Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

[Al M.]

It's digital because we're listening to it over the internet..... next?

Yup, I made that point too. As obvious as it is to us, it doesn't seem to be to some others, for strange reasons. Hence their extolling the "virtues of analog playback" over digital YouTube recordings.

 

[Al M.]

And good music, i have some on CD !

And I'm sure that one does have a bar code .

 

[the sound of Tao]

Right now i am listening to a original Fleetwood Mac album from 1969, from when Christine McVie was still Perfect and only a guest artist ! Great sound, Mick Fleetwood must be among my 3 favorite drummers of all time

Did you used to model for album covers Milan?

 

[hopkins]

It's digital because we're listening to it over the internet..... next?

What about our brain - is it analog or digital?

Is The Human Brain Analog Or Digital?

Is the human brain analog or digital? This question was originally answered on Quora by Paul King.

www.forbes.com

Leaving this topic for good - it's a waste of time.

 

[SoundMann]

Leaving this topic for good - it's a waste of time.

I on the other hand see threads such as this one as a way to take up idle time.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Concerning streaming services, and unrelated to your (Sound of Tao) post, the elephant in the room is the amount of "crap" that is available on these services. Why? Simply because all of these services play a numbers game, claiming that they offer tens of millions of releases. What they in fact do is offer multiple versions of the same album, but from a large number of dodgy labels. There is absolutely no quality control - neither in terms of sound quality, nor in terms of the metadata. They basically issue anything that the labels will provide.

Qobuz, which markets itself towards audiophiles and claims to have a curated catalog, is no different from any other.

"High resolution" on these services is a joke. 99% of the time it is just Redbook up-sampled.

Obviously, there is a lot to like as well - I would not have both a Qobuz and Spotify subscription otherwise.

at the very tip top of the digital hardware food chain, there are no absolutes on the info delivery choice for best sound. meaning that purity of native format, transfer quality, recording quality.....all those type variables, are more significant than whether it's silver disc, file or streaming. but compromise anywhere, and the table does tilt away from streaming past files toward silver discs as some degree of an advantage.

the good news is that digital can deliver the music at a high level at a reasonable level of expense and effort.

 

[Lagonda]

the good news is that digital can deliver the music at a high level at a reasonable level of expense and effort.

Says the man with the $ 250K digital front end !

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Says the man with the $ 250K digital front end !

lots of good enjoyable digital at reasonable prices. but there are plenty of more for more choices too.

just when we have 2500 post threads about what it takes to surpass or equal vinyl that is a completely different question. one can like competent digital yet view good or great vinyl as untouchable. those positions are not in conflict. yet to some they are fighting words. and away we go.

 

[Rexp]

It's digital because we're listening to it over the internet..... next?

That's true, but it's trivially easy to spot good AAA vinyl playback over your typically grey digital copy, even over YouTube.

 

[Rexp]

I agree with everything except #4! While it is technically true, that in sheer #’s, most modern digital recordings are poor, it just doesn’t matter to me.

The overwhelming volume of recorded music is POP music and most doesn’t sound good for various reasons from auto-tuned vocals to careless mastering to just being shallow, crappy music to begin with (IMHO naturally). Since I don’t listen to this music anyway, the poor sound quality has no effect on me.

Like I keep saying, there’s is a weath of modern recordings available on other genre that is both musically compelling and good/great sounding.

This is not to say I’m not sometimes disappointed by sound quality on music I otherwise like. But I just move on to greener pastures. For this music-munching cow, the field of green grass stretches far to the horizon!

Still waiting for your recent Jazz album recommendations ....

 

[thedudeabides]

Yes, digital can sound acceptable when you throw enough money at it, but it doesn't sound like the real ththing.

Nothing is real regarding reproduced music.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??
Merry Christmas.

 

[wil]

Still waiting for your recent Jazz album recommendations ....

I’ll send you a list by PM When I have a little time in the next week.

 

[SoundMann]

CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG??
Merry Christmas.

It would be merrier if we could all manage to stay off the internet long enough to enjoy it.

 

[KPC]

..just when we have 2500 post threads about what it takes to surpass or equal vinyl....

Sooo, since July and after ~2500 posts are we nearer to the answer?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Sooo, since July and after ~2500 posts are we nearer to the answer?

there is no (broadly accepted) answer. the question or opening phrase on any digital/analog thread is just a starting gun.

and when/if this one fades out another will take it's place.

in 100% of my face to face high end audio communications this issue is never even talked about. since the answer is so blatantly obvious with the people i happen to interact with personally. who share listening experiences. no place for the truth to hide. and i'm likely the most pro-digital person i know.

 

[Rexp]

there is no (broadly accepted) answer. the question or opening phrase on any digital/analog thread is just a starting gun.

and when/if this one fades out another will take it's place.

I wonder who benefits more, turntable suppliers or digital source/tweak suppliers that are constantly telling us they've discovered a way to turn straw into gold.

 

[Ron Resnick]

all of them. anyone serious about high end vinyl is paying attention

+1

 

[Lagonda]

I am about to leave for the day, and i have the christmas tradition to start up my Oppo and leave it running with loud music while i am gone, Van Morrison "Live in San Francisco " started playing and now i have a hard time leaving ! An album i rarely hear because i don't have it on vinyl ! Digital is great too !

 

[tima]

Nothing is real regarding reproduced music.

Sure. I think we all -- most of us anyway -- understand that reproduction is not what is reproduced. But look how many of us enjoy both. Some use 'real' (live acoustic) music as a reference or guideline when making our stereo systems into what they are. The enjoyment of reproducing music in our homes is very real.