Can I throw in the apparent improvement some seem to have noticed in that putting CDs onto iTunes/HDD makes things sound better? Which would (if you accept the premise) indicate that it's the players that are changing the sound.
Can I throw in the apparent improvement some seem to have noticed in that putting CDs onto iTunes/HDD makes things sound better? Which would (if you accept the premise) indicate that it's the players that are changing the sound.
Chris.
I have now over 1200 LPs, about 200 were given to me by a couple of friends who no longer listened to vinyl or even had a TT, most were from the 60's, 70's and 80's. I have purchased around 630 for £4 or less in charity/2nd hand, 265 for £10 or less mainly from records shops of Discogs, the remaining 120 are mainly new purchases.
951 of them were released before 1983 (start of digital and CDs)
171 released in the 80's, how many were originally digitally recorded in the studio I have now idea, but a lot of Pink Floyd from the Wall onwards was anyway, as was Dire Straits.
23 released in the 90's, once again I have now idea which ones were digitally recorded in the studios.
100 from 2000 to date, about 25 of them are originals from 2000 to date so the other 75 are re-releases of earlier originals.
Some of the later originals I can actually tell they have been digitally mastered Rival Sons - Hollow Bones being one, to much compressions, loosing dynamics, interestingly one of my favourite albums St. Germain - Tourist would have definitely used digital recording and mixing during its production, but the dynamics and the reproduction of this album is outstanding IMO, similarly Slør by Eivør Pálsdóttir is a stunning record which was released in 2015 I would be very surprised if this was not recorded digitally.
I think that digital at 96khz and above used sympathetically by a skilled recording engineer and not playing around with the dynamic content can and obviously does produce very good recordings, that is not artificially boosting the bottom end frequencies, and if transferred to Vinyl, CD or digital files, CD level and above, as accurately as possible will produce very good results. The replay result will then depend upon the listener and the quality of the equipment used.
So as I was saying there is no clear cut hard and fast rule that analogue is better than digital, or digital is more accurate. However what is clear to me is that pure digital seems to loose some form of expressiveness and sense of realism when replayed, but analogue(vinyl) does not. In another thread which was extremely long with a host of arguments either way I highlighted that I had taken several favourite albums of mine and went to great lengths to find the same recordings from the same masters, on vinyl and digital, on CD and FLAC files. I then listened very carefully with a friend swapping on the fly to which I was blind to (did not know what was being played). I just made notes on each I listened to. We reviewed at the end and it was cleared I could discriminate between vinyl and CD every time, between CD and FLAC was about 60% successful, some albums being easier than others. I suspected a subtle re-mix being done from the master to CD, why I have no idea. In terms of what I found more enjoyable/engaging to listen to it was vinyl for me, although some digital recordings came very close.
Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.
Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner
Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive
Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp
Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones
Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links
I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.
Location: Dagenham Essex
Posts: 11,215
I'm Allen.
Blimey Adrian you ARE seriously into this , Well done mate
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Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.
Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.
Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.
Some of the digital recordings I have sound fantastic.....on Vinyl!
Main system : VPI Scout 1.1 / JMW 9T / 2M Black / Croft 25R+ / Croft 7 / Heco Celan GT 702
Second System : Goldring Lenco GL75 / AT95EX / Pioneer SX590 / Spendor SP2
Location: KY - Scotland
Posts: 5,465
I'm Mike.
I asked Mick Fleetwood when I met him about Fleetwood Mac in the studio and he said everything is recorded digitally EXCEPT his drumming which was analogue and then mixed together but I didn't ask how.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.