Analog or Digital and why?


Computers don't make very good guitars. Back in the 90's the debate raged with digital people saying one day digital will get so good, records will become obsolete. Well it's 25 years later and, well the digital thing never happened and analog never sounded better. However you got to remorgage your house. And buy records. 
chrismini

Showing 2 responses by dramatictenor

Some of what follows I have stated on other threads, but there are also some expansions of my thinking. This post is most explicitly about media versus streaming, but still sheds light both on the op and also the thread that followed.
Let’s say that we accept the notion of a holistic system. Including the listening room.

The holistic approach can’t end with gear, room or even media used or what is recorded on different media (like 78’s versus contemporary digital). Each of us still needs to ask ourselves what is it we want to get out of listening to music?

If we want music to be ritualistic—and have the benefits which accrue from ritual, then yes, the extra labor of vinyl has more to offer it. If we have a prepper’s mindset, holding on to physical media assures one that when the web goes down and takes streaming with it, there will still be music. At least if one has access to clean power. 
If we want near-infinite choice and quick retrieval with little fuss or bother, digital offers that in spades. (Though I find digital has more fuss and bother connected to it than most digital-only mavens acknowledge. See some of my other handful of posts for that notion).
What is less often remarked upon, I think, is the relative value of a relationship versus one-night stands. Infinite music, with streaming, is a bit akin to endless dates. There is nothing wrong with that in my mind—if that is how one is constituted. 
One of the things I want from my listening time is the depth of knowledge that comes with the intimacy of repeated listening. Knowing myself, I listen to my records and gain that deeper appreciation. When I stream, however, I tend not to revisit music in the same way or the same frequency. So I know that music less well. Can one constrain one’s listening on digital to a smaller quanta of music? Of course—but it tends not to be how I operate. Moreover, such a limitation for streaming is a bit contrived, when infinite choice is one of the genuine benefits of Qobuz, Tidal or Roon. 
So the holism of a listening system would be well-served and best achieved when a given audiophile knows what sort of relationship they want to have with music. Then they would understand that the why of how they consume music is just as essential as the gear. 
People who seek the novelty of the new probably will do best investing most of their dollars in a digital streaming source. People who seek the surprising novelty of the familiar may find vinyl a better source. 
I listen 70% vinyl, 15% digital media formats and 15% streaming. 
I hope this different model or approach is helpful for someone.
@jjss49 , interesting that you went with the analogy of food and particularly comfort food. Yes, there is no doubt that many people listen to old familiar music to avoid encountering anything new or challenging. As a former chef, I both understood and had little patience for such diners, because they were never going to understand my art, even as they enjoyed the food at their own level of perception. 
What I was getting at was the complete opposite. Returninng to known music opens up that which is strange, startling and unknown about it. The brain can focus on the details and structure that previously escaped attention. Thus, the long term relationship  versus one night stand metaphor Is an inversion. When I think back to my (too many) one night stands, the novelty was only skin deep, whereas my relationship with my wife of 20 plus years continues to reveal surprising features and things I didn’t know. 
Of course both are important and the human seeks novelty. I’d argue that our age hits that balance incorrectly, which is one reason that the early days of digital went for quantity over quality—an error that is very slowly being corrected in the main stream.

What I am driving at is less about Technical platform superiority (not a topic I find interesting in the least), and more about the art of music appreciation. In fact, I would put purchased high quality digital files in the same boat as vinyl—with replay equipment determining merits of each. 
Purchased collections are finite. For those of us who don’t possess collections of 100000 songs, the curated and limited collection has a greater potential to allow us that deeper form of musical appreciation. It isn’t automatic or even necessary—as the comfort food analogy makes clear—but from a behavioral perspective, a more limited collection stands a better chance of openIng more people to greater and more attentive listening than streaming. 
That’s my empirical assessment, and unless someone has data showing this is incorrect, a contrary opinion will be just that. I would be fascinated, however, to read if anyone has done a statistical analysis of how people listened to streamed versus purchased music.