Digital signals

[James Wolf]

OK,

 

I knew I would get some feedback from my snide comment, as I encouraged a
bit of expected debate.   

At heart, I am still a preferred analog listener.  As I haven't upgraded my
audio system for almost a decade now, I still listen to others and somewhat
keep up with what's going on.  I get to listen to systems that are way out
of my price range in large open rooms that I can't replicate in my abode.
One of the problems is that it is difficult to find good source material in
either analog or digital, but it does exist.  I can tell when walking into a
friends listening room whether or not he is playing a CD (even an SACD) or
his turntable with his associated analog drive stages - given adequate
source material.  

 

I'd admit that analog's distortions, speed variations, and noise make it
less by-the-numbers accurate, but digital sound can be cold, hard,
uninviting and compressed.  You wouldn't think there would be a difference,
but I wish you could hear the difference between a good CD and the same
selection in its higher-resolution 96-kHz/24-bit SACD on a system that can
show it.  The kind of things that we complain about with digital are the
lack of clear precise sound, the decay of string instruments and pianos, and
CD masters that have destroyed the dynamic range.  On top of that, you have
lossy codecs, psychoacoustic tricks and compromises in quantization.  LPs
sound a lot more like a real acoustic event and yet, I can't explain it.
But to an unbeliever - I believe digital has not yet met the challenge.  My
biggest challenge of late are my 60 year old ears, where I have lost about
15 dB between 1 and 4 KHz in only one ear.  Likely the fan noise from those
digital computers.

 

One thing that digital has drastically done is reduced the price of a very
good audio system.  

 

Jim, KR9U

 

From: tacos-bounces+jbwolf=comcast.net at amrad.org
[mailto:tacos-bounces+jbwolf=comcast.net at amrad.org] On Behalf Of Alberto di
Bene
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2013 11:02 AM
To: tacos
Subject: Re: Digital signals

 

On 3/4/2013 1:25 AM, Phil wrote:

 

On 4 Mar 2013, at 00:07, James Wolf wrote:





Philistine Sophistry

 

Jim, KR9U

Great band! I have all their LPs.

 

Phil M1GWZ

 


I do hope you use the best and most expensive speaker cables to listen at
them... :-) 
And don't forget the power cable to the wall... and while you are at it, it
would be
advisable to ask the electric company to change all the wiring from your
house to
the power sub-station with oxygen-free, oriented atoms, new cables...   :-) 

73  Alberto  I2PHD



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