Which is more accurate: digital or vinyl?

Mapman, the in-harmonic issue is easily demonstrated. I have to admit I was shocked the first time it was demonstrated to me. You take a sine wave sweep tone and play it back- listen for the 'birdies'.

If your not hearing the brightness of digital there are really only three explanations- either you have a high frequency rolloff in the system that complements the digital artifact or you have a high frequency rolloff in your ears. The third explanation is you have not heard a good analog playback on your system. Of the three, the latter is the most common- most people can hear digital artifacts just fine- I know someone who was deaf in one ear and 50% in the other and he had no problems discerning digital vs analog.

It is very common to hear really excellent digital recordings these days that make you wonder if they are finally there. The real question is, no matter how good the digital, 'what would this have sounded like if an analog recording system was used?' For that I recommend to anyone to try it themselves, of course they might have a bit of a time chasing down the analog equipment :)

I run a recording studio so we see this sort of comparison all the time. I get asked, 'why do you have all this old analog crap?' all the time. I just sit them down and play the difference. They never leave with any questions.

Ralph,

At what frequencies does the harmonic issues occur?

I am not aware of any speaker system that is said to be able to pass a sin wave unaltered so perhaps nothing unusual in sin wave artifacts, chose your type or not.

Original OHM A or F full range Walshes perhaps, but I think even those only went to 16 khz or so.

Maybe when I was 18 years old and tested as able to hear pretty much up to 20khz I would have heard something.

I think for every digital artifact one could point out a different one with analog to counter, so chose your artifacts.

Some matter more than others . To me, if I don't hear it, it doesn't matter. If others do, I suppose it does.

Funny that I think many guys who hate digital are older guys like me who probably can't hear anymore beyond 14 Khz or so whereas the younger kids who should be affected are all into their ipods or maybe slightly better digital if tehy even care.

One other thing I just thought of I will say is that my Dynaudios on my same system can sound a tad bright sometimes, perhaps more so with digital. THere is a consensus though with users that they can be a tad towards the bright side with some gear compared to others, so I attribute it to that. Nothing offensive either, just a slight propensity towards teh bright side. Few speakers are perfectly neutral.

My OHM Walshes though, are generally regarded as having pretty flat response and zero brightness with digital or analog there. They also use a Walsh style driver up to 8Khz or so, then a separate conventional tweeter kicks in. Perhaps there is something in the radically unconventional OHM CLS Walsh driver design that is the magic antidote?

I have heard digital on more conventional high end reference systems at dealers not sound bright either, so I think there is several ways at least perhaps to solve the problem you allude to from what I have heard.

Also I wonder: is there a record out there with a perfectly recorded sine recorded such that it can produce a perfect sin wave with no artifacts when played?