DCC Archive What am I hearing??,, Digital "artifacts"?

Friday night I got in the mood for "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", so I whipped out my original A&M US vinyl pressing and gave it a spin. Needless to say it satisfied (as always). I was a little perturbed by the "bacon frying" crackle that accompanied some vinyl that has seen many a good time.

Saturday afternoon I inadvertently found myself in a mall, wandering through a Circut City, and thought I would "upgrade" my copy to the latest CD mastering of this Joe Cocker title.

Not having much time when I got home, I programmed in "Space Captain" and settled down for a quick 5 minute groove before going out. The track sure sounded "crisper" than my vinyl - I wasn't surprised, I expected this. However when the chrorus came in, and that band and choral hit a peak - I wanted to shreik. The "warmness" of the vinyl was gone. There was an annoying distortion that seemed to surround everything in the mid high to high frequencies. The closest thing I can compare it to is "edge enhancement" that you may add to a photograph (.jpg) file, or that may be evident in the picture on a poorly mastered DVD - it looks clearer at first, then you notice an annoying halo around the images.

Is this what "digital artifacts" sound like? I have often heard the term - but never understood what was "audible" when music was so described.

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: Uncle Al ]