[Scott[_6_]]

On Feb 9, 8:11=A0pm, Audio_Empire wrote:
I was reading the monthly column in a well-known audio magazine by an equ=
ally well known audio journalist today and realized that this journalist si=
mply hasn't a clue about digital sound and how it works. He was discussing =
a new box-set of stereo LPs of all of the Beatles albums. It seems that App=
le records mastered these LPs from the 16-bit/44.1 KHz ADC conversions of t=
he original analog master tapes, rather than going back to the original mas=
ters themselves. The excuse given by an Apple Records spokesperson for why =
they took this route rather than doing a proper re-mastering from the edite=
d analog session masters was that Apple didn't want to risk damage to the o=
riginals. This journalist wondered why keep master tapes at all if not to u=
se them for re-issues. While I agree with him that LP reissues should be ma=
de from the original analog source material, It is his following conclusion=
that I find rather clueless. This journalist went on to say that an analog=
master has an infinite amount of information on it (!) and as digital gets=
better, one can always go back and "mine" those masters for more and more =
detail. He went on to say that the moment one digitizes an analog source, s=
omething is lost that can never be retrieved from that digitized result. To=
me this shows a basic lack of understanding on this journalist's part abou=
t the basic nature of both an analog recording and a digital copy of same.

The first thing that this writer gets wrong is the notion that an analog =
master tape has an infinite amount of information on it. Anyone who has any=
technical experience with professional audio recording will tell you that =
pro analog tape recorders, whether two track stereo or 48 track machines ru=
nning two-inch wide tape at 15 ups, they are (were?) generally only maintai=
ned to 15KHz. Head alignment, EQ, bias, etc. was all set so that a clean 15=
KHz can be laid-down and retrieved reliably. Frequencies above that are si=
mply not practical and things like over biasing to maintain low distortion =
and self erasure due to the signal's own high-frequency content pretty much=
limited the top end response on even the finest studio recorders. Add to t=
hat the frequency response characteristics of most microphones used by stud=
ios (especially when the Beatles were recording) and you will find that mos=
t of them had a rather large frequency response peak at roughly 16 KHz (cau=
sed by the resonance of the =A0microphone's diaphragm) above which, the out=
put of said capsules dropped off like a falling stone. Add to that the fact=
that even with the addition of Dolby A noise reduction, somewhere in the r=
egion of about 76 dB ( half track/15 ips) is about the limit on dynamic ran=
ge, then one can start to see that the notion that an analog master tape ha=
s "infinite information" on it is simply ludicrous. 16-bit/
44.1 KHz digital is better in every way: Lower distortion, wider, flatter=
frequency response, more dynamic range, etc. From his wording, one gathers=
that this audio journalist still believes that because digital quantizatio=
n "samples" an analog signal, that music "between the samples" is forever a=
nd irrecoverably lost.

Now, I don't give a hoot or a holler in Hell about the Beatles on LP or a=
ny other media, but I do agree with this article's author that if someone i=
s plunking down a big hunk of change for a big boxed set of
LPs, that he ought to be getting a pure analog experience (after all, if =
the LPs are just copies of Red Book digital masters, then one might as well=
just buy the CDs), but his notion that the analog masters simply have more=
information on them than a digital copy of those masters is simply and una=
bashedly misleading and wrong.

Comments? Other points of view?

Audio_Empire

Who said that? What article? Like to see it first hand before
condemning the writer. By the way claiming infinite information on the
analog tape doesn't mean the person doesn't know much about digital.
It means they don't know much about analog or basic quantum physics.

By the way, these LPs were mastered from the 24/96 digital copies
taken from the analog master tapes that had all the fixes and
mastering moves built into them. They were not taken from the 16/44.1
transfers. These 24/96 transfers had all the approvals from the
various estates and entities that had a say so in approving any
product. That is why they were used more than any other reason.