Scott Dolan

And that's exactly what happened to me trying to compare 256 VBR AAC to CD. I was desperately trying to convince myself I heard a difference. But, by the time I was finished I knew I couldn'r hear even the slightest difference. Either that, or it was so slight that I just wasn't able to identify it consistently. Hi-res blows you away? Compared to what? Well-used cassettes?

Not really. Your playback components will give you similar quality no matter the medium. And it seems as though you're basing your opinion on early generation CD masters. Yes, they were bad. But listen to the original Beatles CDs and compare them with the remastered ones that came out a few years ago. Huge, and I mean HUGE, difference. Were the first gens worse than LPs? Yes, IMO. But the new remasters are superior in every way. Same with Floyd. First gen CDs weren't as dynamic as the LP pressings. But the newly remastered, especially the Immersion sets, are far and away the superior choice. Granted, there may be some first gens that were never remastered once the technology caught up to where it wanted to be, and the original LPs still sound better, but those are getting to be far and few between. Not the other way around.

And there you go. The medium doesn't make a bit of difference. As for vinyl sounding better than digital, no it doesn't. Unless more harmonic distortion is your thing. And if it is, fine. But let's not make up fairy tales about it sounding superior to a far cleaner representation.

Why? I thought you said you couldn't hear a difference between CD and HD digital.

Original master tapes aren't used, they're rediscovered!

Ah, you like a little tedium in the playback process.

CDs are just too easy? What does that even mean.

Oh, sure. You can add anything and everything to your heart's content when mixing and mastering these days. All I was saying is that the playback medium changes none of that. It just plays back the source it's been given. You wanna record Aja today and make it sound like a 50's BN? Scroll->left click->add. The filters modern recording software have is absurdly comprehensive. Of course, you'd only want to use a digital medium for playback...If you want to make it sound like a LP, playing it back on a LP may not end up sounding very good.

So the medium is going to change the source material? Sorry, but that kind of magic doesn't exist. Different media will sound differently (8-track/LP/cassette/CD), but the source material is the source material once the master is finalized and pressings commence. And when you say you don't want a Turpentine BN to sound like Aja, you're talking about the source. Not the playback medium. Now, if you say you want a Turpentine BN to sound like it did when you first heard it on LP, rather than the cleaned up version you'll get through a digital medium, fine. Perfectly valid point.

Absolutely, but again, the playback medium isn't going to change any of that.

Very interesting thought. And I completely agree with where you're going here. That said, the medium it's played back on will not be the "X factor". All it will do is convey what the recording equipment, producers, and engineers put together as a final product.

Ahhhh... So might this have played into your serious bout with insomnia?

Excellent news, Joel! I hope this trend continues for you.

That's fine. I knew what you were getting at. I just don't think genres will make a difference in outcome. I guess it basically comes down to whether you feel the distortion added is a positive or a negative. Neither bothers me, but I do prefer a pristine/"cold" sound, personally. But, it's not like I'd be miserable listening to well made vinyl. I've built my final system (as long as it doesn't die), so I've stopped listening to my system, and have gotten back to focusing exclusively on the music.

Actually, I'm pretty sure Jim addressed the "warm" aspect of the vinyl. "...and the distortion caused by the medium itself was annoying."

Why would the genre change the results?

No surprise. I wish you would have thrown 256 VBR AAC as well.

Yeah, Branson shut down the Megastores here in the states about a decade ago, IIRC. But man, I remember stopping in there at 1a.m. on our way back from club hopping City Walk at Universal and just perusing for an hour or so, and taking in the atmosphere. That was at least a monthly occurrence. I'd say close to half of my Coltrane collection came from there.

Best actual in house selection of Jazz CDs I ever encountered was at Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney.

Most ironic post of the Internet.

Yes, but could they have sounded better with a lesser run time?

Fun at the drive-in usually had nothing to do with the movie...

I'm still holding out hope that it's a bad April Fools joke.

That's an excellent point. As I said earlier, CDs are dinosaurs, so your logic makes perfect sense. It's almost exclusively dinosaurs that are still buying them.

Some people do not like ordering things online. I was just having a discussion about that with a nice lady who doesn't like ordering things online. And some folks just don't like or "get" the process.