I thought the analog vs. digital debate ran itself into the ground over a decade ago, but apparently not. Part of the problem is people are confused by the variety of debates between compression codecs and compression during the mastering process, two different issues. The strange outcome is a return to vinyl fetishism (see Michael Fremer's comments) that really isn’t going to address these issues, unless you want to stop listening to new music, which is mostly not available on vinyl.
First of all, the only time vinyl is audibly better than digital is when the remastering job for CD is botched or taken from faulty masters, which was fairly common in 1984-1992, when engineers were on a learning curve. I've been researching this issue for a decade and I have NEVER found conclusive scientific evidence via double-blind testing that proved vinyl was superior to digital when using the same master. The so-called "warmth" of the analog sound is just the way the brain perceives a sound that's distorted in a certain way. Keep in mind that recordings have not been made directly to vinyl since the invention of magnetic tape in the 1930s. The tape, being non-linear, creates low-order harmonics that are perceived as "warm sound". That effect is quite easily achievable through electronic means in a (yes) digital environment. There are boxes that you can buy and insert in the digital stream that will add "warmth" to the sound through means of adding low-order harmonics (e.g. distorting the sound). This distortion is obviously not true to the original music. However, it is an effect that older generations are used to and nostalgic for.
PBS's Wired Science show addressed this issue, but it was disappointing because the science was pretty flimsy. They had engineers Colin Miller & Jean-Marie Horvat of Animal Records, and two members of the band Great Northern do one A/B listening test to just one song randomly flipped between analog and digital. The “big surprise” was that no one could consistently tell the difference. The engineers guessed which was which correctly 55% of the time (so much for their “golden ears”), the band 53%. It’s not clear whether they tried to judge which sounded better and failed, or didn’t bother to try. They also interviewed engineers Steve Albini and Ken Andrews. Albini is no dummy, and rather than get himself into trouble, he simply said analog was superior to MP3s (duh), and mentioned how digital mastering was screwed up when CDs were first introduced in the 80s. The only thing conclusive here is that host Ziya Tong is a total babe.
Then there’s the debate about sample rates. The bandwidth of CDs are 44.1 kHz sampling rate (44,100 samples) x 16 bits x 2 channels = 1.4 Megabits per second. With a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz you have an effective frequency response of up to 22.05 kHz (way above what most people will statistically be able to perceive as sound). HD-DVD/DVD-audio offers 9.6Mbps, with 128 kHz sampling rate at 24 bits. While the higher sample rates correct the distortion of high-end frequencies that occur in 1.4 Mbps CDs, those frequencies are only audible to dogs, cats and bats, who, when asked, would probably say they prefer CDs as they wouldn’t hurt their ears as much.
Additionally, the transducers on both ends of the audio chain are too limited to properly take advantage of 128 kHz, or even 96 kHz. Paul Lehrman, a composer, educator, and consulting editor for Mix magazine, points out that the frequency responses of most mics and digital musical instruments roll off at around 20 kHz. Thus, anything recorded above 20 kHz at a 96 kHz sampling rate "is probably junk," claims Lehrman. In response to the argument that it's the digital filter in 96 kHz systems, and not the extended frequency response, that's responsible for the improved sonics, Lehrman says that, in A/B tests, he has "never been able to tell, definitively, the difference between a well-constructed 44.1 or 48 kHz oversampling converter and a 96 kHz converter."
The practice of over-compression to make music sound louder is a whole different can of worms. Spreading the word on this issue will hopefully result in a very simple solution. Bands and labels that want to have an over-compressed loud mix for radio and MP3s can make an alternative mix available for purchase in lossless codecs such as Apple lossless .m4a and FLAC for people who care about good sound.
I can’t see buying turntables as a solution. Limited dynamics (vinyl’s 70dB vs. CD’s 96dB) and deteriorating sound quality issues aside, hunting for cheap vinyl can be fun. But only a small percentage of new releases are available on vinyl. There are three things, however, that can make a huge difference.
1) Improve your source. Lossless codecs are starting to become available for purchase, but at $1.50 a song, they’re a rip-off. Buy CDs instead. Rip them to Apple lossless .m4a or FLAC formats. Hard drives have nearly a 100% failure rate, so CDs are still the best available backup storage for digital data.
2) Use a better DAC (digital audio converter). The sound cards that come with most computers are crap. You can either buy a professional quality sound card, or an external DAC that can connect to your computer via USB2. Some high end headphone amps also include DACs. Yamaha, Harman/Kardon and Outlaw Audio offer receivers with USB inputs.
3) For the love of god, throw away those cheap headphones and computer speakers! This is where sound quality can be improved the most. Many people are shocked how much difference even a decent set of $200 speakers or headphones can make. Quality per value peaks at around $1,500, with diminishing returns after that. Many audiophiles will argue where the tipping point is to death. Ignore them and listen for yourself and go only as high as your budget will allow.
When most people can’t even tell the difference between MP3s and CDs on their computers or earbuds, this solution will be more than good enough. If you get sucked down the slippery slope of audiophilia and spend $20,000+ on your AV system, don’t blame me!
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Good sense throughout, especially on recommendations (1)-(3) and on compression. I posted on the evils of mastering compression recently and was astonished to see that some people were confusing it with data compression. That said, I'd still like to acquire a somewhat high-end turntable as one part of my overall solution...
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One thing I agree about is the mastering...The early CD's were done hastily and many sounded like crap..Doing A/B testing in the 80's vinyl killed cd's. I listen to a lot of older music as it is, and the quality varies immensely when it goes to disc, even with todays tech improvements.
I also agree about liking the "warm" sound because you are accustomed to it..Besides how good Tony Allen and Clyde Stubblefield were nobodys drums today sound like theirs did back then..I'm sure todays drummers sound just like they want to and technicaly better (db,khz and stuff like that), but I like my old ears and sounds. It is cool when folks like Daptone try to capture that old sound, and I just have to get used to the way todays drums sound.
Great advice all around..good sound is a blessing for those who find it, but I don't rise to the obsessive level..trust your ears.
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For the record: I currently use a $1.25 set of headphones that delivers a sound comparable (to my mind) to the $100 set of Sony studio pro headphones I used to have. The bang I'm getting for my buck is astronomical. Perhaps I have a pair of bum ears or a lack of sophistication to thank for it, but I'm content. Or maybe the decent-plus sound of the cheapos (complete with vigorous bass) is an engineering fluke.
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I bought one of Mobile Fidelity's gold CDs way back when, and it didn't sound as good as my beat-up vinyl of the same album (Procol Harums's Live in Edmonton). Definitely a mastering problem.
Too many CDs in the early days were made from the masters used to cut the LPs, which were EQ'd to compensate for vinyl's resposne curve, and they weren't re-EQ'd for CD.
I remember reviews of CD players built with tubes in Absolute Sound, i think it was.
I also remember people who really ought to have had a clue seriously explaining to me why painting the edges of a CD green made it sound better.
Of course, other voodoo like Monster Cable has been around for a lot longer than CDs.
I remember a multi-driver speaker system - five bands, i think - in which the two mid-ranges and the tweeter and super tweeter were progressively stepped backward to make sure that the wavefronts from all five were aligned. I know people who won't buy an amp until they get a look at the schematic and determine that there are an even number of inverting stages, to make sure the sound comes out in the same absolute phase it was recorded in.
As to frequency response of CDs, while the theoretical limit runs up to 22.05KHz, real-world CDs are mastered through a brick-wall low-pass filter that pretty well chops off anything above 20K - you have to be sure that nothing recorded exceeds half the sample rate, because if it does you can get some nasty aliasing. (Just as you have to be dead sure not to exceed 0 VU recording levels for the same reason.)
Some of the voodoo can work, and the techno-giggle factor thereof can be awesome; i wish i'd managed to get hold of one of Hitachi's "Class H" amps that used a saturable reactor as an output stage instead of active components like tubes or transistors...
And another part of the "warmth" of vinyl is surface noise and other distortions attendant to the reproducing process.
I remember a book from the Sixties written by an engineer discussing musical electronics; he obviously looked upon fuzz boxes and the like with disgust - "We spend twenty years working our butts off to eliminate distortion and then they invent gadgest to put it back in!"
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Excellent read, thanks!
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Loads of new music is released on vinyl. All you have to do is look for that option when making your purchase.
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At the risk of being totally in contradiction with your post, I'd recommend organic music. Nothing beats the aural elation one can experience when music fills your body with various waves of sonic fluid.
Of course, it helps when you're watching and seeing the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra play Sibelius Symphony No 3. But you don't have to wait for the LSO to visit your lodgings, just pay attention to that busker's musical strokes for instance.
Reclaim your music: http://www.nomusicday.com/home.html
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Thanks, fastnbulbous for the informative read. Now you have persuaded me to stick with what I have and not get another turn table. However, I was informed though that vinyl is "trying" to make a come back. I was reading Moby's blog today and he is going to be releasing some music on vinyl. Why?! I do not even have a turn table anymore so I wonder who his target market is for this album?! I wonder too if this vinyl record is exclusively for vinyl
Who knows..
Appreciate you educating us for now I understand a little more of the science behind this analog vs. digital debate.
http://blog.myspace.com/moby - December 06, 2007 // Journal Entry titled: some music related things//
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Thanks for the post, great read. I can see the attractiveness of recording analog and the ease of going digital, to me both sides are right. This debate has been going on for about 20 years now, will there ever be a winner? As far as the vinyl vs cd/mp3 issue goes, to me vinyl is fun. I buy old albums cheap and rip them to mp3 anyways. I listen to music from vinyl, mp3's and CD's all from the same speakers and other than the cracks and pops from the vinyl, I can't tell the difference. There's obviously a demand for vinyl or no one would be realeasing their music on it today and there would be no such thing as a Used Record Store. Vinyl has barried them all and soon will count CD's as another conquered medium. Am I going to tell you it sounds better? No way.
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Man, great post! Definitely makes me feel comfortable with my assertion that what your accustomed to you will like better. Early CD's did sound like shit! The most egregious offense was the Rolling Stones whole catalog. You would have to listen to a song like "Gimme Shelter" on the radio for it to sound right. Now that people can properly master music, it isn't so much an issue.
Great information in this post though. I'm slowly trying to upgrade my system for better listening, but I like your recommendation for the USB 2.0 head phones, never considered it, thanks!
I would love to get a stand alone PC/media center to handle all my music in the formats recommended. Someday I suppose.
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The advice used to be - and it's still good - is spend more money on your speakers than anything else in the system. It's only going to sound as good as them. But you can also get amazing quality for not much money. A recording engineer friend used to take great delight in driving musicians crazy by using cheap portable recorders (maybe $50) to do live demo recordings. They always sounded great. His advice: listen to what your ears are telling you. Not the price tag.
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After last weeks enlightening video on loudness processing, we are getting deeper into modern recording technology right now! The dices fell a couple of years ago, but there’s still some discussion on this topic (started at Wired). I must say that digital recording and especially the processing of digital audio have developed a great deal in the right direction. If all that is written in the linked MOG entry is true and profound, than why are there one bit recorders becoming affordable? I recently hooked up my turntable again, and after a break of more than six months, only listening to digital audio (CDs are digital audio too, in case you didn’t know), I must tell you that listening to music reproduced in an unbroken analog chain is like a warm shower. I read that 1 bit recorders are able to reproduce that, by not having a sampling rate, which is usually about twice the frequency we are able to here, in consumer products/files. Talking about dices. However, I believe people rate a good tune higher than audio-fidelity. They listen to the lady on the phone, not the phone. I take it as a compliment as composer, and an inspiration as a sound engineer.
http://www.kawentzmann.de/wordpress/?p=217
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Isn't it also kind of silly for bands like Radiohead to release vinyl versions of their album when their using Max MSP, and laptops to record their albums? I mean putting a digital file to an analog format does not technically make it analog (other than it's being played as analog).
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Got 40K? http://store.acousticsounds.com/browse_detail.cfm?Title_ID=31917
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If you have that kind of money to spend on a turn table, I've got some swamp land in Florida that you just gotta see.
You could hook it up to these rinky dink little speakers that cost only $150,000 from Steinway:
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Garsh those would certainly liven up the place! Does it come with any of thos new-fangled EyePud things? 'Round here all we get is a mouth harp (when Clem comes over) for any of that music kinda stuff.