Why Analog Is Better
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I had a Radio Shack reel-to-reel like that.
I used it to record FM radio music. I would jump up and hit record when a song I wanted came on. I usually missed the beginning of the song.
I had a few store-bought reel-to-reel albums they went into the trash recently.
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Interesting. I am reminded of the video of Glenn Gould recording something over and over again (Goldbergs, iirc) and then, in production, splicing in a phrase here and here.
Oh, I had one of these. I think I bought it in 1972. I'd record CSO concerts off the air.
Of course @kluurs will chime in and embarrass me.
@George-K said in Why Analog Is Better:
Interesting. I am reminded of the video of Glenn Gould recording something over and over again (Goldbergs, iirc) and then, in production, splicing in a phrase here and here.
Oh, I had one of these. I think I bought it in 1972. I'd record CSO concerts off the air.
There was a time when I dreamed of having one of those.
In the 80s though I did buy a Magnavox hifi VHS (it was damned expensive too as I recall) and discovered that I could make excellent quality audio tapes on it using Kodak two hour VHS cassettes set to SP. I transferred much of my classical vinyl to that format so that I would only play the vinyl once when it was brought home new. The result is that I still have classical vinyl in the basement storage that has been played once. I know that my premier recording box set of Shostakovich’s 15 string quartets by the Fitzwilliam Quartet is one. As are a couple of other Early Music Consort box set recordings that are once played.
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If I had to pick out of 1,000 people who would make that analog is better video, I would've guessed correctly. All jokes aside, he is passionate and knows the craft well. I don't agree with him that "computer is not that reliable" but certainly see the point that there is a missing performance/craft factor when you have to record "live" (sort of) and have to be more deliberate with your playing and editing.
All that being said... there doesn't need to be a "which is better" winner. It's like comparing painting on canvas to digital design. Go with the output and process you prefer, or go with both. Life is short. I'd like to get a record player one day for the various reasons (audio difference, physical aspect, album structure, deliberate choice to change music) and I might even be the weirdo that gets a typewriter one day to write letters to my grandkids. Not to be weird, but to show that each keystroke had value, even though I know you can argue that each pen stroke also has value with handwritten letters.
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There used to be a medium-end music store in the Chicago area called “MusicCraft.” I bought that particular tape deck at MusicCraft having saved up about $350 from my summer job working in a tube factory. This was in 1974, so do the appropriate inflation adjustment.
This particular deck was heavily discounted because it had been “used “. It’s not that it had been played by anyone it was used as a prop on “mission impossible “. In fact, the shipping box had a label on it that said “attention “Bruce Geller, Century City California. “
So, I ended up paying about 30% off of retail price for this deck. It served me quite well for about 10 years. By then, cassettes had become the norm. I did have a respectable collection of vinyl, but it had not been maintained in pristine state.
And yes, VHS hi-fi was quite the thing. I remember purchasing a VCR deck specifically for that purpose, in 1984, I think it was about $950.
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That's not his only argument.
In one of his arguments -to use the car analogy - you have a car that lasts fifty years and still works vs. a car that lasts less than ten years, and has to be replaced with another car.
Secondly, the fifty year car uses common parts with cars from the same era and is compatible in some ways with newer systems vs. the new car which has no new parts available.
@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
In one of his arguments -to use the car analogy - you have a car that lasts fifty years and still works vs. a car that lasts less than ten years, and has to be replaced with another car.
Analog signals start to deteriorate the moment it is recorded. No such thing as perfect preservation or perfect reproduction with analog.
Digital is the one that allows perfect reproduction, and through that, perfect preservation, in theory indefinitely.
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In theory.
In practice? Ten years before the next digital media?
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@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
In theory.
In practice? Ten years before the next digital media?
I remember reading a statistic that claimed that the audio market only supports two mediums at one time.
78/45
LP/45
LP/8-track
LP/Cassette
Cassette/CD
CD/Streaming
I'm sure there are minor variations, but you get the idea.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Analog is wonderful audio source medium so long as you have the hifi equipment that has the technical ability to bring out its magnificence. That costs plenty of $$$$ or ££££ or €€€€. A moderately priced digital format and system can attain a similar quality of consistent sound at a much more affordable price.
I find ironic that bunch of over 60 old men can argue about this let alone tell the difference. I have met maybe one person who regularly dropped by the hifi audio store who allegedly could, but then he owned a McIntosh hifi system with Harbeth speakers and accesssories that
was worthcost him $100 k. -
Analog is wonderful audio source medium so long as you have the hifi equipment that has the technical ability to bring out its magnificence. That costs plenty of $$$$ or ££££ or €€€€. A moderately priced digital format and system can attain a similar quality of consistent sound at a much more affordable price.
I find ironic that bunch of over 60 old men can argue about this let alone tell the difference. I have met maybe one person who regularly dropped by the hifi audio store who allegedly could, but then he owned a McIntosh hifi system with Harbeth speakers and accesssories that
was worthcost him $100 k. -
For digitized information, storage is storage.
You can even upload it into the "cloud" and let someone else worry about changing storage media.
@Axtremus Once in The Cloud you are at the mercy of The Cloud.
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@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
@Axtremus Once in The Cloud you are at the mercy of The Cloud.
"The cloud" = "Somebody else's computer."
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
@Axtremus Once in The Cloud you are at the mercy of The Cloud.
"The cloud" = "Somebody else's computer."
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@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
In theory.
In practice? Ten years before the next digital media?
I remember reading a statistic that claimed that the audio market only supports two mediums at one time.
78/45
LP/45
LP/8-track
LP/Cassette
Cassette/CD
CD/Streaming
I'm sure there are minor variations, but you get the idea.
@George-K said in Why Analog Is Better:
In practice? Ten years before the next digital media?
I remember reading a statistic that claimed that the audio market only supports two mediums at one time.
78/45
LP/45
LP/8-track
LP/Cassette
Cassette/CD
CD/Streaming
Famously incorrect words, but it’s hard to see how it’ll ever change from streaming (data). Instantly play any song on any device.
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@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
@Axtremus Once in The Cloud you are at the mercy of The Cloud.
"The cloud" = "Somebody else's computer."
@George-K said in Why Analog Is Better:
@Jolly said in Why Analog Is Better:
@Axtremus Once in The Cloud you are at the mercy of The Cloud.
"The cloud" = "Somebody else's computer."
At least you have that option.
You can even upload to multiple “clouds” so no one single cloud provider can cut you off. -
Well, somebody else’s computers, backed up many times, and replicated, and stored in extremely stable, cool, and protected environments.
But yes you’re right. The cloud is just another computer(s).
@89th said in Why Analog Is Better:
Well, somebody else’s computers, backed up many times, and replicated, and stored in extremely stable, cool, and protected environments.
But yes you’re right. The cloud is just another computer(s).
Photobucket.
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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I hope no one used photobucket thinking it was their primary storage solution.
I can't speak for others, but I have my data backed up in the cloud via OneDrive, and I sometimes make a backup onto a physical hard drive (SSD). That being said, and I know this is tempting the data gods, but OneDrive (microsoft) or Amazon... they are statistically 99.9999% safe from losing your data, ever.
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@89th said in Why Analog Is Better:
Well, somebody else’s computers, backed up many times, and replicated, and stored in extremely stable, cool, and protected environments.
But yes you’re right. The cloud is just another computer(s).
Photobucket.
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I think that without any questions, digital is better. Change is always tough - there were probably people who were upset when Tomas Edison was recordings were replaced.
But the concern (for me) with digital, is that I am pretty sure that everytime you re-save the data, there is some loss of bits/bytes. It may be very very small, but my guess is that you do not get a 100% accurate copy.
