Computer Audio Asylum

Posted by Quiet Earth (A) on May 21, 2008 at 16:06:41

In Reply to: RE: "just raw PCM samples" posted by Tony Lauck on May 21, 2008 at 07:54:32

You make some excellent points Tony. Thanks for hashing this out with me. It's true that articulating my thoughts is a challenge for me. That's a big problem considering that I try to post them here. I hope my lack of writing skills doesn't completely discredit me.

In the old days, when we made an analog recording, every copy of the original recording was clearly different than the original. Noise was added or the dynamic range was reduced in the copy. No one ever argued the point that the original analog recording played back on the original recording machine always sounded better than any copy. For some reason, we now believe that once we digitize the master signal, we can make a copy that sounds exactly like the original recording played back on the original machine. I'm not really convinced of that. It might be true, but I'm just not totally convinced.

You have digital recording equipment set up in your possession. Have you ever noticed that an original recording played back on the same machine that it was recorded on sounds better than your best attempt to make a digital copy? I'm sure your skills and equipment are way better than mine (I still have a lot to learn), but I'll bet that you can hear the difference between the original and the copy and you can't really explain why. There is a disconnect, a change in timing, or something, but there is a change. (I know, there I go again. *Sigh*)

BTW, this thread has really gone quite a ways. I originally posted just to say that I could hear the difference between an uncompressed music file vs. the same file in Apple lossless. Thanks for the intelligent response. I have learned a thing or two.

Edits: 05/21/08