CDs Vs LPs

CD is fundamentally flawed from a standpoint of being incapable of faithfully reproducing the original analog content without the staircase effect and artifacts. No amount of money spent on transports and DACs will ever change the fact that it uses substandard 44kHz sampling.

@dynaquest4 and @cleeds you are glossing over the fundamental issue with going digital: it does not capture the infinite range of undulations. Rather, the process quantizes the input program material at the sampling frequency, and then stores it as a sequence of discrete samples.

What you are mistakenly thinking of, is the reverse process, taking that stored sequence of samples and generating a facsimile of the original analog program material, doing bit-sum averaging to compensate for dropouts. 

Perhaps this is the missing information you needed to see why digital is inherently flawed. 

The video that @cleeds referred to is heavily slanted toward trusting that the conversion back to analog fills in the missing pieces with a perfectly synthesized replacement. The human ear is not capable of discretely differentiating the bonafide program material from artificial. Put another way, not capable of seeing the forrest for the trees.

As as a person who can’t put on the blinders and “un-see” what I know, I cannot accept that 16 bit depth with 44kHz sampling even approaches the principle of high fidelity sound reproduction (ie: don’t alter the program material).

That is not to say that there isn’t a purpose for CD in my life. It’s just a distant third choice, because of the nature of what it is, to vinyl and analog tape done properly. Sadly, after you learn that there is no Santa Claus, the ritual of gifting becomes as hollow as the sound of 16/44 digital.

@cleeds the fact is that while the data is still represented as a staircase, (lollipop diagram if you prefer), the nature of sampling means that some information is left out during digitizing and then on playback, it is artificially synthesized. That is the indisputable flaw in the process. No matter what quantization resolution and what sampling rate, you cannot escape this fundamental. 

Garbage in = garbage out. 

To all who believe that CD sacrifices none of the original program material, I ask this: if it was not recorded in 100% entirety, how can you be 100% certain that the program is PERFECTLY reproduced? Here’s the issue: what comes out cannot be superior to the data it was based on.

@elizabeth no need to get all pious and judgemental just because I’m peeling the onion. Try objectivity. It’s more mature than getting personal. Now, please explain to me how program material that was captured in samples can be guaranteed to be PERFECTLY reproduced. 

@elizabeth said:

I say specially when the mice are in the Man’s underpants.

Elizabeth: care to explain what you mean?

@atmasphere said:

Maybe the next round of digital will be better, and the LP will finally go away.

Ralph, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around DSD, but it’s not exactly “consumer-friendly”.  Do you see any improvements on that front? Do you think DSD will become the digital utopia that we wanted the CD to be?