Analog playback on computer is a perversion if you have analog system standing near.
Analog playback on computer.
Some years ago there was very heavy discussion on the PC forum about how to down load vinyl to PC. At this time, the analog forum was touting how inferior PC was to analog, instead of tuning in on the discussion, which was even in "Stereophile".
I purchased the audiophile cards for the PC that Stereophile recommended, and tuned in to the proper interfacing of analog to PC. Compared to how expensive analog is, the necessary hardware was quite reasonable.
Just recently, after purchasing a new cartridge, and some 6922 tubes recommended by "Uncle Kevin" at Upscale Audio for both Pre and Phono Pre, I got quite an improvement in analog.
https://www.upscaleaudio.com/products/telefunken-e88cc-6922
The question was, could all of this improvement be heard on computer playback, and the answer was a resounding YES.
You gits out what you puts in.
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@gdnrbob maybe it's just me, but at my 41 digital never played at important role in my life when it comes to music, i'm happy to play vinyl on my turntables. Cassette tapes were much more important for me than CDs back in the days, i don't care about digital files, it helps only when i want to share my music or when i want to find some new music on youtube to buy it on vinyl. Listening to vinyl is a pure pleasure. |
Analog playback on computer is a perversion if you have analog system standing near. @chakster. Aw! come on really. Why do people go on the defensive when someone has the audacity to say they enjoy listening to difital copies of analogue media. I too used to use cassette tapes of my vinyl records and I did them with a Nakamichi 582 and in the day it was no slouch. I came across some last year and went over to my friend's house and put some of them on his Nakamichi Dragon. Frankly the sound from them was just laughable and these were metal Maxel tapes that were individually calibrated on my Nak to give the best conditions available to record onto. When we played them on his dragon we looked at each other in sheer horror, There was very little treble to speak of and lots of tape hiss ( and that was With Dolby B in circuit ). There was also print through giving pre echo ( remember that little revelation ) and the bass was muddy and had a lack of detail. All in all it was an unmitigated disaster so you can guess where those tapes went , yes the trash. Now you may think that It was taped on an old Garrard SP 25 by what i have been saying but it was state of the art for 70's Brittain at the time. Linn Sondeck with upgraded power supplies and other mods that I don't fully recollect at the moment, a Sirynx PU 2 tonearm and a Dynavector Ruby Karat cartridge. Of course now people will probably laugh at that level of equiptment but in my day it meant a very serious investment. All I can say now is I am glad I junked all my analogue stuff in the nineties and went down the digital road. I now do a lot of my listening by streaming now and apart from the convenience of not getting up to change siides I am now getting a dynamic range that is totally believable and treble quallity that is divine. I use a computer to do this listening with and it is brimming with software from Mark Porzilli ( he of The Memory Player fame ) . The music comming from it I wouldn't swap for even a very high end analogue rig of today. If anyone is interested in really doing a high end remake of their music computer phone Laufer Teknic and speak to Sam I am really glad I did. Oh and just to let you know also it is just as good as my Gryphon Mikado Signature CD player which now sits from one week to the next without spinning a disk. |
jim204, I recall when the idea of down loading vinyl to PC was new, and all the conversation was on the PC forum. There was much discussion about computer analog interface, as well as the best DACs to retrieve the digital; I took it all in. The biggest problem here is that the PC crowd is so much more advanced than the "horse and buggy" analog crowd. There was a well heeled extreme audiophile who belonged to a club that met once a month, and when he hosted the meeting, he had to rush and get his analog gear together because he had gone digital; the convenience alone is worth the change. While it's too complicated to explain, "Geeks" are available to take care of the hardware for you. I'm glad you're enjoying the pleasures of digital. |
No, I hear the vinyl records I down loaded into the hard drive; they went from analog, through a converter to digital, and then back to "analog" after going through a DAC. Do you remember "Star Trek"; "Beam me up Scotty"! Now anytime someone was beamed up, they were transformed to particles and returned back to their normal selves through the converter. When digital goes through the DAC, it is returned to "Analog". |
If anyone prefers vinyl to digital, fine. For me, it's that I grew up with vinyl. I remember the pops and ticks, the stuck needle, having to walk carefully so as not to have the needle jump, and getting up every 1/2 hour to turn the lp over. Perhaps there is more information on an lp, but when I listen to streaming music that is synced wirelessly throughout the house, and it sound great, I find myself enjoying the fact that I have an almost unlimited catalog at my disposal and never have to get out of my chair. B |
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"Analog playback on computer" - do you hear yourself ?
If you have a sound card in your computer other than a DAC connected to it by USB then the sound card has to convert the digital signal by way of the DAC on the sound card and into the analogue inputs on your amplifier then you are listening to analogue from a computer. Simple really when you think about it for a moment. |
Assuming the "Analoger" has spent much time and expensive resources in acquiring his class A rig, that he enjoys immensely; would he object to a class A reel to reel playback? If the same dedication to detail and expenses are expended in things such as; analog to computer interface in the down loading to hard drive process, and the same attention to detail and quality of hardware on retrieval through a quality DAC; what you hear will be no different from no computer at all. Since, most "Analogers" derive so much more pleasure from playing with their expensive toys, than the actual results of the music, that this would deprive them of that pleasure; they would rather caress cartridges than listen to music. I, on the other hand, derive my pleasure from the exquisite sound of the music after all of the hard work, and considerable expense. Now I can focus exclusively on the music; "My love Supreme". |
@gdnrbob For me, it's that I grew up with vinyl. I remember the pops and ticks, the stuck needle, having to walk carefully so as not to have the needle jump, and getting up every 1/2 hour to turn the lp over. Yes, also digging in the crates for vinyl, old dusty vinyl, to find something that you never heard before, something that wasn't digitalized yet, something rare. This is about new discoveries, this philosophy is completely oppisite to the digital world of streaming. Millions of records from the golden era are unknown, not the mainstream music, but very interesting music from all over the world in different genres. Recorded on independent labels, private presses etc. This is all about record collection and this is why record collector and audiophile is not the same. Audiophiles are more concerned about quality, but the record collectors are about new discoveries on original vinyl. Nothing can replace the original vinyl for the collector. Digital is nothing, really. In my opinion Record Collector & Audiophile is the best combination, but it is all about analog, digital has no value! |
@chakster
digital has no value!
I.m sorry but I couldn't disagree more, I think we are all audiophiles and also record collectors. Why else would we buy recordings and also try to update the sound quallity on our equiptment when time and money allows us to do it. What I will throw into the pot is the term Music Lover. That is what got me into hi fi in the first place as I used to listen to music on valve radio when I was a boy and I derived a lot of pleasure from it. When I got older and started working for a living I then could buy Hi fidelity equiptment to play recordings on so that I could get more pleasure from my first love, being a music lover. Now there are some audiophiles and some record collectors who are not music lovers, you just have to look at their record collections to find it out. They generally have their music and hi fi bought from suggestions garnered from music and hifi rags . I have seen it first hand on many occasions and on visiting some of them they have usually told me they have bought from reviews from Hi Fi News and Gramophone and never even hear before they purchased. Some have even said they have bought because they liked the nice glow the valves gave off or their wife liked that box because it would fit in with the decor and again not hahing listened before purchase. I would have a component in a biscuit tin if it gave better sound. No I shall always remain a music lover and I love streaming now because I have a computer that is as good sounding as my Gryphon CD player and I can also listen to a recording before I decide to buy it in hi rez format and it won't deteriorate no matter how many playings. |
I've been scrutinizing HD downloads all morning, and they are the ultimate; no cracks or pops. I can understand how much fun people derive from playing with their very expensive "eye candy" toys, and refuse to admit that there is a new "high end" kid on the block; never the less, the new kid is the winner; less money and baggage. |
No cracks, no pops, no phisical media, no sleeve, nothing ... and easy to copy. I can understand if you're talking about new music recorded digitally, but if you're talking about great heritage of the 50s, 60s, 70s which was recorded 100% analog on mastertape, how come your digital high-resolution files can be better? Digital remaster of the analog source is the worst thing on the planet, it's better to not touch the great recordings from the past, just playing the original LPs on our expensive toys. The difference is that some of the old LPs are highly collectible and the prices goes up every year. I'm not talking about some pop sh*t. I'm about real music. The vinyl has value, it's an investment. It's real thing. And like the collectors of Art no one interested in digital copies, only originals. Even 20 years old hipsters are into vinyl nowadays, because it's the real thing and digital generation of kids realizing it. Vinyl can not be replaced by any other media, it's the best media out there and that's why it's still alive. Pressing plants are still working all over the world. |
@chakster Yes I get what you are saying about analogue being collectable and I do agree with that. But digital remastering of analogue no I cannot condone that because I have digital remasters of some of the Greatest recordings of the sixties in Classical form. Solti's Ring Cycle and Klemperer's Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde to name 2. What Decca and EMI have done with those original analogue tapes is nothing short of a miracle. Have a listen if you don't believe me. |
Most LPs produced in the last 35 years have been through an AD/DA loop at one stage or the other. Even if labeled AAA, most of them have been digitized during the cutting process. https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php/topic,105321.0.html |