Does Age Matter?


Having read and contributed to several threads on the digital vs analog controversy I developed a nagging itch that suggested it is older people that prefer analog and younger people digital. If this is the case than there is most definitely a nostalgic element to that opinion. Perhaps we can answer that question. I will go first. Please do not ruminate on the differences. Age and preference, digital, analog or both! We'll tally the results at the end. 

I am 67 and like Both analog and digital.
128x128mijostyn
This post is rather confusing because some contributors seem to be comparing CDs with "digital" alternatives, but a CD recording is digital isn't it?
Anyway, I am now 64 and although I do play some vinyl records I prefer CDs because they are easier to handle. Typically I buy 10 or 12 new CDs every month. This has nothing to do with nostalgia or anything like that. It is simply that CDs are convenient and easy to play. I have tried streaming and downloading files but it always ends up being a battle of wits between me and the computer. By contrast CDs could not be simpler. I simply pop the CD in the player and press play.
Wherever possible I choose SACDs rather than CDs. CDs are adequate but I find that SACDs are much closer to the sound produced by vinyl records.
Eh, I don't think age matters.  I've encountered as many analog lovers as there are digital and then those who DGAF and switch between both as necessary regardless of age.  I don't think the format matters.  Digital done well will sound better than analog done carelessly/poorly and vice-versa.  My taste in music is all over the place as I enjoy a wide variety of music.  There's a lot that just doesn't move me, so I enjoy lossless streaming when I'm not listening to content from my ripped collection.  If the music doesn't move me, I switch tracks, and I'd get annoyed pretty quickly to have to keep getting up to switch tracks on a record.  I can't listen to things that don't move me at length.  I have to be able to FFWD. 

One of these days I'll attempt to go down that road again.  Need to research a good value setup that sounds great and won't break the bank, and a consistent source of vinyl for the music I like.  

I think if care had been taken during the mastering process (and possibly recording in general) during the early stages of digital, this would be much less of a conversation.  I find that even for music that may not be exactly my cup of tea, stuff recorded back in the 60s and 70s just sounded better.  But the arguments back then were definitely valid.  

If I still had my vinyl I'd certainly have the playback ability sorted out, but I'm happy with the convenience digital offers, and I certainly don't hear "digital" sound during playback (thanks SparkOS!). 

Now I just need to be cool and take care of me hearing so I can keep enjoying my music into and well past my 70s (god willing).
I' am 70, listen to hifi for the beginning of the seventies and practise vocal jazz within a musician and chorus ' group 2hours per week ( prior confinement...)
My hifi system is 30 years old in average ,analogic  thorens td 124 ,sme 3012, at 33 ptg cartridge, Conrad johnson tube and solid state gears, focal loudspeakers..

Digital is shared between A730 Studer  cd and streaming through Qobuz hi res...
As a results I got the best of the two world....old analogic gears are lovely and the streaming in 24bits 96khz is fantastic to reproduce the master studio in term of dynamic!

Audiophiles people should go to the concert to hear that the reality is also not perfect....

Raymond







Now that's more like it (FZ). I would assume that if you are an Agoner that you have at least some passing interest in sound quality. Lewm, I would assume your stats are from the public at large. This is not the public at large. If you do not like answering the question, go elsewhere. There are at least a few who are and there are plenty of other threads to respond to.
What I am seeing so far is a rather profound inversion. It appears that the Older folks prefer digital because of it's convenience and younger Agoners are more into vinyl. I have a few hypotheses as to why this might be. Keep the answers coming!
I got my first dose of COVID vaccine yesterday. All you guys over 65 pay attention. It will be coming to your neighborhood soon!