I have had similar experiences in the past, and was resigned to the thought that a vinyl rig would always sound better than a redbook one in some intangible way, though I still chose the convenience of CDs and HD based storage. More recently, I came across non-oversampling digital-filterless DACs, and, I believe, the presence and musicalilty of analog is to be found in these designs. The difference, as I understand it, is that NOS designs have FAR better transient response than other DACs. Frequency response, which is easier to measure and appears on spec sheets is far from the whole story. Music is all about timing, and an analog circuit will not cause the time-smearing effect that a digital filter will. Its hard to describe the effect that good transient response has on music; I just know that I find myself lost in the music far more often when listening to my Ack dAck.
On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 12:25:48 -0800, Dave Owen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> The true Audiophiles are in the > >> main still on vinyl because CD's "don't have the same warm feel". > > > Rubbish. Sorry, that's too polite: bollocks. Early digital technology > > was not well understood and did indeed sound poor. Current technology > is > > far better and sounds comparable to "quality" vinyl. > > Here's an interesting story: After more than fifteen years without a > record player, I just obtained a nice old Technics SL-D20 record player. > I mosey'd down to the store, bought a new (cheap) needle, and hooked it > up. I then threw an old (but good condition) Elton John record onto the > platter and started listening. > > It sounded WONDERFUL. Vibrant. Really, really good. Crisp. Real. I was > actually expecting it to sound lousy by comparison to the latest > technology, and I was surprised. We're not talking about a really good > stereo system, either (although it's not a bad one). Just for snicks and > grins, I played the same album as a CD on the same stereo, and it > sounded -cleaner- (no pops or hiss) but not nearly as vibrant and crisp. > > Without telling my wife of my experience, I let her know the player was > hooked up and dropped the needle on the album (it's one of her > favorites). Within two minutes she asked me why it sounded so much > better than the CD. > > I'm not an audiophile, but I do think there's something to the "analog > sounds better" theory, even now. After all, movies don't look as good as > real life, even though you can't see that they flicker -- so perhaps > perfect reproduction of a subset of frequencies just don't sound as good > (although they do sound great) as less-than-perfect reproductions of all > frequencies. > > But that's just me. :) > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss > _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
