[rtweed]

On Apr 27, 3:45=A0pm, Scott wrote:
On Apr 27, 6:03=A0am, rtweed wrote:









It seems to me that there's a very simple test to confirm or refute
the "does LP inherently sound better than digital" question:

- take your highest quality LP that you believe sounds superior, play
it on your best analog equipment possible and record it digitally
(preferably using your best ADC and highest resolution you want).

Now do a DBT listening to the original LP and the digital recording of
the LP.

My prediction is that nobody will be able to tell the difference and
the digital recording will exhibit all the same perceived qualities of
the analog original.

If this proves to be the case, any differences between the LP and
commercially-released CD (or whatever other digital format) must be
due to differences applied when each were created, or inherent changes
in sound as a result of cutting to and playing back from vinyl.

This is not a test of which sounds "better" but a test of transparency
of digital. I have done this test both with hi res and with CD rips of
vinyl. The CD rips were not perfectly transparent. I was able to
reliably hear differences. OTOH when I did the same test with 24/96
rips I was not able to discern any differences. If one wants to do a
test to determine which is "better" between CD and vinyl in so far as
which offers a superior aesthetic one need only to get a CD and LP of
the same titel that we know were mastered with no processing or the
same processing in the mastering and do blind A/B comparisons. I have
also done that. The LP has won every time and for the same basic
reasons. Of course the results will depend on one's vinyl playback
gear since their are substantial differences to be found there.

Exactly - it's a test of transparency, and removes all other variables
that would otherwise result in differences between a vinyl or CD
recording of the same master tape. And you've proven to yourself that
with high enough digital resolution, you can't tell the difference.

My case rests m'lud. The logical conclusion must therefore be that
you subjectively prefer the sound of commercially-released vinyl
versions to their high res digital versions for the very reason that
the formers' reproduction is *not* transparent and faithful to the
original.