Jimbo
31-08-2023, 06:41
Just been reading an interesting article regarding Dynamic range which was one of the big plus points of Digital audio. It appears that like Brexit we have been sold a theoretical benefit but in actual fact it falls short in reality.
The potential in Digital audio for recording and playback of Dynamic range is quite a bit greater than vinyl which has DR limited due to its physical and technical limitations. BUT a number of software tools are available now to assess Dynamic range and guess what Digital often does not deliver anything better than vinyl in many circumstances because of the mastering process can screw around with Dynamic range and deliver something inferior to its analogue counterpart.
I have long suspected this and been surprised when playing back some digital recordings where I was expecting huge dynamic range only to get a feeble lack lustre performance. Apparently in the quest for loudness the Mastering and EQ of recordings can limit DR and present a poor sound. The more I read about Mastering and especially remastering and hear the consequences the more I am convinced it usually results in something that sounds inferior to its original analogue recording.
Most of my recordings on vinyl absolutely spank most digital recordings in this regard and indeed they have prompted me to seek out early first pressings or at least pressings that have been made before digitalisation and remastering as in many cases they simply sound far better and usually have more dynamic range even though theoretically it is limited.
The potential in Digital audio for recording and playback of Dynamic range is quite a bit greater than vinyl which has DR limited due to its physical and technical limitations. BUT a number of software tools are available now to assess Dynamic range and guess what Digital often does not deliver anything better than vinyl in many circumstances because of the mastering process can screw around with Dynamic range and deliver something inferior to its analogue counterpart.
I have long suspected this and been surprised when playing back some digital recordings where I was expecting huge dynamic range only to get a feeble lack lustre performance. Apparently in the quest for loudness the Mastering and EQ of recordings can limit DR and present a poor sound. The more I read about Mastering and especially remastering and hear the consequences the more I am convinced it usually results in something that sounds inferior to its original analogue recording.
Most of my recordings on vinyl absolutely spank most digital recordings in this regard and indeed they have prompted me to seek out early first pressings or at least pressings that have been made before digitalisation and remastering as in many cases they simply sound far better and usually have more dynamic range even though theoretically it is limited.