David@FrankHarvey said:
davedotco said:
One thing I do know, as I have done the experiment, is top class vinyl replay, digitised and recorded, sounds exactly the same as the vinyl when played back. Ie all the things that make vinyl sound like vinyl remain 100% in place in the digital recording.
I find that interesting.
I don't. It just means the CD has recorded what the vinyl is doing. I wouldn't expect anything less.
Exactly, the digital record/playback sequence is essentially transparent, whether at home or in the studio.
It does not, of itself, produce "cold, sterile, masters" as some have claimed, that is a function of the recording and the work done in post preduction. That it happens is true enough, it is the why that is interesting.
Distortion levels are higher in analogue recording and playback systems than in digital, that needs to be understoood and accepted before we can move on.
The interesting thing is that many people find analogue playback more 'realistic' than digital and therefore prefer it. I think there are a number of reasons for that, higher noise for example.
One interesting arguement I came across recently is this.
'Real', live music is, almost universaly, much louder than hi-fi playback and our ears produce progressively more distortion as levels rise. In a playback system the levels produced produce lower levels of distortion in the ear, in a digital system there is no significant distortion inherent in the system but in an analogue system there is. The ear hears the 'expected' levels of distortion on the analogue system so the music sounds quite realistic, on the digital system there is no such distortion so the music sounds unrealistic.
Not sure that I agree but I thought I would add it to the debate for your amusement.