When is digital going to get the soul of music?


I have to ask this(actually, I thought I mentioned this in another thread.). It's been at least 25 years of digital. The equivalent in vinyl is 1975. I am currently listening to a pre-1975 album. It conveys the soul of music. Although digital may be more detailed, and even gives more detail than analog does(in a way), when will it convey the soul of music. This has escaped digital, as far as I can tell.
mmakshak
Tbg, I see you have a very resolving system. I am not anti-digital, as I just recently bought 180 cd's, and I feel the damage that digital did to music was mostly done in the past. The only Halcyonic isolator I could find costs $7,500(their headquarters is less than 20 miles from me.). I could imagine that the Halcyonic lowers the noise floor. My Lessloss pc's lowered the noise floor, but I still have reservations about digital. Do you hear a background to digital that isn't natural? Also, do you feel as relaxed after listening to digital as you do after listening to analog(We used to do muscle testing that showed that digital weakened your muscles.)? Shadorne, I will go into my live versus recorded sessions with an open mind, but will revisit what you said after they are over.
I did not think older CD players got the sould of music, but they are doing better lately. I think Simaudio Andromeda does (maybe not as good as TT), and some others I am sure depending on system. It also depends on what musical characteristics you like (insturments sound somewhat real, somewhat real dynamics, etc).

To me the soul of music depends a little on my mood too. Sometimes I am in the mood, other times no.

Thanks

Bill
Both digital and analog have distortion. Neither will truly compare with live music. That said, there is a big difference between the distortion caused by analog, and that caused by digital. To grossly summarize it, there is actually more distortion in analog, as digital fans are fond of pointing out. However, the distortion is almost entirely at quite low frequencies. The distortion in digital, though much less, is still MUCH more musically objectionable, as it takes place at higher frequencies, and is much more audible all of the time. As some have said, advances have been made in the quality of digital reproduction; however, this fundamental distortion of the frequencies that are the most used in music cannot be helped, and that is why despite the advances in resolution, etc., digital will never really rival analog. Close, maybe, but definitely no cigar.
There is nothing inherently problematic or wrong with digital today, even in the cases of CD and broadband internet. There are increasingly more cases everyday where it is done right rather than wrong at a cost most can afford.

Also, digital processing options add tremendous flexibility regarding the nature of the resulting sound, based on personal preference.

Analog sounds great too when done right but the medium is inherently limited as a whole compared to digital which is why its future is limited and digital's is not.
Analog only lovers are going to have to face the fact that maybe digital will never capture the soul of music for themselves but for many people digital already surpasses the sound quality of vinyl and it will surpass it for most people very soon.

I have read many reviews and threads where dedicated vinyl lovers have found digital players that they enjoy as much as their vinyl gear. This will never happen for Michael Fremer or for some on this forum, but you have to realize that you are a very small but vocal minority.

I have already mentioned a few of times on these threads that according to the RIAA and Nielsen Soundscan, about one million new vinyl albums were sold last year. That is just not a lot of people buying a lot of vinyl.

Digital sound is improving rapidly and the learning curve on how to make digital sound great is about to go parabolic. I suggest that everyone keep an open mind on digital and get ready for high-res digital downloads.