I'm perhaps not the right sort of person to post in this thread (and even here these days???), but I ought to say this from my experiences and current perspective...
In terms of recording technology, DIGITAL has been a godsend to the purist recording engineer. Good digital over the decades has provided us with no mod-noise from analogue recording tape, no dropouts if the mediums are looked after and a purity of reproduced sound compared to the original as monitored in the studio which no analogue recording came close to until Dolby SR and the late generations of recorders. In the olden days, the engineers had to work round the compromises and because they cared, the results could be stupendous. The problem is that digital opens the door to all sorts of sonic "manipulation" and this is best heard via the singles chart full of manufactured pap (!). The same can't be said of the best classical recordings however.
Haselesh is welcome to differ with me on this, but comparing vinyl and CD (yawn) is purely a matter of personal taste, as when it comes to comparing both with the master recording, vinyl trails way behind. The best cuts often had all sorts of eq and careful limiting done to make the sound "impressive" but on a modern wide-range system, it shows most often IMO.... In fact, I remember max Townshend comparing a carefully set up Rock with a budget CD player and the two sounded much the same on a decent recording. The 1980's Rock 2 was regarded as a good turntable at the time.
As for vintage vs modern domestic playback gear, I think the biggest changes have been in the setup of the equipment. New plinths and supports have improved old classic turntables no end. Cables and wires are better these days too and thank heavens a little bit of decent provable science is coming back outside of the loopy "Audiophool" arena, which is a standing joke amongst "everyone else" in the recording industry.
By the way, for small to mid sized speakers, ACTIVE really is the way forward, removing at a stroke the mix-n-match domestic amateur disasters so beloved of many audio enthusiasts at all levels of expenditure IMO and experiences.
Apologies all, I tend to be a hybrid where reproduced sound is concerned. I have a museum antique system not of the top tier, but have heard enough decent pro grade sources and owned good monitors, as well as heard plenty of live acoustic music to realise that most "nice sounding" valve-n-vinyl systems are way, way short of reality. Vinyl certainly has a sense of "body" to the sound and many records were balanced to exploit this, and CD hasn't always been well served either, but I have enough good CD's to realise just how much better this format can be.
Anyway, the next generation won't know what to do with either an LP spinner or a CD, as everything will be downloaded or licensed a la Spotify I think. We're just a bunch of ageing men living in the past and looking back with a false sense of nostalgia I reckon...
I can't go on and I can't go back, I don't feel so matter of fact,
I tried and tried to make good sense, What's the good to try it all again?
Originally Posted by Andre
Reply With Quote
) - your experience is probably much greater than mine, it is entirely possible I made some bad choices early on and got lucky later on, or that all my systems were crap in the past and it is only now that by luck it is coming together, but I would never want to go back to my Wharfedale Lintons or Goodmans (whatever they were) cheapies.
