A potential analog convert!

[Lance Lawson]

A young woman from my Jam group come over this afternoon so I could record a couple of her songs for a new CD she's working on. The recordings were simply guitar and vocal done live. I decided that I'd record her into my TEAC rtr and SONAR 96/24 simultaneously as a blind test of which sounded better. She performed 2 songs and we did three takes of each. When the recording was finished and we were preparing for playback she asked me a number of quesitons about what I was recording her with and specifically whether or not the TEAC was a DAT machine. I explained that it was a 30 year old analog machine and that digital had been barely invented when it was made. Being in her early 20's she had come of age with digital CD's and MP3's and had never encountered an analog reel to reel tape machine.

I set the playback up so I could A-B the sound for comparison put her under headphones and played back the best take of her first song in digital and analog. After both playbacks I asked her which she liked better she replied that the second one (analog) she thought sounded "somehow better". It was that "somehow better" I told her was the crux of the debate of digital vs analog and that once she'd heard enough true analog that the "somehow better" would actually evolve into a set of specifics that could be determined as sounding better. I suspect she later went home to plunder her parents record collecton.

 

[Beck]

A young woman from my Jam group come over this afternoon so I could record a couple of her songs for a new CD she's working on. The recordings were simply guitar and vocal done live. I decided that I'd record her into my TEAC rtr and SONAR 96/24 simultaneously as a blind test of which sounded better. She performed 2 songs and we did three takes of each. When the recording was finished and we were preparing for playback she asked me a number of questions about what I was recording her with and specifically whether or not the TEAC was a DAT machine. I explained that it was a 30 year old analog machine and that digital had been barely invented when it was made. Being in her early 20's she had come of age with digital CD's and MP3's and had never encountered an analog reel to reel tape machine.

I set the playback up so I could A-B the sound for comparison put her under headphones and played back the best take of her first song in digital and analog. After both playbacks I asked her which she liked better she replied that the second one (analog) she thought sounded "somehow better". It was that "somehow better" I told her was the crux of the debate of digital vs analog and that once she'd heard enough true analog that the "somehow better" would actually evolve into a specific set of specifics that could be determined as sounding better. I suspect she later went home to plunder her parents record collection.

Fun story. I've gotten that quite a bit from people that have never heard tape or are older but have been so long with digital that they don't remember.

I was making dups of some music from CDs for a church Christmas special a few years ago. I wanted to keep it simple so I was just using my Tascam 246 cassette 4-track. After I transferred from CD to tape the director listened to the playback and said, "Ok, I've got a question; why does the tape sound better than the original CD?" She was classically trained with a masters in music... very musical and a very talented soprano and pianist, but she knew nothing about the technical side.

So I gave her the condensed version of the digital vs. analog thing. I had talked about it before, but always got a blank stare. She basically just said, "Whatever... the tape sounds nicer and that's all I really understand."

Similar thing happened with my sons, who are now both teens. They're also very musical and are both in a band now. Because of their age they were used to listening to CD and mp3 for the most part.

Then one day I came in and they had taken out an old box with some of my old cassettes... stuff like Journey, Boston, Heart, Van Halen, etc. They were familiar with CD and mp3 versions of many of the songs, but were awe struck by the sonic nature of the tape.

My oldest especially was blown away, just sitting there between the speakers in the sweet spot with a curious look trying to figure out exactly what was different. He said the tapes were easier to listen to, and at higher levels than the same songs on mps or even CD.

Even these old cassettes still had something to them he could detect and that he liked. They were in surprisingly good condition for having just laid around here and there over the years.They were just commercial releases from the factory with Dolby B… maybe the worst of analog.

It’s rewarding to see your offspring discover the same things you could have told them, but it’s just better when they figure it out.

In the final analysis for many it’s all in the hearing… no explanation needed.

 

[ofajen]

Well, it's not exactly on point, and I almost hate to admit it, but it's been a long time since I listened to a vinyl album. My excuses abound: work, family, space, time, etc.

So anyway, for some reason, last night I was cleaning out some gear languishing on a high shelf in the studio. Up on the top shelf was my old Philips turntable that my dad got for me back in 1975. I had put it up there because I really wasn't listening to albums, it was older and cheaper than my Denon anyway and the belt was fried. So I was just checking, can I find a belt? One quick Google search later I found a replacement belt for $10.

Then I thought, why would I do that when I could just set up the Denon turntable? So I did that this morning and while working I listened to "The low spark of high heeled boys" by Traffic. Whoa. Amazing. Turns out I bought a pretty decent cartridge and preamp all those years ago and the Denon, while not one of the fancy wooden ones, is still a pretty good performer, too. And now I have really nice Sennheiser headphones.

Nice! It's better to just listen, rather that trying to put words on it.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[cjacek]

......... >

.. she replied that the second one (analog) she thought sounded "somehow better". It was that "somehow better" I told her was the crux of the debate of digital vs analog and that once she'd heard enough true analog that the "somehow better" would actually evolve into a specific set of specifics that could be determined as sounding better.

In the final analysis for many it’s all in the hearing… no explanation needed.

It's better to just listen, rather that trying to put words on it.

Hear, hear .. 'nuff said.