I don't know what will.

The easiest way is to do this is with a remote - so you don't move your position - but it is best to have someone else make the switch in case bias creeps in from knowledge of what you are listening to. Frankly, most modern D to A and A to D has a precision of reproduction that is far beyond human hearing.

either this is reality.....

Frankly, most modern D to A and A to D has a precision of reproduction that is far beyond human hearing.

or this is reality...

a month ago a friend, who owns a record label, used my tt to record some direct-to-disc Lps to make an K2HD recording. he had purchased the rights to these Lps and no master tape exists. he brought 3 pro audio guys and 2 hi-rez recorders; a Pacific Microsonics II (recording at 176/24) and a DXD (recording at 386/32). during this session; we did many test recordings back and forth between the tt and the two state-of-the-art digital recorders.

you would think that these ultimate digital recorders could make a digital recording indistinguishable from the original Lp. if you thought that you would be very wrong.

as good as the digital sounded; the Lp still smoked the hard drive based recordings. digital (at whatever resolution) simply cannot get the whole picture.

the fact is that even at 386khz with a 32 bit word length it is easy to hear the shortcommings of digital's attempt to reproduce music compared to vinyl.

just listen.

Why do these questions always degrade to a digital vs. analog debate? Who cares? It's like trying to convince someone to switch religions or political parties.

Jeff just go listen for yourself. Bring your cd player and do the comparisons.

Oh and about the wired article the reason I posted it was to point out that new music is being put out on vinyl. That's it.

Justin

the fact is that even at 386khz with a 32 bit word length it is easy to hear the shortcommings of digital's attempt to reproduce music compared to vinyl.

just listen.

Yeah but that is all because of the tourmaline hair dryer tweak, which gives Vinyl a massive but unfair advantage!

More seriously, perhaps the K2HD guys either made a mistake or their equipment was faulty or you were getting microphonics from the cartridge or preamp when playing vinyl rather than on the digital devices (no microphonics). Distortion, S/N and other specifications on the type of high end digital gear used should have made your observations impossible provided the equipment was working properly and operated correctly.

yeah right. 2 different hi-rez professional recording chains were simultaniously mysteriously faulty and the three pro audio guys plus the producer were oblivious to that. and remember; their recorders were getting the same signal source as my amps and speakers......but could not fully reproduce it at playback. any distortion in my tt would (according to your position) also be in the recording.

Distortion, S/N and other specifications on the type of high end digital gear used should have made your observations impossible provided the equipment was working properly and operated correctly.

i have one question. if you had been there and heard it; checked and rechecked your gear; and then heard it again.....would you then believe it?

here is what the pro audio guys said. "i guess i've never been exposed to a really high performance vinyl set-up before.....it really openned my eyes".