22-05-2011, 07:00 PM
(22-05-2011, 04:25 PM)Steve_P Wrote: The human ear can filter out most things. But it is an Analogue device. So Analogue problems can be effectively ignored by the human ear and, if unlike me you have one, the human brain.
This is an attractive analogy, but I would argue that it varies enormously from person to person - too much to make it a valid assertion.
For example, I notice the clicks and pops from vinyl, and find them hard to ignore. I am also bothered by the HF distortion that you get from anything other than pristine vinyl, which of course gets worse towards the end of the side. Similarly, I am bothered by FM multipath distortion. I confess I am listening to DAB at the moment (Absolute 80s at 112kb/s), and despite the low bit rate, what bothers me at this moment is the excessive (dynamic range) compression pumping away in sympathy with the beat and stealing the life from the performances - which is an analogue distortion, even if modern processors are implemented in DSP.
With CD, I know that any audible problems such as distortion or a general "hardness" to the sound are caused by the recording or mastering process - not the medium. As previously discussed, my vinyl copy might sound "nicer", notwithstanding the "analogue distortions" mentioned above, because it's been mastered differently.
I might not enjoy certain CDs because of this, but at least I know that I haven't got to get the microscope out to check and clean the stylus, then double-check the tracking weight, cartridge alignment in the headshell and the vertical tracking angle. Similarly, if a CD sounds a little lacking in HF, I know that I haven't got to find the oscilloscope and test cassette and double-check the azimuth. The worst-case scenario might be a skipping CD, although I can't remember the last time I heard one of these on my system; I handle all my CDs with the same care as vinyl. That said, many audio enthusiasts (I refuse to use the term "audiophile") enjoy this constant worrying and tinkering and regard it as part of the process - a bit of a Protestant work ethic perhaps...
For the sake of balance, whenever I listen to good vinyl, I spend most of the time in wonder - thinking things like "this has no right to sound this good"! And on a slightly different level, I recently picked up a Bush SRP51 from eBay for pennies - I had one of these as a kid, and thought it would be interesting to see how I started my audio journey some 30+ years ago. I have to say that it sounds amazingly good given the technology - and particularly enjoy the bass from the Sonotone cartridge, which is amazingly entertaining. It's not accurate or neutral, but it's fun! The kids play their 7" single collection from the 1970s and 80s - and will probably hate me for it when they're teenagers! Interestingly, the Garrad 2025TC is unable to reliably track the bass in the break of "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick", despite the ruinously high tracking force, though my hi-fi decks have no problems. I refer you to a previous post regarding vinyl mastering...
My turn to generalise: essentially, we as creatures like our audio with a little bit of distortion provided it's even-order harmonics that don't extend too far (we hate odd harmonics, and the higher they extend, the worse they are). Odd harmonics are generally caused by clipping and crossover distortion, and even harmonics are caused by the gentle compression of analogue mediums like tape, vinyl and radio broadcasts. A good 1/4" tape machine would produce ~3% distortion at maximum mod when well lined up, yet it sounded just fine back in the day. Whereas just 1% crossover distortion is horrible to even the most uncritical ear - partly, of course, because it's always there whatever the level
I also wonder if it's what we've got used to? I got my first CD player when I was 16 so have perhaps been used to "digital sound" for a greater proportion of my life than others on here (not wishing to offend anyone, of course
). Also, I notice that I'm more critical of HF than many of my older friends and colleagues - indeed I'm still bothered by line whistle, although these days I regard that more as reassurance than a nuisance. I could name a certain brand of speakers sold as "monitors" that have their treble tilted up by about 10dB above 8-10kHz, and they literally hurt me, but my older colleagues quite like them. Go figure...I also don't claim to have a human brain
Mark
