I was leafing through some of the latest audiophile propaganda last night and I was reading about the push towards hi-res digital downloads. You can get 96/24 files or DSD files for playback through a DAC or one of the new high end digital players. I find it somewhat amusing but Im honestly not all that interested in this trend. One particular article had a statement from the author saying something along the lines of, hi-res digital will replace vinyl for high quality playback in the home. I read that and exclaimed out loud, This guy doesnt get it at all! Just like all of these manufacturers who push cheap turntables with USB outputs who think the only reason anyone would want a turntable is to dub their old records into a PC, these digital heads miss the point entirely. I want to play my records and enjoy them live. Im not in any kind of rush to archive them. Im not actively seeking an alternative to analog. I DO NOT think that digital recording, no matter how high the resolution is claimed to be, is better or more desirable than analog. Yes, I do own some records that are not available in any digital form and, yes, I have made digital recordings of them so I can listen to them on my computer but my experience has been that as soon as you transfer any analog source to digital the magic disappears, regardless of what the resolution of the digital storage medium happens to be. Its never the same. All the depth goes away and the more de-clicking and noise reduction and EQ and normalization you apply to the audio, the more digital it ends up sounding. It is not my intention to open up the whole digital-versus-analog can of worms here... It is meant solely to point out the great divide that exists in the audio world today. You got one camp who wants to delude themselves into thinking that digitals inherent grittiness and lack of depth can be mitigated by more data in a file and a whole lot of money spent on a DAC and then you got this other camp that would rather hear an original RCA Living Stereo LP of Beethoven they found at a yard sale for $1 played back through a tube amp, using the latest cartridge to extract from the old groove details that have never been heard before. Pay no attention to the pops and clicks or the fact that said LP was played on a BSR changer that tracked at 6 grams in its past life and theres noticeable distortion from record wear. Well ignore that... I think you probable already know what camp I fall into. No, I am more concerned with the meanness of the inevitable discourse that goes on between the two camps. Nothing wrong with a healthy debate but some take it too far... I say to each his own. Whatever makes you happy. What gets to me is the bullying I hear all the time from the digital heads. They keep trying to kill off CDs and LPs... They go on and on about how were all going to be streaming music from the cloud and we wont need any physical media at all anymore. Thats pure BS. I got 2,000 CDs and about 700 carefully selected LPs and 45s that beg to differ with you. I also have several hundred cassette tapes, as well. You know what? Ill most likely get more, too. Just show me the nearest flea market or yard sale. Ill take the time to clean it up, Ill hold my breath when i drop the needle on it for the first time, hoping it will play without too much noise. Ill do the same for that CD or cassette, too. It makes me happy. Sorry, Ill never get that excited over a download and Im not going to sit and listen to a crappy throttled internet stream and jump for joy, either. You wanna do the digital thing? Go right a head. Have at it. Could you please stop trying to take my LPs away, though? Could you refrain from looking down your nose at me? Could you stop calling me a Luddite? Its bullying of the worst kind and its not going to do anything but make you look stupid in the end. LPs, tapes and even CDs are not going anywhere anytime soon. There will always be folks who want to play them and, as long as the apparatus to do so is available, they will. Cant we all just get along?
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 16:44:50 +0000
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