
Is analog the new digital - vinyl's comeback continues - Specstacular
http://internationalbs.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/step-back-in-time-the-vinyl-fightback/
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pasbesoin
I didn't read through this yet -- I hyperskimmed -- but it brings to mind an
experience with varying quality in digital media reproduction that has stuck
with me.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity to evaluate a low end Philips reference
CD player (I believe it was termed; reference, as in high quality
reproduction, but not at the extreme end of that product category where the
cost of all the marketing bullet points really adds up) against varying
competing models. The Philips really stood out. Same disk, same amp and
speakers. But the Philips was much better at reproducing "the edge" of notes,
and the slight scrape of the bow, etc. that the competing players muddied into
an undifferentiated, overall note.

Whatever the recording medium, the quality of the circuitry translating the
recorded signal back to its acoustic reproduction makes a telling difference.

I think the $10K, 20 kilogram turntables and whatnot are overkill, but digital
recordings can suffer in part because many of the players, while "digitally
perfect" nonetheless do a crappy, cheap job of generating the final analog
output.

Unfortunately, there's so much hype and marketing, for me at least it is
frustrating to determine how much is enough while avoiding the extremes of
audiophile addiction. And then there is also the variation in perception of
individual listeners.

And trying to evaluate a piece of equipment for yourself in most commercial
retail settings is nigh impossible. Too noisy, and it also matters what amp
and speakers the signal's feeding into -- not just in some overall measure of
quality, but also with regard to the fitting together of the individual
components.

Anyway, it's not just digital vs. analog. It's also how the signal's being
handled.

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Scott_Culture
But the blogpost is arguing that it is the tangibility of vinyl that is its
savior, comobined with good sense of record labels to also provide the
download...

