How much does sound quality matter to you?

Ah. I was wondering why you posted those. The sampling theorem is not very intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it's quite interesting.

The truth is that neither analog nor digital are perfect. I love my records, CDs, and hi-res downloads equally.

 

Thanks again, Ed.

On a side note, it's interesting, to me anyway, that posts #587 and #588 deal with analog filtering to smooth out the digital wave.

So, I'm not trying to throw the guy from aboutvinylrecords.com under the bus. I think he only presented part of the information necessary on his website.

Technically, I don't think he's totally wrong, but his info is kind of misinformationish, or at least, incomplete.

 

And again, I'm dealing with sources of info I'm finding on the internet. So, perhaps, in absence of the vitriol expressed on this thread, we can make use of weeding out good and bad information.

 

The reconstruction filter is a necessary component of digital audio. The theory does not work without it and yes, discussion of the theory without the filtering is incomplete and misleading.

 

You are correct, saundr00.

 

One problem with this "rather easy-to-understand question" was to put Vinyl, DVD Audio and Hi-Res Downloads in the same group of media, for no apparent reason. It's only natural that people don't like to answer such biased questions and are starting discussions instead. The impact was the same as that of a thread like "Vinyl, DVD Audio and Hi-Res Downloads are superior to CD! Discuss!" Did this really come as a surprise to you?

 

Discussion is good. Threadcrapping isn't. He was establishing tiers. Clearly, he was going for great, very good, good, and poor. Surely everyone gets that.

Ed

 

There is an apparent reason.

 

Since you added this after I responded, I'll get this too. The discussion doesn't surprise me; all the silly threadcrapping does. I get it. You don't like the poll. Cool. One person saying it was sufficient. The discussion that's ensued is interesting but didn't need all the threadcrapping to initiate it.

Ed

 

Oh definitely, but the OP was implying that lossy compression makes a format totally useless, and that's absurd given the quality present on blu ray. Not saying there's nothing better but that it's totally acceptable to even the most discerning (and those without a projection room and 35mm prints, ha).

 

I was not implying any such thing.

Oh, maybe you meant some other OP.

Btw, I just wanted to mention that the high arc in the treble sound wave must be restored for the good of humanity.

 

I don't disagree but I think we are well beyond the great iTunes migration for the majority of people. Aside from a few huge pop albums like Taylor Swift or whatever, I think people stopped buying cds with regularity a long time ago, and that the stuff going to thrift stores today has been in a box and forgotten about since 2009. How many years has it been since a Mac laptop even came with a CD drive?

That said I'd love to see a breakdown of current CD sales as a percentage of the top 25 or so titles. I think you'll find the vast majority of sales going to a small group.

 

The apparent reason seems to be your personal preferences. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) As we've seen, it's perhaps not such a great idea to mix personal preferences with a potentially (or ideally) objective and neutral poll. Do you want to post a statement for people to discuss or do you want to ask people about their habits and preferences?

If you're mixing these things up, you're of course getting both - discussions and votes. This was foreseeable right from start, so I don't see how someone can dismiss the resulting discussions as some kind of threadcrapping. Especially as your answer "There is an apparent reason." seems to confirm that this kind of - somewhat provoking - wording, with its obvious potential for discussion, was fully intentional.

Anyway, we were given the chance for a fresh start, so we should take it. No hard feelings here. Just sayin' that a new poll with each medium as a separate option (and possibly allowing multiple votes) would have much less potential for conflicts and discussions (and personal attacks).

 

listening to a lot of classical i can say that while sound is important it is the performance that matters. which is why furtwangler, early menuhin, segovia, etc. recordings remain popular

 

The answer is contained within my first post to this thread:

I'm just wondering, can the Music Industry effectively bring back analog recording techniques, press records again, and/or create improved overall sound quality for the masses with HI-RES download technology? Will it work? Will people get it?

Will the majority of music consumers be guided to buy music with the best possible fidelity, compared to what is now more familiar and affordable like iTunes? Do most people even care about sound quality anymore? Do we know what we're missing?

 

Can you explain what that is exactly? I couldn't find anything on Google.

 

I don't think the masses care about AAA vinyl or high resolution. The most bands can do is push for dynamic masterings and release them through the currently available channels. Perhaps then the masses will start to notice the difference between dynamic tracks and dynamically limited ones.

 

But do we know what we're missing?

 

It's ultrasonic sound.

 

Doesn't most gear filter that out to protect the tweeters?

 

From what I understand, tweeters can still produce high frequency sounds that are above our known audible limit.

 

Yes that's probably correct, but I wonder if those frequencies are even reaching the speakers?

 

So, its out of the range of human hearing. It's out of the range of human hearing. There. Not an issue.

Not format. Production and mastering techniques IMO. I've spent too many years using both formats, and others, to buy into (these current) ultrasonic theories that seem to be tied into so many questionable conclusions about the perceived "supremacy" of one over the other.

We can bang on about theoretical suppositions all day, but those theoretical suppositions are put to one side once you take the practicality of production decisions into the fore.

 

Tweeters in woofers clothing
A woofer in tweeter's clothing
A tweeter in the hand is worth 2 woofers in the bush
Tweeters tweeters tweeters
What a load of bollerks