What does it mean when people describe Digital as Sounding like "Analog"? Best term?

[spiritofmusic]

Oh, life outside London is chilled enough. Talking about 3 mins in max, as initial impression pro-digital gives way to correct conclusion pro-analog gives way to pro-enjoying the concert.

 

[kach22i]

For that live concert experience/simulation I like to pass a few "silent but deadlies", cough at the exact wrong moment, have the ramble of an inane conversation going on and place a mannequin's head with large hat right in front of me. Oh, and I don't shower for a few days and smoke stale cigarettes beforehand.

Just kidding, I love live music.

 

[marty]

i don't hear differences in tonal balance in my system from digital to analog. only from recording to recording.....regardless of format.

+1. I might go even further and suggest that if the tonal balance of your system is different for a digital vs analog source, it suggests there's something fundamentally wrong somewhere in the reproduction chain.

 

[spiritofmusic]

For that live concert experience/simulation I like to pass a few "silent but deadlies", cough at the exact wrong moment, have the ramble of an inane conversation going on and place a mannequin's head with large hat right in front of me. Oh, and I don't shower for a few days and smoke stale cigarettes beforehand.

Just kidding, I love live music.

Sounds like the perfect Brave New Covid World distancing protocol.

 

[spiritofmusic]

+1. I might go even further and suggest that if the tonal balance of your system is different for a digital vs analog source, it suggests there's something fundamentally wrong somewhere in the reproduction chain.

There's tone...and then there's TONE. Colour and density. The balance might be roughly similar btwn analog and digital. But the saturation can be very different.
And then there's timbre...

 

[microstrip]

Physics and instrumentation are independent of preference. Hi Rez digital, such as DXD , can carry much more information than analog. The real reason behind differences in sound quality is that sound engineers use different ways of recording when using with each type of media.

IMHO we should listen to current opinions of good professionals about this subject, not just to our particular preference. Caesar's formulation of the question is just a way to avoid the proper discussion and prolong the eternal analog versus digital debate, confined to the same few usual participants.

 

[Al M.]

Very good digital recordings are rare but possible .

They are less rare than you think.

And the Austrian Kairos label,founded in 1999, which specializes in recordings of contemporary classical avantgarde (maybe not your cup of tea, but I love it), makes some of the very best recordings, period. And it does that on a routine basis. They crank out one sonic masterpiece after another.

 

[Lagonda]

Did you try taking an anti-anxiety pill before going to a concert?

Marc takes his medication almost every day, that is how he got trough Brexit

 

[marmota]

Taking into account that analog can sound overly bright and thin, overly warm and rounded or very realistic and "right" (depending on how good the turntable/tonearm/cartridge/phono are and how well setup they are)...saying that digital sounds "analog" maybe indicates a profound lack of experience with analog?
That's my conclusion, I mean, if all the analog gear sounded "analog"...everyone will have, more or less, the same turntable setup (and that's of course not the case) so clearly the "my digital sounds analog" thing is incredibly wrong...

 

[spiritofmusic]

Marmota, my second setup from two decades ago had the cliche combination of warm, fuzzy, euphonic analog, and tight, astringent, dry digital.
It was a miracle I enjoyed listening to anything at all, or didn't get palpitations switching sources back and forth.

Hearing a finely tuned big Clearaudio/Transfiguration/Wadia/Tenor/Kharma setup at the time was the start of me seeing how good both uber high end analog and digital could be, w way more convergence btwn the tt and cdp on SQ than I'd ever been aware of in my existing generally anti-digital bias at the time.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Marc takes his medication almost every day, that is how he got trough Brexit

Brexit? Thats more R2R than other sources...hardcore and uncompromising Lol.

 

[Al M.]

IMHO we should listen to current opinions of good professionals about this subject, not just to our particular preference.

Agreed.

Caesar's formulation of the question is just a way to avoid the proper discussion and prolong the eternal analog versus digital debate, confined to the same few usual participants.

In my view, Caesar's formulation provoked a more interesting debate of the subject than usual.

 

[spiritofmusic]

As usual, he's watching the spinning tops crash into each other. He is Mr. Clickbait lol.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Quote
Caesar's formulation provoked a more interesting debate of the subject than usual.

Ceasar did it again,lol

 

[spiritofmusic]

Just waiting for the hilarious invective spat out twds the usual suspects...I'm checking my watch...

 

[Lagonda]

Just waiting for the hilarious invective spat out twds the usual suspects...I'm checking my watch...

He did give audio reviewers both barrels in another thread, maybe a fast stab at Magico or Wilson and he has upheld his quota ?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Does the Earth spin on it's axis?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Does the Earth spin on it's axis?

Apparently, it seems to spin on a turntable around here.

 

[PeterA]

Of course and that is why analog, per se, cannot be a reference even if it is your preference.

Kal, is anyone here suggesting or arguing that analog or digital from a recording, can be used as a reference? You quote Al, and his reference is clearly live unamplified music. I don't think anyone considers digital to be his reference either, but I may be wrong.

I think people do refer to specific systems as a reference for memorable reproduced music, the way Kedar refers to MikeL's system, or to the way "Lampis" "sound", but does anyone here not know what live instruments sound like and not think of that sound when assessing the sound of a component, or system or, format?

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Physics and instrumentation are independent of preference. Hi Rez digital, such as DXD , can carry much more information than analog.

'can carry' and 'does carry' are wildly different things.

try this;

choose a source recording analog or digital. anything decent will do. the more large scale with lots of detail the better.

make an analog recording of it with 1/2" 15ips tape. make another analog recording of that recording with 1/2" 15ips tape. do that again with dub #2. do that again with dub #3. so you have a 4th gen dub.

make a recording of the analog output of it with dxd. playing the dxd copy in analog make a second dxd recording. then a third analog recording using that 2nd dxd recording. then do a 4th using the 3rd.

now see how the original compares to both 4th gen versions; in other words what is lost or added. which format has real actual information retention and not some theoretical idea. you multiply actual playback losses......so they are easier to identify.

i know how this goes with tape. do it a lot. losses nothing, gains a touch of noise.

obviously there are practical requirements of gear quality to make quality dubs involved to pull this off so is not trivial to do. but i know where my money would be.