Analog or Digital? (1993)

[Jan-1993]

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• early
• digital
• technology
• analog
• compact
• disc
• cd

[Sweetassour]

lol Dave is a troll

[mattresssurveyor]

@nnorrellim I'll break it down for you.

1993: vinyl and cd provide comparable sound quality, I think the idea that "pops and crackles" can hide a band's lack of ability is absurd, but I'm not interested in the vinyl/CD dickwaving you so eagerly want to get into.

2011: CD is over, mp3 is way of the future. The choice between digital and analogue is no longer CD/Vinyl but mp3/Vinyl. Choosing to release on vinyl over mp3 is choosing a higher quality format.

Truth is less true today. Q.E.D.

[JuniorST35]

Funny how i saw recent vid from Dave saying that vinyl sounds better than cd. I guess he was just trolling in '93

[fatcatbuzz]

@Valgrindar It's true that digital leaves gaps in recording. Many engineers will record at the highest possible sampling rate for this reason. Yes, transferring a digital medium to vinyl doesn't bring back any of the loss of information that was not captured in the recording process. I'm saying by nature, analog mediums such as vinyl are a much more warmer sounding medium because it's the actually sound you hear, not a reproduction. I believe analog will never completely go away.

[Valgrindar]

@fatcatbuzz Sound travels via electrical signals and sound waves. When you record in digital, you do not have a smooth sound wave, but a digitized one which uses what's known as "stepping". It leaves out portions of the sound wave which cannot be returned by using vinyl. Point being, it doesn't change the sound at all. It's a matter of physics. Yes, it's very hard to find studios that use reels; they're expensive and inconvenient. You've gotta have money and patience for analog.

[fatcatbuzz]

@Valgrindar I'm not quite sure what you mean about "that's not really how electrical signals and sound waves work," but there are noticeable differences between analog and digital, especially mediums such as vinyl and a digital format. As for recording with tape, it is getting more difficult to find studios that still record with tape and most music recorded today arguably do not benefit much from tape. I think it's just easier for new artist to record with digital over tape these days.

[Valgrindar]

@fatcatbuzz That's not really how electrical signals and sound waves work, but I'll agree to disagree.

Some bands may be trying analog more, sure, but reels are difficult to justify due to high cost, and most plate/lacquer companies won't make records using analog reels anymore. Perhaps this will change, but for now all I see is a cash-in by record companies based around false pretenses.

[fatcatbuzz]

@Valgrindar It's true that cutting vinyl doesn't bring back frequencies from the master. If anything, the digital master is going to arguably have the full frequency spectrum. But, vinyl gives some warmth and depth to the music that I think a lot people are beginning to notice again about the medium. If anything, the vinyl comeback is starting to make people realize the limitations of digital audio such as MP3 and compressed recordings. Even some bands are going back to recording with analog.

[Valgrindar]

@fatcatbuzz Yes, some warmth may be reintroduced just by virtue of using an analog player to begin with. However, digital recording causes compression, which subsequently cuts out undertones, overtones and harmonics. Those don't come back just because you're using a turntable.

[skylinrg]

lol i love to randomly see dave while i wasn't expecting him at all

[EXTREME4YEARSTOCOME]

ANALOG FOREVER!!!!!!!.

[fatcatbuzz]

@darren0512341 I still use tape to record and prefer it way better than any digital medium that has come out so far. Digital is just convenient. Just because a lot of modern pop songs are compressed doesn't mean everyone is doing it. Analog still have many advantages over digital in terms of sound.