Hi Bruce. I think what you say will only allow an individual to decide
what
he prefers. There is no definitive answer as to what format is superior
as
it always depends on what sounds good to any individual's ears. As to the
Technical debate, well one could argue over this until the cows come
home.
In the end it is all about the music and many years ago I discovered that
I
an my friends were listening to the equipment and not what was being
played
upon it and thus, we were never satisfied. Now I listen to the music and
try to get as much clarity as possible but if I enjoy what I hear, it
doesn't matter what it is played on. Walter.
-----Original Message-----
From: pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org
[mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org]on Behalf Of Bruce Toews
Sent: 08 June 2009 06:04
To: PC Audio Discussion List
Subject: RE: High fidelty and turntables today
The best way to do the vinyl versus CD test is blind, not knowing which
you are hearing. If you do multiple, unpredictable trials of this manner,
you will get a more unbiased opinion when you formulate one.
Bruce
On Sun, 7 Jun 2009, Walter Ramage wrote:
> Hi. In short the answer is yes, you will always get superior quality
> reproduction from dedicated Hi-Fi equipment. There has been and still
> is
a
> raging debate between the exponents of Vinyl and CD. For the most part
this
> debate is purely subjective since it really depends on your preferred
> listening experience. Some people like a very forward stereo image
> while
> others prefer the sound stage to be more set back behind the speakers.
> I
> have a friend who prefers his sound to be more recessed as I think it
gives
> him a feeling of being in a concert hall, he is a great classical music
fan
> and attends lots of concerts. Others enjoy a bright sound and yet
> others
> like firm and prominent bass. Promoters of the Vinyl will say that the
> sound is much warmer while the supporters of CD will say that CD is
> much
> more detailed all be it more clinical. The only way to compare what
> one
> prefers is to go to a specialist, and any good specialist will always
> recommend you listen to the product before purchasing and often have
> listening rooms in order to let you have a choice of different
> combination
> of equipment. In truth, you really do get what you pay for. I
> remember
> when I purchased a system some years ago; I was amazed just how by
changing
> one amplifier for another, changed the sound quality. Even changing
> something as basic as the interconnects made a huge difference.
> Although
> you can audition the equipment, it isn't the same as having it in your
> own
> home and if you have a good relationship with any particular dealer
> they
may
> allow you to take the equipment home and listen to it in situ. So
> vinyl
> versus CD is something each person must decide for himself or herself
> but
> bear in mind, Vinyl isn't as readily available as CD and it might take
> a
bit
> of work tracking down the stuff your son is interested in. It is
> always
> wise to purchase audio separates as these components are designed with
their
> purpose in mind where as combination systems always have some
> compromise
> whether it be the tuner, the CD player or the amplifier or speakers.
> As
for
> the comparison between Hi-Fi components and PC or portable audio
> devices,
in
> my opinion there is no competition. Basically a PC is a storage system
and
> although it has the means of playing audio files, that isn't it's main
> purpose. You can get high quality sound cards but I fail to see how
> a?300
> PC such as I am using now can compare with the ?1200 CD player on my
> Hi-Fi
> system. Another draw back is with file compression. MP3 files are the
> result of the original sound file being compressed to 10% of it's
> original
> size and hence has quality loss. These files are fine for their
> purpose
but
> for serious listening, they lack quality. I listen to these files on
> my
PC
> fed through a mid range HI-Fi system but for really serious listening I
take
> the CD down to the big system and let it rip. I think it really
> depends
on
> what your son wants to do and what he will be happy with a couple of
> years
> down the road. I think I will conclude with an illustration; Both a
> comfortable family car and a dump truck will get you from New York to
> California but I ask you, which would you prefer to travel in? On the
other
> hand if you wanted to transport lots of garbage to the local dump,
> which
> vehicle would you rather use? If you want high quality sound
reproduction
> then Hi-Fi separates is the route to take and the choice between CD and
> vinyl is a matter of personal choice after comparing the options. If
> you
> want a mass storage system for your audio files with a reasonably
enjoyable
> listening experience then a good PC with a high quality sound card fed
> through a reasonable stereo system will do and you could enhance the
> sound
> quality by only listening to Wave files but that raises storage space
> questions. I'm sorry this has went on a bit but it isn't the sort of
> subject that merits a glib response. Walter.
>
>
>
>
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