I believe you have to throw the almighty dollar into this equation. For the poor man, digital has it all over vinyl in every way. However, if you have a coral Koetsu and everything to go with it, there is a good chance that vinyl is the best. |
I was responding to the fact that I'm a technician, and the question is not "audiophillic" if there is such a word; but technical.
As a technician, I rely on my ears as opposed to measurements when we are in the "audiophile domain", and as an "audiophile" I'm sure you know what I mean. Nothing can measure subtle nuances. |
Let me settle this once and for all. Since there is no such thing as a "nuance meter", and a computer and a vinyl LP can both reproduce something that is beyond any meter's ability to measure; lets call it a draw. |
No, you're absolutely correct.
When I got my FCC license, I thought I knew everything; working with scopes, frequency meters, etc. There was nothing I couldn't measure; and then I got into high end audio. That was when I discovered those dumb "audiophiles" who didn't even know ohm's law, could hear things that I couldn't measure.
First of all, an audiophile has very good hearing. Once upon a time I said if two amps measure the same, they sound the same; of course you know I was wrong, and so it is with harmonics, we can hear in between the rungs. |
In addition, harmonics are always presented as a lower frequency affecting a higher frequency, but never how higher frequencies affect lower frequencies. I'm saying these higher, inaudible frequencies affect lower frequencies. Can anyone shed light on that. |
This is a technical question, and it can be answered with an accurate oscilloscope. Simply compare the two wave forms on a double trace scope. I would wager "digital" because of the consistency of reproduction. |
Terry9, vinyl doesn't deliver the degree of consistancy needed for the measurements you're talking about, and you must have consistency for any scientific comparison. Unfortunately, digital and vinyl are apples and oranges; consequently the only comparison that can be made is subjective. |
I'm well aware of this phenomena. In a test I could not hear over 17,000Hz, but I can perceive at least to 20 KHz; which is why I have a tweeter that goes that high.
I can tell the difference when someone has a tweeter that only goes to 18 KHz, but I can't quite explain it. |
Learsfool, it has to be "harmonics". People only think of harmonics going up the ladder, but I reason that if they go up the ladder, they have to come down the ladder as well. |
While "harmonics" are unrelated to the subject, they are very much related to what we hear as audiophiles.
My new stance on this subject is totally unscientific, because "high end" audiophiles hear things that go beyond any instruments ability to measure. When CD's came out, I bought them to hear the same music I had on LP, only better. One CD in particular was inferior to the LP, it lacked "nuance"; and as jazz lovers know "nuance" is everything.
I down loaded this LP to my computer, and on playback all the "nuance" was there; complete with record noise. What do you make of that?
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Which is more accurate, digital or vinyl; was the question. Although the question implied CD, it was not implicitly stated. Computers operate in the digital realm.
While the CD was inferior to the LP, when the LP was transferred to the "digital" realm of the computer; the analog playback came back completely intact including "nuance" and record noise; therefore, one has to ask "Which digital are you referring to?"
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My point was, that the computer, which is digital; reproduced the LP as good as any TT I've ever heard, as a matter of fact it was identical. When comparing the CD to the LP, there are many possibilities and variables. This was an early CD, and I hear they've gotten better. |
In regard to the harmonics, we are all in agreement. When we listen to music, high frequencies affect low frequencies, and the question of harmonics is really "moot".
I also agree on frequencies above the "audible" range. We hear, or sense with our entire body. |
When asked about the LP, Rudy Van Gelder, who gained fame for recording: Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Grant Green, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, and many others on Blue Note, replied, "Good riddance". That tells me something.
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