mlsstl wrote: > That's been my experience. I have virtually all of the original > Sheffield Direct-to-Disk recordings as well as a some of the other D2D > LPs released in the 1970s. I find they sound the same after conversion > to digital. I spent many years converting my LP and open reel collection > to digital. About one-third of my 50,000-plus collection of songs was > converted from analog. If the LP or open reel sounded good, so does the > digital copy I made. > > I know some people disagree, but that's their problem. Typically one > finds they are comparing the original LP against a commercial CD that > has been reprocessed to give a more modern sound. Very few record > companies that re-release old analog material on CD can resist the > temptation to "improve" things. If one hasn't done the analog-digital > conversion themselves, most people have no idea just how accurate > digital can be when one resists the temptation to engage in all the > current fads & fashions prevalent in the recording industry. > > Of course, there have -always- been fads & fashions in recording. During > the 1960s, pop material was processed to stand out on AM radio, for > example. It is just those trends do change over time. This has been my experience as well. I have dropped just over 1,000 of my best sounding and/or prized vinyl recordings using top notch A/D convertors (either Aardvark, UA 2192, Metric Halo ULN8 and ULN2) and they are true archival copies of the original vinyl complete with all clicks and pops, wow and flutter, groove distortion, tracking distortions, RIAA equalization artifacts and whatever other colourations and distortions such a mechanical process adds, in all of its glory.
As an aside, I have a very simple but highly effective test for those who say they can hear digital sound. I needledrop their vinyl with my recording gear. We then play it back, level matched, via my digital source. And we listen. Typically, 20 times I run ABX testing playing back the actual vinyl and my needledrop of the vinyl. After each play the question is asked .... is it vinyl or digital? Not once, testing upwards of 30 people now (from novice listeners to seasoned audiophiles within my network), has anyone ever been able to determine the correct playback medium with any amount of success. I think the best was 8 our of 18, and this was by my cousin and she's never listened to anything but MP3 based audio through IPod headphones at that. In fact, my recent offer, to those in my audiophile circles, is for me to put up $500 cash to be matched by anyone who wishes to be tested. The deal is I will bring my portable recording gear to their place and use their setup, minus digital source of course. We do the drop as per my process. We then ABX my drop versus the actual vinyl playback. If they can't determine the correct medium 15 times out of 20 then their $500 is donated to the charity of my choice. If they hit 15 corrects, then I donate my $500 to the charity of their choice. The silence has been deafening! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pneumonic's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10091 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=95031 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
