2. analog
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More convinced of analog than ever

Wednesday night I went to my local high end shop's "Music Matters" open house, which featured six meticulously set up listening rooms highlighting the best and brightest offerings from Wilson, Transparent, Audio Research, Ayre, Magnepan, Peachtree, B&W, Classe, Rotel, etc., with factory reps to introduce their products and innovations.

There were unmistakable improvements in reproduction of redbook CD, with jitter reduced to near zero, and holographic reproduction of images, soundstages, and the minute signals that indicate instrument resonance and hall ambience.

And yet... and yet... when the demos shifted from redbook to the new downloadable hi-rez digital formats in 24/88.2 and 24/96, there was an unmistakable jump in resolution around the edges of the notes, of sounds swelling, resonating, and decaying, of greater verisimilitude.

But compared to the turntable demos, I'd say the 24-bit digital got me about 80% there, whereas LP playback closed the gap completely. Once the LPs started spinning, there was a collective relaxed "aaaahhh" that went through the audience. It wasn't because of dynamic compression. Far from it, the Ayre prototype turntable was strikingly dynamic with a subterranean noise floor.

The sense of ease and relaxation I attribute to a sudden drop in listener fatigue. The LP-source music had so much more of what makes music musical. We didn't have to work nearly as hard to rectify the ear-brain connection as with even the best of 24-bit digital, which was still significantly better than redbook. The redbook playback always reminded me that I was listening to "hi-fi," even when played through multi-thousand dollar players from ARC and Ayre.

Even my local Brit-oriented Rega/Naim dealer asserts that the latest CD players rival or exceed LP playback.

I say nay.

What say you?
johnnyb53
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audiotomb
1,059 posts
 
applebook

I'm assuming digital recording / playback makes a huge jump
and give you the flexibility to have something greater than a docked ipod
sns
653 posts
 
I agree with Applebook, when you record your vinyl to digital you are getting digital sound. I happen to like digital sound, as well as vinyl, and so I can be happy listening to both. I would never think of giving up my vinyl, the reason I've kept my 2500 lps from the 70's. I also can't fathom giving up my 7000 cd's, way too much good music. Seems I'm more a music lover than audiophile? Can't digital, analog and music loving all come together, kind of like the unified theory in physics, everything can come together in wonderful perfection!
hxt1
141 posts
 
I'll kick the dead horse just one more time...... Applebook makes some good points. And I am one of those who have yet to hear (in my system) CD's or Sacd's match vinyl for realism, immediacy, transparency, and so on. OTOH my digital front end isn't exactly state of the art (sacdmods dv555es).
None of this means I hate digital, or am a snob, or consider myself more intelligent than the next man.... It just means that I prefer vinyl to digital.
It's an opinion, and I don't need statistics, data, or any other hogwash to back it up. However, I'm warning you, I will be back when I get my Modwright Platimun truth!!! (I've heard waaaaaay too much good stuff about this unit)!
peace, love, and damned good music, Harv.
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onhwy61
4,163 posts
 
By audiophile standards, very high quality analog to digital converters are fairly cheap, under $3k. Depending upon the quality of the vinyl and the care taken, home vinyl to digital conversions can meet or exceed many commercial CD offerings. This is particularly true if you convert at high sampling/bit depth. The current issue of Stereophile has a detailed article on one such method.
applebook
13 posts
 
Both formats are pretty much necessary for most modern audiophiles. Only folks who listen to nothing but oldies can live on vinyl only. I think that CD can sound excellent with correctly matched gear and a quality CD production; SACD is even better, and the future for digital is ridiculously high bit-rate formats on Blu-Ray.

Maybe one day, digital will finally overtake vinyl, but for now, the black plastic platter remains my choice for ultimate fidelity, especially with regards to classic rock, jazz, and classical recordings from the '60s to the early '90s.

The surprising thing for me is that in my experience, even current digital releases sound more detailed and resolving on vinyl than on CD --with comparable digital and TT as sources.
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