5 thoughts on “The New York Audio Show 2014 Is The Weekend

  • Joe Whip

    I will stop in and see you again on Friday. Mark.

    Reply
  • Todd

    Hi Mark,
    In response to, “Wouldn’t it be simpler to put a 96 kHz/24-bit PCM file in your player of choice and get more fidelity than the best vinyl on the planet?” I agree it might be simpler, but vinyl has been (and will persist) because, despite lower potential fidelity, many vinyl releasesz, sound sonically superior to my ears, compared to their equivalent CD releases. Ok let me explain this outrageous statement…

    This is coming from someone that grew up full force in the CD era. I only recently have listened to vinyl. When I’ve had the opportunity, I’ve purchased vinyl/CD combo packs. In most cases, I have to admit that despite the distraction of higher background on some pressings, I’ve noticed subtle musical features (e.g. cymbals or bass guitar notes) in the vinyl that are mysteriously absent in the equivalent CD release. And overall the vinyl pressing often sounds more sonically pleasing, despite having lower potential fidelity and higher background. I should mention that the vinyl player and the CD transport are in a similar league.

    Whether these “missing components” contribute to my overall preference for many of the vinyl releases, I’m not sure yet. I just know the Redbook format should be able to easily capture these features, and so I am left to conclude that heavy-handed mastering is consistently negating any potential fidelity benefit that digital PCM has to offer. It’s quite sad really how under-utilized the Redbook format is.

    So in the end I am constantly frustrated by the excessively loud and substandard sonic quality of most new commercial records. Though I should give a nod to Tom Petty’s new release, Hypnotic Eye. Despite not being a huge fan of the Pure Audio format, I thought the stereo tracks he released in this format were well done and have reasonable dynamic range for a rock album. I haven’t compared them to the CD or vinyl release though!

    Reply
    • Admin

      You’ll get no push back from me. Everyone is entitled to enjoy what ever pleases you. And clearly vinyl LPs feed that need for a large percentage of the population. There is something about the “color” of the sound that works. Is it accurate? No, but that doesn’t matter. My point is that the accuracy of a high-resolution digital recording can be far greater than vinyl at much less cost and trouble. I won’t accept the assertion from advocates for vinyl or analog tape that those formats sound better then high-end PCM digital…they may sound great but not better in the specs department.

      Reply
    • Craig Allison

      No question, if 44.1 is used at the full capacity of the medium, a very satisfying listen can be had. CD has been vastly over-maligned. I have personally played on, produced, and birthed both perfectionist vinyl LP and carefully mastered and transferred CD’s. As I have posted before, they are both limited signal capacity mediums that if used fully can be quite pleasing in their own ways, with attendant plusses and minuses. If you used a lower-end phono rig and CD, the vinyl will have distortions that are easier to handle. But played on a truly excellent player, CD has much more music on it in general than most disc collection owners will ever hear. Too bad that most folks replaced their first CD players w/DVD players because some jerk told them that would be the thing to do. CD matured on both ends right around 2000, but I-Pod stole the light and simultaneously. cast us all into darkness. Ironies abound, eh?

      Reply
      • Admin

        Craig… you had me until you said that moving to DVD was a bad thing. I would never recommend that someone buy an expensive CD player over a good quality DVD-Audio/Video player with digital out. The ability to play high-resolution audio and surround music places the DVD-Audio/Video format above CDs. I’m not talking about the $70 units you get a the local supermarket but for a few hundreds of dollars and a good digital converter…and with the right content…you top the best CD on the planet. I say this as a person that has a Meridian player at $17,5000 and an Oppo 83 at $500.

        Reply

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