Digital took over in 1983 when cd was introduced. Even before that major classical labels had started using digital almost without exception.
Despite the current vinyl fad 95% of current music sales is digital.
Does analogue ultimately beat digital?
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Despite the current vinyl fad 95% of current music sales is digital.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
A complicated issue. Digital should of course technically be much better but as said before processing is everything.
My original 1985 Brother In Arms CD has always sounded dull and soft, while the LP is incisively bright.
Some Decca records are impossibly bright (and hissy) too.
My original 1985 Brother In Arms CD has always sounded dull and soft, while the LP is incisively bright.
Some Decca records are impossibly bright (and hissy) too.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
Exactly this. This is why it is futile to try to say one is better than the other.
It depends on how one defines good. Digital is better because it can reproduce the source signal more faithfully than any known analog method. This has nothing to do with subjective preferences.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
Depends on the engineering and production really no matter what format.
Regardless of which format is technically better if I have a recording on record, CD and streaming I always gravitate towards the record. No idea why tbh, I just do.
I think records are a labour of love compared to digital. If I was starting out now wrt audio equipment I don’t think I would entertain records as a format, the cost ratio between the two is pretty big.
I think records are a labour of love compared to digital. If I was starting out now wrt audio equipment I don’t think I would entertain records as a format, the cost ratio between the two is pretty big.
tuga
Legal Alien
If two masters of an analogue recording on tape are done correctly digital will be considerably more faithful than vinyl. That is a fact.
The same is true for mic feeds. If you record the mic feed digitally you will get a more accurate copy of the signal than if you use tape.
Sony demonstrates this in the 40 year old PCM-F1 manual: https://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/sony/pcm-f1.htm
tuga
Legal Alien
Personal preference. And that's how it should be. No one should listen to a format one does not prefer or enjoy.
I find that vinyl is not suitable for classical music, and that some rock/pop has been porrly mastered for CD.
It is interesting that in discussions on the merits of different formats, little is said about the effects they might have on music tastes.
I believe there is a direct correlation between the types of music that are popular and the formats in use at the time. For example, the vinyl LP and cassette tapes popular in the seventies encouraged listening to whole album sides while modern digital allows instant flicking between tracks. A Hi-Fi system was an aspirational item back then too and most households would have a rack system or music centre which would at least have a warm, full sound compared to the tiny systems favoured today which put flexibility and convenience over sound quality.
You don't need to think very hard to see the connection. There is a reason we live in an age of processed, soundbite music. I for one can't consider digital music without thinking about the damage it has done to the listening habits of millions. We have a generation who have grown up listening to nothing but shite!
I believe there is a direct correlation between the types of music that are popular and the formats in use at the time. For example, the vinyl LP and cassette tapes popular in the seventies encouraged listening to whole album sides while modern digital allows instant flicking between tracks. A Hi-Fi system was an aspirational item back then too and most households would have a rack system or music centre which would at least have a warm, full sound compared to the tiny systems favoured today which put flexibility and convenience over sound quality.
You don't need to think very hard to see the connection. There is a reason we live in an age of processed, soundbite music. I for one can't consider digital music without thinking about the damage it has done to the listening habits of millions. We have a generation who have grown up listening to nothing but shite!
It should be. Not all turntables are equal but, if it's on song, vinyl connects you to the music in a way that is hard for digital to do.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
I’m more referring to the fact the it’s a bit
of a lottery with both formats.
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Paul Hindle
Do you mock me?
I think production and mastering plays a bigger part than many realise for both Analogue and Digital. I have LPs that sound cr*p on every turntable I’ve played them on and same for some CDs on different players. Is it any wonder that manufacturers and dealers carefully choose what they dem to prospective customers?
Chris81
pfm Member
I listen to full albums with streaming, also you can switch tracks or records on a record player but it is not as comfortable.
That is the problem of your argument. You should think harder whether there really is any connection. You are trying to map your personal, entirely subjective views on music and music listening habits with objective technical properties of music reproduction - not very convincingly, I am afraid.
gustav_errata
pfm Member
60s and 70s pop rock on lo-fi vinyl?
It is good to realize that this is only your personal view - which you are obviously trying to elevate to something more universal. 95% of the music buying public is happy with digital - as was the whole classical music recording industry more than 40 years ago. How come the engineers, record producers and artists did not realize that "vinyl connects you to the music in a way that is hard for digital to do"?