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brickmaster32000 t1_iuq0p59 wrote

Reply to comment by Lucky-Carrot in Audio-Technica resurrects its Sound Burger portable turntable from the '80s by thebelsnickle1991

You've got a faulty inference there. Digital media being unable to perfectly replicate analog media, which whithin a limited bandwidth it actually can do perfectly, does not imply that it is worse than analog media because analog media has its own set of limitations and distortions that digital media doesn't suffer from.

If your goal is to recreate the actual sound you would hear if you were in the room you are going to be better off with a good digital file. If however your goal is to replicate the sound as it would be distorted by a record and record player then yes, using a record would be the better option.

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shofmon88 t1_iuqr99q wrote

I wish more "audiophiles" understood this.

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synthsucht t1_iur1o27 wrote

They understand. Why else do you think tube amps are a thing? Hint: it’s the saturation.

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shofmon88 t1_iur37aa wrote

Those people do. It's the people that make lossless recordings of vinyl "because vinyl has the highest fidelity" that I'm referencing.

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TSMKFail t1_iuruk2e wrote

It's silly because in some cases the album is mixed differently for vinyl because you can't go as hard on the bass iirc.

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jnemesh t1_ius7kcm wrote

And sometimes, the label insists on overly compressing the CD and digital formats, while allowing the artist to have uncompressed audio on vinyl. Red Hot Chile Peppers is a perfect example. Go listen to just about any of their albums on CD, then listen on vinyl. In the end, it's all about how well the album is mixed and if compression is (over) used.

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LurkerPatrol t1_ius3y6h wrote

Making physical grooves in a platter is considered highest fidelity?

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shofmon88 t1_iusoywc wrote

Yes, there are people that unironically believe this.

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Lucky-Carrot t1_iuqsf6e wrote

Yes. But my point is that most audio is mixed digitally these days so analog is actually a deviation from the “intended” sound

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InfernalCombustion t1_iurdpjv wrote

Audio mastered for analog formats also has a lot of limitations.

Examine the vinyl record for example. Audio is encoded through grooves on a physical surface which is then read by a needle travelling at a constant speed.

Firstly, the physical size of the needle limits what you can decode. You can't have peaks or valleys that are too close to each other, otherwise the needle will just skip over them. You also can't have transitions that are too steep.

Digital actually makes everything closer to "intended" sounds, because you can eliminate so many physical and mechanical factors.

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Lucky-Carrot t1_iuro534 wrote

that’s incredibly interesting and i never thought about that. this is the kind of comment that makes me love reddit

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