RIAA Unveils New Piracy-Proof Format

[revol68]

of course it's a bloody joke

jeez, some peeps...

and yes, turntable >> phono pre-amp/RIAA eq >> line in to computer = WAV or mp3 files to burn to CD's, complete with reassuring hiss, pop & crackle. Not to mention rumble.

seems some people on this froum need to upgrade their grasp of humour rather than overclocking their 9800 pros to stupid levels

seriously howcouldu have read that and not worked out it was a satire.

[Tumble]

Hey, anyone want to buy a bridge?

Aye, I'll have some o' that Deck, is it a nice bridge?

[revol68]

it isn't now i burnt it l

[Barakka]

.... vinyl does indeed sound better than cd for some un-known reason

Easy...
Sound = Analogue
Vinyl = Analogue

[Rave]

Easy...
Sound = Analogue
Vinyl = Analogue

Um, no. The sound signal that comes out of the back of a good CD player is closer to the original signal than the signal from a record, it just doesn't sound as good. Looked at objectively, vinyl has poor frequency response, distortion, lots of phase errors.....

I'm a huge vinyl fan, but lets not ignore the facts here.

Rich :¬)

[floppybootstomp]

Well, you can look at it objectively, or....

You can use your ears. I know what I prefer

[Rave]

Well, you can look at it objectively, or....

You can use your ears. I know what I prefer

Well exactly, me too. The point is that vinyl sounds good because it distorts the original signal, not because it reproduces it faithfully.

Rich :¬)

[5lab]

actually the best vinal will reproduce the sound better than a normal cd, and technically even a sacd/dvda. vinal CAN be perfect, cd etc CANT. but for most people cd is plenty

[Rave]

actually the best vinal will reproduce the sound better than a normal cd, and technically even a sacd/dvda. vinal CAN be perfect, cd etc CANT. but for most people cd is plenty

No, it can't produce it perfectly. If you compare the accuracy of the signal from a CD player, and the output from a record, to the original source signal any half decent CD player will be more accurate than even the best turntables (and as the owner of a Linn LP12 I appreciate that good turntables make a hell of a difference).

Vinyl records have great difficulty reproducing high frequencies. Even if you have an expensive line contact stylus, it can only reproduce frequencies of 15KHz+ on the outer grooves of a record where the rotational speed is highest. On the inside tracks you have little to no chance. Additionally, accurate low bass response is difficult to achieve, because to accurately track high amplitude low frequency signals you would need a very high mass arm and a cartridge with a great deal of throw (not to mention a wider track spacing to avoid crosstalk). The only reason that records reproduce music even halfway accurately is that the RIAA came up with an equalisation curve in the '50s. When a record is cut, the low and high frequencies are rolled off. When the record is played, they are boosted again. Thanks to the rolloff, the stylus can track the record reasonably well and you don't get wooly bass and distorted treble. Now, you can't have analogue filters attenuating parts of the signal without introducing phase errors all over the place, which certainly reduces the accuracy of the recorded signal. That's partly why quadraphonic records (which used an encoding system similar to Dolby Stereo) were so crap in practice.

What people need to realise is that distortion does not equal poor sound quality. Valve amplifiers produce a great deal more distortion than transistor amplifiers, but the distortion is of a type that is pleasing to the ear, unlike transistor distortion which most people don't like as much.

Can analogue systems reproduce sound incredibly accurately? Yes, if you're talking 30 inch per second tape. Vinyl OTOH doesn't even come close.

I want to make it clear before anyone flames me that I love vinyl, I own hundreds of records and a turntable that costs thousands of pounds to buy new (I got it secondhand obviously ), and that two days ago I spent my entire lunchtime looking through a local Oxfam shop's selection of 12"s (came away with a Haydn box set and a collection of Strauss pieces). The thing is you can't trust something as imperfect as the human auditory system to tell you what is accurate and what isn't.

Rich :¬)