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Digital VS analogue £v£

Joe Jackson is woefully underrated IMO. He spent far too long in the bargain bins and deserves some respect IMO. I’ve got most of his stuff, and I’m not sure I’ve paid more than a quid for any of it!
Although my wife and I mostly listen to classical and jazz, we still have a soft spot for Joe Jackson. ‘Is she really going out with him?’ is a classic of teenage angst. There is also some great well recorded piano on the CD (sorry!)
 
Joe Jackson is woefully underrated IMO. He spent far too long in the bargain bins and deserves some respect IMO. I’ve got most of his stuff, and I’m not sure I’ve paid more than a quid for any of it!
Yes, he’s just not sought after. Think I paid £2 for a really nice ‘Night & Day’, cover a bit tatty but media great. As I’ve said before, similar thing with Gerry Rafferty. ‘City to City’ & ‘Night Owl’ are great records, you’ll never pay more than £4 in a shop for a nice copy.
 
Cylinder, 78, LP, 45, open reel tape, cassette, Elcaset, DCC, CD, SACD, DVD-A... they are all media for storing a signal - and nothing more than that, whatever mystique some people insist on attaching to some of them.

Not one of them fulfils that task as well as the SSD full of music files which is attached to my music server.
 
Mastering may be of critical importance when the recorded performance is the definitive version of the music; the engineer's contribution is then an essential part of the creative effort that brings a musical work into being.

When the written score is the definitive version of the music, mastering is not about creativity, just competence.

Either way, mastering results in signal, signal needs storing/retrieval, and for that I'll take the SSD (or stream, for that matter) every time.
 
Mastering may be of critical importance when the recorded performance is the definitive version of the music; the engineer's contribution is then an essential part of the creative effort that brings a musical work into being.

When the written score is the definitive version of the music, mastering is not about creativity, just competence.

Either way, mastering results in signal, signal needs storing/retrieval, and for that I'll take the SSD (or stream, for that matter) every time.
SSD works best for me as well. No faffing about with storing and findings discs of whatever size, and no dropouts from unreliable rural broadband connection for streaming.

Yes, no mystique, no reverence, just music!
 
Any fule can make a perfect digital copy of any great analogue disk. The other way round, not so much.
 
Digital audio in combination with the streaming services it enbles has allowed me to explore and enjoy more new music in the last five years than in many more years beforehand with either vinyl or CD, and with much lower cost.

To me that seems to be the elephant in the room when thinking about this thread's "Digital VS analogue £v£" question.

Without addessing whatever else appeals or otherwise about analogue or digital, and the other sources I have notwithstanding, IMHO a digital streaming service has become close to essential in my version of the hobby.
 
I’ve just listened to ‘Night & Day’, it’s a good case for why people love vinyl. Great dynamics, loads of punch & no surface noise.

When it’s right it’s really right; I suppose I’m just less tolerant of it’s flaws when the stars don’t align.
 
Digital audio in combination with the streaming services it enbles has allowed me to explore and enjoy more new music in the last five years than in many more years beforehand with either vinyl or CD, and with much lower cost.

To me that seems to be the elephant in the room when thinking about this thread's "Digital VS analogue £v£" question.

Without addessing whatever else appeals or otherwise about analogue or digital, and the other sources I have notwithstanding, IMHO a digital streaming service has become close to essential in my version of the hobby.

I agree with this. Streaming is a great way to listen to new music and find new stuff. I nearly always listen to a new recording on streaming and if I really like it I seek out a copy on Vinyl.

A problem I have with streaming relates to my inability to control my own actions. I found I was drawn in by the "lure of the Sirens" and found myself not only listening to a lot of new stuff (only a small amount of which I really liked) but also not listening to whole albums, rather flipping through individual tracks (and, gasp, sometimes not even listening to whole tracks).

While this is great for finding new music I was finding my listening experience to feel quite hollow. I realised I get great comfort and enjoyment from listening to music I know and love (often as a whole album experience). Streaming had diverted my attention to the "shiny new toy" that new music is, but it had decreased my overall enjoyment.

For me I have now balanced this. Partly by listening to vinyl mostly for concentrated listening sessions and partly by setting up a new category in Roon for my comfort albums. I have to use self control to not spend too much time flitting between shiny new objects, but this has helped me a lot address the balance that gives me greater enjoyment.

Streaming is still great for discovery and also for playlists for background or party situations. But there is a danger in not feeling as fulfilled with my listening experience. Self control is not always easy.
 
I agree with this. Streaming is a great way to listen to new music and find new stuff. I nearly always listen to a new recording on streaming and if I really like it I seek out a copy on Vinyl.

A problem I have with streaming relates to my inability to control my own actions. I found I was drawn in by the "lure of the Sirens" and found myself not only listening to a lot of new stuff (only a small amount of which I really liked) but also not listening to whole albums, rather flipping through individual tracks (and, gasp, sometimes not even listening to whole tracks).

While this is great for finding new music I was finding my listening experience to feel quite hollow. I realised I get great comfort and enjoyment from listening to music I know and love (often as a whole album experience). Streaming had diverted my attention to the "shiny new toy" that new music is, but it had decreased my overall enjoyment.

For me I have now balanced this. Partly by listening to vinyl mostly for concentrated listening sessions and partly by setting up a new category in Roon for my comfort albums. I have to use self control to not spend too much time flitting between shiny new objects, but this has helped me a lot address the balance that gives me greater enjoyment.

Streaming is still great for discovery and also for playlists for background or party situations. But there is a danger in not feeling as fulfilled with my listening experience. Self control is not always easy.
Spotify does offer entire albums of most artists which I do listen to when presented with a song from an artist that interests me. I save many albums to my Spotify library when I come upon something that I want to listen to later when time lends itself. I’ve had many listening sessions enjoying streamed albums. You can’t buy them all on vinyl, I’d go broke!

BTW, I just discovered a treasure trove of live albums by Joe Jackson on Spotify that I’ve been enjoying today.
 
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Bumping my thread...

Big changes since first posted this. Now listening to a Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman first pressing record whilst I type and it sounds, well, utterly excellent actually!

I've put a Hana SL cart onto the 1210GR, and it's being fed by a mildly pimped Jolida JD9 valve phono stage, which I'm currently borrowing, but hoping to have the option to buy.

Records are different to digital, but they sound great. Mostly. Apart from a couple of howlers I've bought. Both digital and records have their merits, and both are now listenable and very enjoyable, but in different ways.

So it's seems I am a happy chappie. But I had to spend a few quids to better the TT setup to get to a point of happiness with it.

And with that, I close off my thread. Now I'm off to get another few records ready to play next 😎
 
Original Roxsan Xerxes Ortofon 2M Bronze/RB300 rewired Vanden Hul into Musical Fidelity XLPs -v3 phono, to Van den Hul D 103 mk3 cables into Audiolab 8200CDQ into 2x Audiolab 8000Ms into Epos M12i version2 ( with the tamed tweeter). CDs and LPs of the same recording sound the same to my ears. which is how it should be. good enough for me
Exactly this, notwithstanding clicks and pops obviously.
 
Bumping my thread...

Big changes since first posted this. Now listening to a Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman first pressing record whilst I type and it sounds, well, utterly excellent actually!

I've put a Hana SL cart onto the 1210GR, and it's being fed by a mildly pimped Jolida JD9 valve phono stage, which I'm currently borrowing, but hoping to have the option to buy.

Records are different to digital, but they sound great. Mostly. Apart from a couple of howlers I've bought. Both digital and records have their merits, and both are now listenable and very enjoyable, but in different ways.

So it's seems I am a happy chappie. But I had to spend a few quids to better the TT setup to get to a point of happiness with it.

And with that, I close off my thread. Now I'm off to get another few records ready to play next 😎

Fairly sure that the first Tracy Chapman record is digital to vinyl - analogue

“Digitally recorded and mixed at Powertrax, Hollywood, CA.”

who cares? the record does sound amazing

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman album cover
More images
Label:Elektra – 960 774-1, Elektra – EKT 44
Format:Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Matte Sleeve
Country:Europe
Released:1988
 
Fairly sure that the first Tracy Chapman record is digital to vinyl…

“Digitally recorded and mixed at Powertrax, Hollywood, CA.”

Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman album cover
More images
Label:Elektra – 960 774-1, Elektra – EKT 44
Format:Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Matte Sleeve
Country:Europe
Released:1988
Ah well, it sounds excellent with records. My issue was originally with records and spinning discs. But this is now cured having spent out the cashish to upgrade.

I no longer spin a record and think that my digital front end kicks it's arse for SQ. I am happy on both fronts.
 


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