In article ,
Rob wrote:
That is that the recording should sound as close to the original as
possible. And neither LP or analogue tape comes near good digital in
this respect.

My only experience of the original is clubs, concerts and festivals.
I've never heard any domestic stereo come close to that sound - which
in many ways is a good thing, although reproducing the sound levels
would be, for me, amusing if not exactly necessary. Still, I take your
point, it's a valid measure of 'good music reproduction'.

No - I mean the original electrical signal, ie the output of the mixing
desk or microphone.

Reproducing the exact original sound is a totally different matter down
the expertise of the balance engineer - and indeed may not be required.
You'd certainly not like the exact sound you heard acoustically in a
studio - although with a 'live' type recording you might with certain
types of music.

--
*I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Rob wrote:
Well, I'll backtrack a little - sufficed to say I have been very
impressed with vinyl-cd transfers. I'd still rather listen to the
record, which has something, but not everything, to do with the sound
coming through the speakers. Some people should tell the difference?

IME acoustic instruments and voice sound noticeably different.

No, the CD of the LP will sound exactly like the LP, regardless of
what the material is.

OK - I'll have to take your point because I haven't critically listened
and compared - my comments above are based on quite rough and ready
comparisons, more to check the recording process. From memory the CD
'introduced' a certain punch and dynamism, but 'lost' some of the air
and space - quite small differences though, most noticeable with
acoustic music. I'll have a relisten in my far from scientific environs
just to reconfirm my prejudice ;-)

With any such transfer, you've still got the problems of the analogue
side, and that of a possibly poor A-D convertor.

With a top quality LP to CD transfer, I repeat my claim that none will
reliably tell the difference in properly conducted tests.

--
*Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Rob
wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...


No, the CD of the LP will sound exactly like the LP, regardless of
what the material is.

OK - I'll have to take your point because I haven't critically listened
and compared - my comments above are based on quite rough and ready
comparisons, more to check the recording process.

For the comparisons to be 'fair' you ideally need to ensure that the
recordings have no clipping, that the replays are precisely the same
levels, and that you don't know which is playing - LP original or CD copy.
You may also need to establish that the CD player does not change the
response as some do for 'audiophile' sic reasons.

From memory the CD 'introduced' a certain punch and dynamism, but 'lost'
some of the air and space - quite small differences though, most
noticeable with acoustic music. I'll have a relisten in my far from
scientific environs just to reconfirm my prejudice ;-)

I have copied a few LPs onto CD and must admit that I haven't noticed any
real difference. Any difference hence seems to me to be too small to be
worth worrying about.

[snip]

I suspect that many new LPs are, effectively, mastered from CDs. Or is
the studio digital process superior in some way to CD? Don't know, but
on your point I have a recent pop record on LP and CD - I'd assume
digital processing was used (Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles). Largely
indistinguishable - flipping AB at a moderate volume. Although I can't
put my finger on it - I actually listed to the LP all the way through -
never did that with the CD. I just preferred the sound, inherent
distortion notwithstanding etc etc!

The problem is that you may find that:

A) The LP and CD were processed in different ways during production and
manufacture. Hence they would then sound different even if the actual LP
cutting and reply were 'perfect'. (Here 'perfect' simply means having no
audible signature that you would have noticed in terms of changes it
produced.)

B) All sorts of changes may exist between your LP and CD systems. e.g.
differences in frequency response. Given that your speakers and room also
affect such things the result may be an audible difference, and you prefer
one to the other for reasons that have nothing much to do with 'LP' or 'CD'
as such.

Hence it is one things to say you prefer one to another. But something
quite different to assume an innate superiority. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

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