In Reply to: Excellent response, Scott posted by Chris from Lafayette on March 11, 2017 at 22:27:26:
"I think that if learsfool is hearing all these subtleties via vinyl that he's missing on digital playback, he must have something wrong with his digital set-up."
If this is true over a broad range of source material then i would agree that either there is something wrong with his digital playback or we have a case of strong bias effects. But if it is not true over a broad range of source material then it simply could be a number of other real factors. We have to remember that what we have in the world of audio is a huge and diverse well of source material. LPs, CDs, SACDs, DVD-As, MP3s etc etc of a wide range of recordings. All recordings have their own individual sonic issues and virtues. All masterings of any analog tape sourced recording has a mine field of variations many of which are untrracable. Even digital recordings are often subject to major variations in mastering. And then we have a slew of digital playback that has not been implimented by design or by accident to be audible transparent. Then we have even mopre issues to contend with on the vinyl playback side of things. You have all kinds of distortions that are inherent. Some of them degrade SQ and some of them are euphonic in nature. And you have even greater variants within the different vinyl playback gear. Again some to the detriment of the SQ and some to the enhancement. Whenever I see anyone claiming that digital is always better or that vinyl is always better I suspect this is a malinformed opinion frought with limited experiences and?or major listener bias issues. Because of all the real world variables if one is trying to cut through the audiophile crap and get to the best sound one has to examine each recording and each piece of gear on an individual basis. And one has to understand the difference between objective accuracy, subjective realism and personal preference. I only concern myself with personal preferences.
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Follow Ups
- I think the digital v. analog( vinyl) issue is actually a kind of complex one - Analog Scott 22:48:11 03/11/17 (8)
- "All recordings have their own individual sonic issues and virtues." - rbolaw 08:08:23 03/12/17 (6)
- RE: "All recordings have their own individual sonic issues and virtues." - learsfool 22:31:20 03/14/17 (1)
- RE: "All recordings have their own individual sonic issues and virtues." - Analog Scott 09:55:38 03/16/17 (0)
- oh and about "smeantics" - Analog Scott 23:38:35 03/13/17 (0)
- RE: "All recordings have their own individual sonic issues and virtues." - Analog Scott 22:11:17 03/13/17 (2)
- "...every bit of the audible signal." Good one, Scott! - rbolaw 19:03:14 03/16/17 (1)
- "perfectly reproducing a recording is not the same as perfectly capturing a live music performance" - Analog Scott 10:50:22 03/17/17 (0)
- Yup, pretty much agree with all that [nt] - Chris from Lafayette 23:34:12 03/11/17 (0)