Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
Think about it.... How could it do that, if the results produced were genuinely more accurate (i.e. achieving higher fidelity)? The only way that could be so, would be if the recording was "less compellingly listenable" to start with. But if it's making a good recording "less compellingly listenable" in that way, then by definition, it's not achieving higher-fidelity.
Hi Marco,

You make a number of good points. In principle, I totally agree with you. But being of an inquisitive nature, I cannot help myself but continue to turn every stone along the pathway. So I don't want you to think that, just because I'm examining some of your statements, I'm disagreeing with you.

Here is an example I came up with that could possibly shed some light on the issue we're discussing: I am a big fan of Van Gogh's paintings, and I love to study them any time I get an opportunity. Of course, traveling the world to meet those canvases is expensive and exhausting. So we resort to books and visiting online exhibitions.

Now, I think we'll all agree that experiencing Van Gogh's paintings by looking at reproductions is not really going to give us the full appreciation. But it's a nice approximation. Various books offer reproductions of various quality, and it is what it is.

With the advent of digital technology, we can now visit Van Gogh's museum online, and select one of his paintings, and then zoom in to the magnificent details. I don't know if you've ever tried this, but the level of magnification is magnificent! I don't think that even in person, standing in front of one of his canvases, I'd be able to zero in on such fine details.

Still, despite the largely improved accuracy of the digitally magnified details of the canvas, the experience is less compellingly lifelike! true, in real life encounter with the canvas, I cannot experience such level of accuracy as I can when experiencing it via the digital simulacrum, but nevertheless it cannot get even close to the real life experience.

I think the same principle may apply to the differences between experiencing musical reproduction via digital system vs experiencing the same reproduction via vinyl playback.

What do you say?