An observation.

[Welder]

There have been a few occasions on this forum where what I will describe as analogue enthusiasts have heard what they have described as outstanding digital playback equipment, so good in fact that they have transferred in whole or in part do digital format, or bought that particular piece of equipment.


Naturally one would expect those who say the quality of music playback is they’re only criterion to take an interest in these pieces of equipment and formats what ever they may be. Doesn’t seem to be happening though does it :scratch:

If the situation is reversed, which does happen, a great deal of interest is shown by analogue and digital enthusiast alike :eyebrows:

Now I do understand that after a certain level of investment in a particular medium and the associate replay equipment a major transition to a completely different format is uneconomic.

It does make me wonder though if the stated quality of music reproduction is the only criterion underlying some of the recommendations and opinions of contributors to this forum.

As for accusations regarding attempting to fuel the digital v analogue war, well possibly, but I have yet to see many of the analogue enthusiast get out of their trenches yet so a war isn’t likely ;)

Just a thought.


(Oi Alex, if you’ve taken up residence behind my sofa mate better move over a bit cause I may be moving back in on a permanent basis :lol:)

[Rare Bird]

I'm what you could call a Digital thief, i hate digital but rely on it for better offerings of my old albums that sounded crap how they presented them on vinyl first time around, take these Digital offerings back to the Analogue domain in the form of tape, ok it aint 100% analogue source anymore but sounds a whole lot better played back than both record & CD.

[MartinT]

I'm an example of the reverse. LP playback fell into the doldrums for me and I almost sold my LP collection. I was/am happy with digital playback, albeit had to spend some considerable dosh to get the player that did it for me.

I don't want to be an analogue comeback kid who bores the pants off people; suffice it to say that I've worked on the analogue side of my system over the last 18 months and it has matched and exceeded any level of playback I ever experienced before. However, I will happily listen to both formats.

[John]

John music about passion its about emotion its about energy I just enjoy getting a sense of that whatever format

[Thing Fish]

For me its not just about the sound. Sure i'll agree the overall sound plays a pretty large part, (yer think!) but i'm sure most systems forum members have put out a reasonable sound which pleases them.

When I read on this forum that so and so has visited so and so and their system after a bit of tweaking sounded great. Nobody worry's if it's Digital or analogue based.

So there has to be another factor involved?

For me personally its what I grew up with. Its part of me and therefore part of my childhood.

I can pretty much remember where I bought all my lp's. Parting with my hard earned paper round money, running home ripping off the wrapper and being presented with a staticly charged plasic disc. Pouring over the cover reading who the producer was and who cleaned the studio floor.

Searching for hours trying to find Zappa in New York with Punkys Whips on the sleeve and on the record. Walking into the alexander palace record fair and gasping at its sheer enormity.

You could plonk me down in front of the latest £50,000 okey dokey dac from fony and I suspect I would find it listenable but there would be no emotional connection with the medium and to me that's an important factor.

My records are my children and the record player their mother. I will continue to enjoy them until the day I die and if they then end up in a skip so be it.

[Alex_UK]

(Oi Alex, if you’ve taken up residence behind my sofa mate better move over a bit cause I may be moving back in on a permanent basis :lol:)

No worries John, I've left a packet of Custard Creams and some nice Columbia Supremo (That is coffee, before you get too excited!)

I guess I'm not the typical, because I use three approaches - Vinyl for my legacy collection that I haven't replaced, CD for the bulk of my listening, and computer audio for a mix of things - trying out new stuff or stuff I'm not ready to buy (Spotify) - or convenience or background music (my CD collection is all ripped to AAC for this purpose, and for playing on our ipods.)

I've not really felt the need YET to view File Based Audio as a source I would want to use all the time - not for any sentimental reasons, but more that I can't really be arsed, if I'm honest! Well, not quite true - there are other areas (speakers) that will get any hi-fi devoted pennies this year, as that will improve on everything. Plus, as someone who works with computers for a living, the last thing I want to do when I get home if faff around with the bloody things! But, it is the future, of that I don't think there is any doubt - sooner or later.

[Welder]

Cool, you wouldn’t believe how fast I got behind that sofa Alex…….then I read the rest :(
Still, custard creams are good. I’ll try and leave a few ;)
Just got back from an evening out dancing :eek::doh::mental::lolsign:

[Mr Pig]

My records are my children and the record player their mother.

Any concept of how sad that sounds?

[Clive]

Any concept of how sad that sounds?
Depends how you hear it. In the context of the posting I think Dave is saying it's not only the music but the whole experience around that music that matters too. I feel he's saying this is about emotion and whilst emotion from the music itself is vital it's also about....er... the foreplay or whatever want to call it. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. But I do understand that playing music from file based sources and CD too looses some soul, the process is kind of antiseptic. In some respect CD's the biggest looser as at least with file based audio I find it encourages me to listen to more of my music collection so it has an upside with this.

[WAD62]

A small pedantic point...

A CD is just one form of a music file storage medium ;)

[Clive]

A small pedantic point...

A CD is just one form of a music file storage medium ;)
You can think of it that way but then I have to add a restriction for you. File based audio is thought of (by most people who know what it is) as giving you instant access to your whole file based collection. You (the human) acting as the access mechanism don't cut it. Now if you have all your CDs loaded in a jukebox then I would accept CD as being part of a file based music server.

If you prefer I'd be ok with CD being an offline file medium.

[Mr Pig]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

You think?

[WAD62]

You can think of it that way but then I have to add a restriction for you. File based audio is thought of (by most people who know what it is) as giving you instant access to your whole file based collection. You (the human) acting as the access mechanism don't cut it. Now if you have all your CDs loaded in a jukebox then I would accept CD as being part of a file based music server.

If you prefer I'd be ok with CD being an offline file medium.

I've had my FLAC collection on a linux server for over 2 years, so I am reasonably aware of the implications.

The distinction is, as you say, between off line file storage CD, and DASD files on a server. Not file Vs CD as is often stated ;)

[Clive]

I've had my FLAC collection on a linux server for over 2 years, so I am reasonably aware of the implications.

The distinction is, as you say, between off line file storage CD, and DASD files on a server. Not file Vs CD as is often stated ;)
Yuk, please, please don't use IBM terms....:)

[WAD62]

Yuk, please, please don't use IBM terms....:)

...too many years on mainframes I'm afraid :doh:

[Thing Fish]

mr pig wrote -
Any concept of how sad that sounds?

I'll try and be a little bit more sarcastically obvious in the future just for you mr pig...;)

[Mr Pig]

I'll try and be a little bit more sarcastically obvious in the future just for you mr pig.

This is working just fine :0)