Paul McGowan Prefers Digital

[Ron Resnick]

And to confuse you even more, forget digital to vinyl, what about all the digital TAPES being released....

I don’t understand that at all!

Purely as an experiment I got Sarah McLachlan’s Surfacing album (a digital recording) on 30ips, 1/4” tape. I have no idea what to expect regarding sound quality versus the CD played through a DAC.

 

[Ron Resnick]

So the question for me becomes understanding what nourishes you as an audiophile and a music lover and that every person’s different approach in these has validity for them.

So you can get a buzz from the act of owning physical media makes complete sense to me but this is not the only nourishment that can be had out of the process.

For some of us the amazing journey that discovering an almost boundless journey to the near infinite sea of possibilities when say you just simply type in the words Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 and this wealth of passion and musical commitment from the various peaks on the mountain range appear... Rostropovich, Mravinsky, Kondrashin... there is an ocean of greatness there to dive into...

So you realise that you had forgotten about the Emmanuel Bertrand performance and so dive again into savour those four extraordinary opening notes penned by Dmitri Shostakovich and relive all the invention and genius, and share in the emotional tension of a life lived in repression and struggle with the demons without and his demons within. This is not a bloodless journey Marc. The music is also the blood.

So whatever nourishes us in this journey is deeply valid for each of us. There are things to savour in the rituals, in our overcoming the technical and mechanical struggles, to answering the maze of puzzles in the many great pathways to refinement, to approach the very mountain and the ocean of the musicians and the music and us... who we are, what we feel, how we connect.

I never make light of anyone else’s journey because these are not silly outcomes, these are rich, and valuable and culturally extraordinary riches, in the experience of music there is a potential connection to the most sacred of elements in life, who people are, how they express their life’s journey, what they discover along the way.

This all can be found via the humble shiny silver disc, or the black gold of alchemy within vinyl, on the boundless world wide inter web or just with some simple ear buds and YouTube... when I backpacked across Europe in the 80’s I left my IMF RSPM IVs transmission lines and SOTA sapphire behind and bought a Sony Walkman and spent a year going to the great music halls of the old world, engaging in music with ear buds and live, going to jazz clubs and raves, partying at night, enjoying music in the villages in the day and in the great cities in the evening and via earbuds on the scenic train journeys and I left the relative safety of my sound system and let go of the known.

Music is a core theme and how you get there is just up to you. When you get there via any path you realise that there is nothing bloodless about any of these journeys at all if they actually lead you to what truly nourishes you. Look without and look within and focus on what works for you and if you choose let go of your current safe places and happy journey, take on streaming as well and enjoy and if not it fine, but it just doesn’t mean that it’s in any way less valid than any other of your chosen paths but rather just not for you now. If you can’t enjoy it then no loss as you already enjoy what you have. But there is no need to question the validity of this way for others. Because I am not on your pathway does not mean that I am lost. Each and every journey is potentially absolutely as deep and meaningful and completely valid as any. No body really has to justify to anyone else why their life experiences have value and meaning and so how their experiences could in any way be some way less essential or somehow bloodless just because you have yet to uncover the essence contained within doesn’t really hold water... or indeed blood.

The blood for me is in the music and the musician and my experience of them, the way I connect is not necessarily the central point of my journey.

Thank you very much for this gorgeously written essay.

 

[XV-1]

Using Spotify on the phone and in the car I car with its ease of use and quantity of music, I can certainly see why streaming is taking over the world of music. In the car, Spotify sounds OK and is enjoyable.

I can also see why CD and itunes sales have fallen off a cliff - why would 95% of the population waste their $$. My two girls certainly don't and none of their friends buy CD's or itunes anymore. They do know a couple of people that buy vinyl records thou. They like the look, feel and pride of ownership of vinyl - sq is the last thing on their minds. I think this just about sum's up the world as we know it.

At home, I buy plenty of new release vinyl ( non audiophile) and enjoy it immensely - Some sounds like crap, but most sounds pretty good and some sounds amazing. Vinyl for me sounds best as its also a lifestyle I incorporate into whatever I do.

whatever your front end is, get out there and buy new music: There is more to life than audiophile reissues of albums we own multiple times.

try this Aussie chick, Julia Jacklin's new album - Crushing. sounds really good and the pressing is wonderful. you can buy it at amazon for $20.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

So the question for me becomes understanding what nourishes you as an audiophile and a music lover and that every person’s different approach in these has validity for them.

The blood for me is in the music and the musician and my experience of them, the way I connect is not necessarily the central point of my journey.

This X1000! I do not let a format (except RTR) stop me from discovering and or listening to new music, it is silly in my opinion.

My personal opinion is eventually it will all be digital streaming and you are going to have to hoard analog sources as production will cease.

 

[Al M.]

In Paul McGowan’s post today, “Album art,” on his PS Audio blog, https://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/album-art/#comment-104603, he writes:

“My readers will know I prefer the dynamics, life, and sound quality of proper digital on a system specific to the medium.“

I commented:

I have great respect for your accomplishments, Paul, but I find your preference inexplicable. I understand this preference for convenience, and for your business strategy, but I do not understand it for “life and sound quality.”

Are you certain that you have paid as much time, money and effort to your analog playback system, whether vinyl or tape, as you have to your digital playback system?

Alternatively, have you felt obligated to adopt this view since PS Audio presently seems to focus more on digital playback than it does on analog playback?

I am baffled that digital truly could be your honest sonic preference.

—————————————

If digital truly is Paul’s preference, then I have absolutely no issue with that whatsoever. I am just wondering if it truly is his preference.

Am I being too hard on Paul?

What do you make of Paul’s declaration?

Ron,

I have just re-read again your post. In my view you have been too hard on Paul in some respects, and not too hard at all in others.

You were right to confront Paul on the quality of his analog playback or its set-up. Having heard great vinyl, it is inconceivable to me that Paul would call even the best of it too "romantic", "sweet", "colored", and lacking "life and dynamics". It is a RIDICULOUS assertion. Vinyl can sound spectacularly realistic. Something is wrong with his vinyl, period. End of story. I think you were completely right confronting him on that, and I personally would have come after him even harder. But that's just me, everyone has their own style.

However, like others I think you go too far when you say you are baffled when digital could be his true sonic preference. Why not? Sometimes I prefer analog, sometimes digital. Even when it comes to the same great analog recording. If the LP pressing is great and the digital transfer suboptimal, I prefer the vinyl -- by a wide margin. On the other hand, if the LP pressing is suboptimal (a not infrequently occurring Achilles heel of vinyl) and the digital transfer is great, I prefer the digital -- potentially also by a wide margin. In other cases it may be draw, or I may still prefer the analog over the digital, and vice versa.

Also, as others have pointed out, you simply don't know enough digital to know its true potential. Thus, certainly also from that background, your statement was far too strong, and unwarranted. Also I, while being a digiphile, have not heard the best digital yet, but I am learning. You said digital is not as transparent as great analog. While I think that my Yggdrasil DAC is very transparent on some recordings, I am *shocked* at how transparent my new DAC is, on Redbook CD. So no, I don't think digital is trailing here.

Finally, it is also a matter of taste. Digital can sometimes sound very incisive, and so can vinyl. That is how I personally prefer it. Yet other presentations on vinyl (or even digital) can sound more mellow and relaxed. Others may prefer that.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I've just left Barry/Blue58, and his digital system goes from strength to strength. Mike Lavigne was spot on calling the Aqua Formula XHD a "space machine", it's without doubt the most transparent layered digital I've ever heard, and only the best analog, fully optimally set up, can rival it.

Orchestral was sublime, Scheherazade percussion, esp crash cymbals were fully delineated, but fully of a piece re the recording. Ebb and flow by far the best I've heard off digital.

These are things that a decade ago digital IMHO only hinted at, fully the preserve of analog. No longer.

Ron, you need to get out more LOL.

Where analog is still king (and yes, this is just muscle memory, since I've never done an lp v digital compare at Barry) is in mids purity and texture/palpability.

Vinyl still has, and may always have the edge, in that thing I hear live, the visceral density of voice and instruments, what I call a sort of "growl" that connects to your gut and doesn't let go.

Near SOTA digital at Barry is so compelling, on a par w vinyl, but lacks this last bit of "truth".

I could just imagine Ron, Bill and The General sitting there asking where the real Ella Fitzgerald is LOL.

Additionally, and most critically for me, my genres are really stripped bare by this level of digital. Without that growl of mids colour saturation, Marillion and Rush sound glassy and downright impenetrable/non immersive.

Analog here really has the edge in more natural warmth, and a caressing rather than confronting presentation.

So, congrats to Barry, he's reached a real apogee of sound for female vocal, well recorded jazz and classical, electronica/new music, but it's an exercise in schizophrenia for me.

Streaming for me will only be to unlock hidden gems I'm not finding on disc, at hopefully a reasonable level of involvement, a joy in and of itself, and as an education on world of classical.

 

[RogerD]

I've just left Barry/Blue58, and his digital system goes from strength to strength. Mike Lavigne was spot on calling the Aqua Formula XHD a "space machine", it's without doubt the most transparent layered digital I've ever heard, and only the best analog, fully optimally set up, can rival it.

Orchestral was sublime, Scheherazade percussion, esp crash cymbals were fully delineated, but fully of a piece re the recording. Ebb and flow by far the best I've heard off digital.

These are things that a decade ago digital IMHO only hinted at, fully the preserve of analog. No longer.

Ron, you need to get out more LOL.

Where analog is still king (and yes, this is just muscle memory, since I've never done an lp v digital compare at Barry) is in mids purity and texture/palpability.

Vinyl still has, and may always have the edge, in that thing I hear live, the visceral density of voice and instruments, what I call a sort of "growl" that connects to your gut and doesn't let go.

Near SOTA digital at Barry is so compelling, on a par w vinyl, but lacks this last bit of "truth".

I could just imagine Ron, Bill and The General sitting there asking where the real Ella Fitzgerald is LOL.

Additionally, and most critically for me, my genres are really stripped bare by this level of digital. Without that growl of mids colour saturation, Marillion and Rush sound glassy and downright impenetrable/non immersive.

Analog here really has the edge in more natural warmth, and a caressing rather than confronting presentation.

So, congrats to Barry, he's reached a real apogee of sound for female vocal, well recorded jazz and classical, electronica/new music, but it's an exercise in schizophrenia for me.

Streaming for me will only be to unlock hidden gems I'm not finding on disc, at hopefully a reasonable level of involvement, a joy in and of itself, and as an education on world of classical.

Digital is very capable of producing “growl” or any other nuance. It is “the system” that matters. YMMV

 

[spiritofmusic]

Maybe Roger, I've not heard it yet.

 

[NorthStar]

She looks like one of my nieces...Mari-Pier.

 

[NorthStar]

This is just for fun:
• https://www.cnet.com/news/us-music-fans-throw-more-money-at-vinyl-and-cds-than-itunes-downloads-now/

 

[Ron Resnick]

So it turns out that in addition to Famous Blue Raincoat and Surfacing, Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life is a digital recording, and the London Grammar and the Chainsmokers albums are digital recordings.

Is U2’s The Joshua Tree a digital recording?

Is Gloria Estefan’s Cuts Both Ways a digital recording?

Jeez! I may have to look for a used MSB DAC and transport just to play these few Redbook CD albums in their native format!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Don't Ron. It wouldn't be you.

 

[RogerD]

So it turns out that in addition to Famous Blue Raincoat and Surfacing, Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life is a digital recording, and the London Grammar and the Chainsmokers albums are digital recordings.

Is U2’s The Joshua Tree a digital recording?

Is Gloria Estefan’s Cuts Both Ways a digital recording?

Jeez! I may have to look for a used MSB DAC and transport just to play these few Redbook CD albums in their native format!

Ron,
Now you’re talking. Honestly I think digital has a place in any audiophile-music lovers system. Whether Classical,jazz, or rock digital is well worth exploring. I enjoy many classic recordings and they are digitally archived from the tape masters...something to think about IMHO.

 

[NorthStar]

So it turns out that in addition to Famous Blue Raincoat and Surfacing, Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life is a digital recording, and the London Grammar and the Chainsmokers albums are digital recordings.

Is U2’s The Joshua Tree a digital recording?

Is Gloria Estefan’s Cuts Both Ways a digital recording?

Jeez! I may have to look for a used MSB DAC and transport just to play these few Redbook CD albums in their native format!

Sony PlayStation 1: around $25 used $$$ ?
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...-transports-media-players#ERH5LGgZDzh9CG1B.99

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron would make a Hell of a statement w $150k spent on all his analog, and...$25 spent on his digital.

 

[RogerD]

Sony PlayStation 1: around $25 used $$$ ?
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...-transports-media-players#ERH5LGgZDzh9CG1B.99

People will probably dismiss this out of hand. I use a Monarchy NM24 DAC with Mindorf Supreme coupling caps and NOS tubes and a Sony DVP NS 55P...total cost about $1500. I have talked about what really effects digital performance, so I’ll leave it there.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . Honestly I think digital has a place in any audiophile-music lovers system. . .

Thank you for the thought, but I do not see intuitively why necessarily that is the case. We are going to have to agree to disagree.

 

[RogerD]

Thank you for the thought, but I do not see intuitively why necessarily that is the case. We are going to have to agree to disagree.

Nothing ventured,nothing gained...as the saying goes, but the choice is yours, and I respect that.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you!

I do think it makes sense for me to have some digital playback capability, if only to repeat easily a certain track to aid with set-up and speaker positioning. That is why I have a Musical Fidelity kW CD/SACD player.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Gotta love your logic, Ron.
You will only go as far as Spotify to actually find music. As far from the ethos of this forum as you can get.

But you then reveal that you actually have a pretty decent cdp...but only use it for system setup, where any s/h cdp off Ebay for $10 could do the same job.

I'm speechless.