On Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 6:25:17 AM UTC-5, isw wrote:
In article ,
wrote:
Doesn't all of this rather make the point that - in terms of fidelity to the
master - vinyl is *inherently* inferior to modern high-res digital?
It's even "inherently" inferior to ordinary digital recordings. And, the
more you play the record, the more inferior it becomes.
Isaac
I think the question is directed at other-than-CD sources - MP3 and such, and the definition of "high-res".
I have written this in the past - music has been dumbed-down greatly in the last 30 years or so. I remember back in the 60s, a decent speaker at the bottom of the line would have an 8" woofer and either a very small (1.5") conventional or dome tweeter. As the line improved, the woofers got larger, the tweeters smaller, and mid-ranges joined the choir. And then the drivers multiplied. Meanwhile, amplifiers got bigger, heavier and more powerful, usually in large increments. THEN, something strange happened. Everything started going backwards such that one may pay tens of thousands of whatever currency is handy for fly-weight amplifiers in single-digit watts driving tiny little speakers configured wildly in massive baffles and so forth. And, we call it "HiFi".
Good sound is about shaking air. Shaking air takes energy. When we stop shaking air, we stop having good sound. And, unless we use headphones, or are listening in a closet, we need to shake a significant amount of air to have good sound. Kinda-Sorta circular reasoning. Oh, and one more thing: the concept of the "Sweet Spot" was formed - if only to legitimize the lack of ability to shake air sufficiently outside of that sweet spot for any sort of sound-stage larger than a 10" cube.
However, if we fall away from the concept, and listen with tiny little speakers with tiny little drivers, or worst of all - earbuds - then, yes, Virginia, about any digital source is going to be superior to vinyl as it does not degrade over time. BUT, also, both are superior to the reproducing engine.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA