78 RPM - Potential for better sound than digital?

Mark...I have been collecting old blues 78's for the past 5-6 years and have found copies which do indeed sound fantastic. As good as digital? No. However, the vast majority are just not all that great sorry to say. A big problem I see is price. I have many 78's that have cost several thousand dollars each in order to get an excellent copy. Most other types of music are not very collectible and are much cheaper to purchase in mint condition.

Well, as good in what way? as low a noise floor? no, but you won't get that with an LP either. I have heard plenty of 78's that sounded better than cd's and many sound bad just like many lp's and cd's sound bad. A key thing is that there is very little moneuy being put into 78 reproduction right now. Also, depending on the era, the systems now are not really geared for that sound. They made some pretty hi fi 78's though.

Your comments are very helpful. Acusounds comment makes this venture sound intriguing. I appreciate Mags5000's comment about the expense of getting clean copies. I would probably just take an opportunistic approach, picking up 78s I can acquire affordably, passing on the rest. Rather than asking if digital is better, I should have asked if one can, on many occassions, get better than digital sound out of a 78 for a given recording. I'm not sure I follow Mothra's comment about systems geared for the sound, but I think Graham Slee has some intriguing products that at least address equalization issues. Thanks! Mark

in terms of the sound issues, what I mean is that systems are geared and tested with whatever the current software is. Speaker designers are going to be listening to LP's or cd's not 45's or 78's. Jukeboxes sound great for 45's because they were tested listening to 45's.

Back when 78's ruled, things were changing a lot. One thing you can be sure of though is that 78's were not recorded or tested on what your conventional modern system is. This doesn't mean they won't sound great, it's just a fact of life.

In the 50's and 60's a lot of record were mixed on altec 604's. If you listen to those records on those speakers, it may make more sense then on magnaaplanars.

Obviously the intention is for everything to sound good everywhere, but this is more often wished than it is realized.

I agree with the clean copy comment - the professionals obviously had the resources to find very good copies of what they were transferring, not to mention knowing what if any playback curves or eq was needed for each recording. I can imagine the people that transfer 78's are passionate about it.

I would bet if you focused on good digital with tubes in the system, you'd achieve some nice sound.

Incidentally, Soundsmith's new strain gage cart has a 78 stylus option. You need thier filter in the system, but it;s so cool to see them slip one stylus in and swap for another in a few seconds.