> I think a lot of the current revival of vinyl comes from the "hipster"
> movement where they'll say that vinyl is obviously superior and if you
> can't tell that, you're clearly deaf.
It all depends on the source material. I'm of the opinion that
anything that has ever been touched by digital in any form will have
had the goodness stripped out of it. The only exception would be with
the latest/greatest 24/96 with oversampling in the D/A. Yes, there is
even higher bit-depth and sampling rates, but the D/As aren't keeping
pace. As long as the internal processing of the mixers and processors
(within the digital environment) are a minimum of 96k, you're OK. But
192K is certainly better when applying a complex dynamic or eq
process.
Vinyl is superior in a very very specific set of conditions. It's
become a non-issue, for me. I can very much tell the difference
between 44.1k and 48k sampling rates, and again, 96k over 48k, but for
anything recorded with more than two carefully spaced microphones in a
stereo-array, but that has to do entirely with spacial accuracy. Where
vinyl is superior to ALL other storage/playback systems is in the
CREATION of sound at time of playback. As the needle moves through the
groove of the LP, it is actually functioning as a musical instrument
and the creation of overtones occurs in this stage. These overtones
influence and shape the sound-wave to create an artificial impression
of frequency range which really isn't there. The human ear is fooled
by these overtones into thinking that there is something there which
really isn't. Vinyl has a sense of more "presence" and "air" which is
lost with all other mediums. While not accurate, it does create a more
pleasing sound. Combine that with the spacial accuracy, listening to a
carefully crafted stereo recording is an experience (especially if
your speakers are time-coherent) unmatched by anything else. Working
with the BBC, NPR and WGBH, as well as several other top names in the
recording industry, I was heavily involved in extensive testing of
these theories.
> The 'Golden ear people', this set of 1m long $6,000
> RCA to RCA gold plated cables with make anything
> sound like a million dollars, or how about this great
> $7,000 HDMI cable with ethernet, not forgetting
> the specially polarised and pre aligned electron
> copper speaker cables :)
LOL, "bits are bits"....
The "golden ear" crowd believes whatever it is that they want to
believe. It is safe to say that the first $10,000 gets you 98% of the
way there, but beyond that point, it's mostly ego. There are a few
tiny exceptions, but I would rather spend $7000 on acoustical design
of the room than waste it on welder cables.
AG Ears
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