The digital difference – Can digital audio sound different?

[Rip Van Woofer]

To the moderator: I think it would be a great help to many folks if you could assist in directing people to these links, that are of use in this thread. Chris Tam, myself and GDS have put a lot of work into these articles and they are for the people who are on these forums to read and educate themselves.
Hope this helps.
d.b.

Point taken, Dan. There are so many good articles here even we mods forget about them (or are unaware of them in the first place)! Indeed, several relevant articles are listed in the Specs and Formats articles:

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/specsformats/index.php

Look under the Audio Formats and Compression heading. There are a couple of articles on +0dFS ("too loud") recording and the problems it causes in playback, and articles on upsampling, brickwall filters, CD, DVD-A and SACD formats (including Chris Tham's comparisons of the three digital formats), etc.

 

[tbewick]

No offense, but I still find it hard to believe that so many CD's sound bad because of the way they were mixed. Does anyone here own one of those really expensive CD players (like Naim)? How do they sound? I still think I might purchase a new player, because it's just too sad to accept that my CD's are poorly mixed.

 

[Dan Banquer]

CD PLayers

No offense, but I still find it hard to believe that so many CD's sound bad because of the way they were mixed. Does anyone here own one of those really expensive CD players (like Naim)? How do they sound? I still think I might purchase a new player, because it's just too sad to accept that my CD's are poorly mixed.

If you are listening to pop music that was either re-mastered or recorded from 1995 to present than an expensive CD player is not going to do you any good.
I have heard these CD's on anything from basic consumer issue players to some of the best the industry has to offer and the result is basically the same. Unfortunately we have no cure for bad recording, mixing or mastering. except massive public outcry, and protest.
Please don't shoot the messenger;
d.b.

 

[tbewick]

Thanks very much. I'll think I'll try out a vinyl LP version when I next buy a pop/rock album, to hear how they compare with my CD's. The only pop ones I've heard on vinyl (a few 7 inch singles) have sounded okay so far.

 

[Dan Banquer]

CD Players

From what I have been told, the reason why they can't put as much compression on a LP is that the needle would go flying out of the grooves, and I have no idea if that's true or not. If you manage to get some decent classical or jazz recordings you'll begin to realize just how much dynamic range a CD can offer. In addition you will realize just how bad the compression is on so many CD's.
d.b.

 

[Buckle-meister]

Comparable music genre's

...If you manage to get some decent classical or jazz recordings you'll begin to realize just how much dynamic range a CD can offer. In addition you will realize just how bad the compression is on so many CD's.

Isn't, dynamic range the difference in dB between the quitest quiet and the loudest loud? If true, then isnt dynamic range biased in favour of classical music? After all, it is in the nature of classical music to have big differences in highs and lows. Pop, for example, could never hope to compete, and therefore isnt comparable.

True/False?

Regards

 

[annunaki]

Dynamic Range- the difference between the peak level in a signal and it's minimum (expressed in db).

 

[mtrycrafts]

Isn't, dynamic range the difference in dB between the quitest quiet and the loudest loud? If true, then isnt dynamic range biased in favour of classical music? After all, it is in the nature of classical music to have big differences in highs and lows. Pop, for example, could never hope to compete, and therefore isnt comparable.

True/False?

Regards

Well, yes and no Compression is applied to please the populace and radio stations, even though they also compress no matter what.
Pop music can have a decent dynamic range, perhaps not like classical but certainly more than it is pressed onto the CD now.

 

[slwiser]

Dynamic Range

RANT ON:

The range of the CDs that have compression sound like AM radio or worst compare to FM, which has a little more dynamic range.

The CD, when it came out was using almost all its range of ~95 db, everyone enjoyed that range. This was much more than records ~72 dB, but todays CDs with the loudness issues, have less than 10 db dynamic range. That is way worst than AM radio, no actual audio fidelity at all.

What those that enjoy this noise want today is a 'crystal radio' sound from their CDs with power. This is all the fidelity we have on some CDs today. One great big circle form the crystal to hi-fi and back again. Maybe those that enjoy this noise have hearing so bad that all they can 'hear' are the vibrations of the noise throught their skulls?

RANT OFF:

Have a great day everyone...Sorry about the rant....