2. analog
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Why vinyl?

I understand the thoughts of a lot of you that digital is harsh and bright and has an edge. I know that analog has a warmer fuller sound, otherwise why would so many people put up with the inconvenience of records, cartridges, cleaners, tone-arm adjustments, etc. I used to be there. Of course all I had was a Garrard direct drive turntable. If the idea is to get as close as possible to the original source, why has not open-reel tape made a huge comeback. After all that's how most of the stuff was recorded in the first place. Very few were direct to disk recordings. Why would dragging a stylus through a groove be better than the original? There used to be a company out there called In-Synch that used the original masters and sold cassettes of them, dubbed at 1:1 ratio. I was the happiest person in the world when CD's came out and I could throw out my disk-washer and everything else that went with it, including the surface noise and the TICKS and POPS. Just something I've wondered about.
elmuncy

Showing 2 responses by blkadr

blkadr
739 posts
 
I also miss album covers. I was talking to a friend the other day after getting an email about the "Best Concerts" thread. I had been going through my LPs and album covers evoke a feeling that I have never felt looking through my CDs. A lot like the feeling I got thinking about favorite concerts.
I hate jewel cases, they are too small for the wonderful art of the LP cover, they break all the time and its a big pain to remove the tape on the edge. CDs should come in album covers! Somehow I find room for my albums. And they do sound better.

By the way, has anyone experienced LP quality sound from reel to reel? Never sounded that good to me, what ever the cause.
blkadr
739 posts
 
Just a couple of additional thoughts. When CD came out it was "the death of vinyl". Well not so fast. There has been a rebirth of interest in vinyl and I think it was initially fueled by the abysmal sound quality of alot of the early CD releases. Now there are more and better choices when it comes to TT set-ups. I can even think of several Turntable manufacturers that started up (and are still doing well) after CD came out. Why now? Well someone thinks its still a viable (and marketable) format.

Also another Neil Young analogy. He once likened digital sound to floresent lighting, you may not be conscious of the fact it is constantly turning itself on and off but it can irritate you none the less.

I listen to CD and LP on modest equipment. CD is getting better and if I could afford it I would explore the best digital. But if I had the coin it might end up going towards a top notch analog set-up.
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