HIGH END AUDIO DOES NOT EXIST!!!

[@SorinNicu]

Concert halls or our houses are not anechoic chambers. Noise is everywhere. Even our ears make their own noises. In nature there is no absolute silence. All instruments produce intermodulation, noise and jitter, none can create a perfect sound. It's just a matter of "how much" is "too much". If you can't hear it, why obsess about it?

[@vintagestereobuff7005]

The truest comment on the entire post.

[@weeg91]

Because "audiophiles" are mostly gullible people.

[@cinequadom]

That's the best thing that the Hi End Audio industry has to sell countless absurd things at an unjustifiable extremely high prices. Can anyone realy think that the Oracle V1.5 HR Ultra Wide speaker cables costs $53,000.00 and really are good enough for that price? www.thecableco.com/Product/Oracle-V1-5-HR-Ultra-Wide

[@vintagestereobuff7005]

Maybe they aren't really audiophiles, just stupid people who were told they would be audiophiles if they bought overpriced products.

[@nobody6803]

can you explain me what this cable will change (with electric and electronic laws) when you have Cap resistor and coil for passive crossover in you re speaker ?!!

[@o0Donuts0o]

What you all need is cables created in a quantum tunnel, formed in zero-g space near a black hole. Only then can you truly experience audio the way it was meant to.

[@cinequadom]

+o0Donuts0o very good advice...

[@JoeJ-8282]

+o0Donuts0o LMAO! :P At least something to this effect is what some complete audio *nuts* would have you believe!... Oh, and don't forget that the "quantum tunnel" cables also have to be kept at or near absolute zero using liquid nitrogen around the cable at all times for the treble to be completely "open and airy"! LOL!... Oh, and of course these magic cables have to cost upwards of a million dollars per meter, otherwise they simply *couldn't* be as good as they could be! LMFAO!

[@cinequadom]

+JoeJ8282 The cost of this cables are normal price of Hi-End Audio.

[@JoeJ-8282]

Haha! Yeah, I agree, to a certain extent, but there is a limit before the price of "high-end" audio cables just gets exorbitantly high for no real useful reason, and the performance doesn't really get any better... I try to use cables that are right at the best curve of the price/performance ratio, especially since (I will admit that) I don't have the absolute best equipment in the world, just good enough for me, (and the best my budget will allow)... Anyway, I was just being sarcastic there above, as was the oODonutsOo guy, I'm pretty sure!

[@cinequadom]

+JoeJ8282 Of course, all we are sarcastic about the absurds of Hi-End Audio. I make my own cables buying the parts in DIY stores. Happy New Year.

[@FernieCanto]

I've felt my soul shivering to the dark, booming rock of "Queen II" on a muffled old cassette in a bus on the highway at 6 AM, watching the first light of dawn. I went to ecstasy watching a live orchestra making the whole hall rattle with a shattering performance of Holst's Planets on a Tuesday night. I drifted off to some sublime musical land with Boards of Canada's "Geogaddi" on my cheap MP3 player in a crowded bus on the way to college. I've explored new musical galaxies with Com Truise's "In Decay" playing off an USB stick on my (rented) car radio as I drove up the hills under red skies at dusk. Emotions are not in the music, much less on the audio format. Emotions are inside us. Every format has its charm, every experience has its worth; and when you can get the good out of every experience, there's no room for frustration. When the *music* is "high end", the noise and the distortion are secondary; heck, they can even become part of the enjoyment. So here's to all the high end music in the world, and all our shitty low end gear. Cheers!

[@cinequadom]

Fernie Canto Thanks for your comments.

[@cwehbe]

+Fernie Canto Hear hear! Amen. I too have been ENJOYING music my whole life since my first memories with my family and friends in every situation that life has to offer. Every genre of music reminds me of certain life events, history, time, and most importantly, PEOPLE! Whether it was on my broken free earbuds I found and used for several years, the horrible rigged system I had in my $500 first car (that was the best time ever), to my current nice system in my new car... it is ALL NICE and can't live without it!

[@Nukefest2179]

+Fernie Canto thank you for introducing me to Com Truise

[@dndlnx]

+Fernie Canto Props for BOC

[@FernieCanto]

dndlionx It's amazing how music connects us! Cheers!

[@richardmiddleton7770]

It should simply be renamed 'high price audio'!

[@cinequadom]

My audio system consists in: A beautiful pair of Martin Logan CLS IIz pure electrostatic panels, two improved ASL “Hurricane” monoblocks in triode operation, an Audio Research SP9 Mk III with a famous and remarkable phono stage, an especial and limited edition VPI/Denon DP-75 turntable with DD High Torque Motor without cogging, split heavy platter with the Achromat on it, has a very heavy sandwiched plinth (steel, aluminum, lead and wood) over four springs that are in a wood base with spikes and with a total weight of 60 pounds; includes a GST 801 Lustre dynamic “magnetic” arm and a special limited edition Denon DL-103SA MC cartridge and other things like a MHZS CD88KE CD player that has the famous Burr-Brown PCM1794 DAC chipset but also very important, a Reel to Reel Technics RS 1506 almost professional recorder/player. I own some original master tapes and back-up copies (half track, 15 ips), more on 1/4 track at 7.5 ips, some of them with Dolby B (Noise Reduction System), almost a thousand LP Jazz records and less than 300 CDs and of course a VPI 16.5 vinyl washing machine and the appropriate cleaning fluids and brushes.

[@buddyholly2369]

+Alfonso Viladoms Puse en un comentario de que lo que Ud. dice es Exacto. Unas dos veces me pasó de escuchar música y que la batería sonara como en vivo así como voces, núnca el tema completo.

[@cinequadom]

+Buddy Holly Nuevamente gracias por tus comentarios y disculpa la tardanza en mi respuesta.

[@buddyholly2369]

+Alfonso Viladoms Gracias a tí por por responder !!!!!!

[@jonasDoguedeBordeaux]

lol Martin logans are very very good this guy is so boring ha ha

[@cinequadom]

+jonas Dogue de Bordeaux Show this video at mass.

[@syd4717]

THE EVOLUTION OF GREAT SOUND.....XRCD! XRCD allows the listener to hear what the producer and artist intended... the sound of the original master tape!

[@cinequadom]

I own almost all the Blue Note Audio Wave’s XRCDs and their sound is the best I ever heard on the CD format, but I also own the old original same titles in vinyl and except for the scratches, clicks and pops the sound is more natural and emotive. Thanks for your comment.

[@mikw1809]

I still prefer reel to reel to any other format. However, I'm still recording with an AFM audio capable Sony Betacam deck. It records analogue audio better than any hi-res digital formats, and no audible analogue noise. AFM was similar to the technology used in FM audio for VHS / S-VHS. The helical scan implementation meant an effective tape speed of >1000 inches per second, and Betacam uses 1/2 inch metal tape. I made a few studio recordings on Betacam SP, and it was as good as any recording on any Studer or Revox 1/2 inch reel to reel. I have thousands of tapes bought from a studio, and a number of these decks, and paid very little for them. They were the last advancement of analogue tape before tape went digital. That was an advancement for digital video, but when PCM audio was invented, as you say, the sound is not natural, no matter what the resolution. I have enjoyed listening to a Sony SCD-1 however. This was the nearest I got to analogue in a digital format.

[@precisionfort2083]

With the accurate use of dither and a bit depth depth allowing sufficient dynamic range, the jitter of digital resampling can be made negligible to the point where it is below our threshold of hearing. There is no such thing as perfect replication however, it is no longer the aim for recorded sound to present an accurate representation, but rather it presents an enhanced version. "Perfecting sound forever" by Greg Milner is well worth a read if anyone's interested in this area.

[@cinequadom]

I am not seeking for a “perfect or pure sound”, since that is impossible. The point is about the current formats that are not Hi End. No one with common sense can say that listening to music with scratches, clicks and pops can be a true HI Fi audio reproduction, even with the best equipment in the world. It is important to note that these noises are only on the vinyl format, not in the original master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live concerts, only if are allowed the audience to eat potato chips during the performance. The Compact Disc has four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits SACD and DVD-Audio. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally and also they cannot convey the full emotion of music, as analog. Obviously with such limitations cannot be a true Hi End format. Now DVD-Audio and SACD are dead and gone and for something would be. A real Hi-End format must be a REPLICA of the original analog master tapes that are by no means perfect, but current formats are far away from them. Maybe this link could be interesting for you: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” Thanks for the tip of Greg Milner’s book.

[@danielshara5187]

Thank You Alfonso I agree with your Observations on music. I met a man 40 years ago who gave me insight on what a good sound system should sound like, This is what he said. When you go listen to a live performance then Go home and play it on your system If it sounds like the concert this is all you need in a system. Too many WACK JOBS are making money selling over the top expensive systems that Musicians NEVER intended their music to be listened on. I Love Music and seeing it live is the best. I saw and listened to Julien Bream, Igor Stravinsky perform The Firebird ballet, Sonny and Terry, Andre Segovia The Rolling Stones, John Lennon and his wife in Toronto, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison many times, Janis Joplin, Canned Heat, The Grateful Dead Etc. Now I am enjoying the bird songs in the Morning and day in Northern Thailand. The Birds are the best by far and they give free concerts. My Instrument is a Nikon and my Photos are silent. Your System is as good as you need, Anything more is a waste of money.

[@cinequadom]

+Daniel Shara I agree what you say. Thanks for your comment and best regards.

[@SuperVorticon]

Well stated and very true.

[@blueboyblue]

High End refers to PRICE. High Fidelity refers to the sound quality. Jitter is not inherent to Digital file based music. It is in the transmission medium of Streaming files. Playing a CD in a CD Player does not experience Jitter because it is not transmitted. The transmission Reading and Converting does not have to be synchronized in the way that series transmitted data does. Further, serial transmission of data has been going on for a very extended period of time. They are Error Detection and Error Correction down to the point where you can be assured of Bit-For-Bit perfection on the receiving end. In modern Streaming Players, there are way to reduce Jitter to nearly nothing. Next, what matters is the music and how it effects you, not the technical aspects behind it.

[@DavidB-ec7bm]

I agree that there are limits to the storage of sound waves. I think many would say that the sound of the music on a pair of 2.99 earbuds may be worse than some 75.00 headphones. There is a law of diminishing returns that applies to music as well as many other subjects.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comments.

[@glpilpi6209]

Thank you for your excellent analysis of the various recording and playback mediums and the problems with said mediums .

[@cinequadom]

Thank you for your comment and best regards.

[@amirs5620]

Despite digital jitter and analog noise most people could still perceive the music therein. And our brain is pretty impressive in filtering out both jitter and noise in our perception in order to enjoy the music. I listen to both CD and vinyl plus anything in between mp3, aac, flac, so on. In case I don't have the music in my preferred format I could still enjoy the music. Its how the brain adapts. Similar thing happens in entertainment. Watch a horror movie at cinema or on laptop computer it still delivers the horror although in varying degree. Its how the brain adapts. Remember when we were young we mostly cared less where the music came from be it from radio, tv, hifi or live band. Its because younger brain adapts easily, forgives most imperfection and just focus to the music. Stop listening to music for few weeks or months until your body aches to listen to your favourite song. Too much of a good thing is not good for the body. When you start to listen again I think you won't care much what format it came from.

[@cinequadom]

+Amir S Thanks for your comments.

[@happinessliving6713]

I would agree that many Recordings are Flawed .Some to the point of being unlistenable. But i have been to so many live Concerts with bad sound that the Controlled enviroment of a Recording studio seems a way better place for musical joy to unfold . Vinyl Can be supremely Quiet, to the point of having a pitch black background. You will never hear this with cheap phono stages and Dirty Vinyl.This is the Point of having a High-end audio System: To bring you Closer to the music.

[@cinequadom]

Hi. I own a special edition VPI/Denon DP-75 Direct Drive High Torque turntable with a Lustre GST-801 tonearm and a special and limited edition Denon 103SA MC cartridge. Also I have a VPI Scout belt driven turntable and a VPI 16.5 record cleaning machine, using enzymatic and other cleaning fluids. My preamplifier is an Audio Research SP9 Mk III with a highly praised phono stage. I am from the vinyl era with more than 900 albums including some new “audiophile” records. Only a few old records pressed in Japan and Germany are quite clean, but all the rest has more or less clicks, pops and scratches. This additional annoying and abnormal noise that is not present in the original master tapes is intrinsically into the grooves of vinyl records and because of that, I made this video and say that vinyl is the “Anoiselog” (noisy) format. With more than 900 records I have excellent studio and live recordings. And I would like to hear them in the original master tapes without the vinyl noise. But that is a very special placer of the sound engineers like Rudy Van Gelder for instance. Thanks for your comment and best regards. Alfonso

[@bumblesby]

I agree with Sorin below. When attending live music, there is all kinds of ambient noise. People coughing, fans blowing, musicians moving instruments about. When a musician plays the flute you never hear the pure sound of the flute, but also the noise of the breath being blown across pipe. Same with a plucked Double Bass or Harpsichord - you can hear the pluck. Digital which seemingly has absolute quiet in places doesn't seem quite right to me and can actually make me a little edgy at times. :)

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comment. Nobody hears scratches, clicks, pops and rumble in a live concert. This is the point, the additional noise present in vinyl records. By other way, recording studios are insulated of outside noise. Engineers try to reduce all the noise that is not intrinsic in the expression of music and definitely wanted to eliminate the annoying noise of vinyl records, that is the principal reason of the invention of CD format. Best regards.

[@dhruvgrg]

Nice video :) and loved your use of words - digitter, etc :)

[@cinequadom]

+dhruvgrg Thanks for your comment.

[@larkenfield179]

I'm not the least frustrated listening to recorded music... I can listen for hours upon hours without listener's fatigue. But I've found that possible only with tube equipment regardless of the original source of the music... I'm never frustrated and I have an extensive classical and jazz library. Tubes let some air into the music and noticeably expand the soundstage where it sounds far more relaxed and alive. I recommend that people start looking into affordable Hybrid Tube Amps and experience the difference from all solid state amps themselves. I say this as a professional musician.

[@cinequadom]

I still have an Audio Research D200 Solid State amplifier with Multiple-Emitter Transistors or METs. These devices have the rugged, high-heat, high-current capability of single emitter bipolar transistors (which can have a rougher, harder sonic character), but they also have a natural sweetness and musicality often associated with MOSFET transistors (which can be more fragile and prone to failure). In short, the METs deliver the best of both worlds. This power amplifier also does not produce any listening fatigue, but later I found a pair of ASL “Hurricane” 200 watts monoblocks, 100 W in triode mode that I am using, to be a perfect match for my Martin Logan CLS IIz pure electrostatic panels. With these amps, the bass power and deepness is incredible for this kind of speakers. I am really glad with my audio system but not with the current formats. Thanks for your comment.

[@Coilaman]

Alfonso, you are a wise man, but trust me, digital high resolution formats come very close to the perfect sound. The real problem is quality of production these days.

[@cinequadom]

MuristekTV Very interesting your comment. Thanks...

[@Coilaman]

01egna Actually, DSD is inferior to PCM because DSD files have lots of noise in the ultra high frequencies while PCM has none.

[@weeg91]

I'd argue both are superior until they are filtered. DSD is alright with careful design but pointless when PCM can already do it at less disk cost.

[@isiscarranca]

lets create new technology, an alternative route to measure audio directly to digital... More efficient ways of registering data... I believe that rethinking the system from scratch is necessary... How about mimic nature...

[@danaolson2871]

Jitter errors are no different than amplitude errors or noise. If small enough, they are not audible. If you sample a sine wave with jitter, equivalent errors can be modeled as amplitude errors. Double blind ABX testing can quickly determine the threshold of audibility of jitter. You can do it yourself and see what level you can hear. Every thing has errors. What matters is the size of the error. If it is below the threshold of perception, what you have is indistinguishable from perfection.

[@cinequadom]

+Dana Olson As I know, jitter affects the listening in many ways and is not audible like one type of distortion. I read this on “Effects of Jitter in Audio” www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/jitter2_e.html

[@jwdewdney6757]

sure - there are a number of both turntables and cartridges which are able to 'reduce' surface noise to SOME degree. for example there are some dynavector moving coil cartridges which - using a smaller stylus - sit a bit lower in the groove and manage to avoid some of the existing damage which may have been captured by the vinyl surface...

[@cinequadom]

There is not a turntable, tonearm or cartridge that can reduce the scratches, clicks and pops. But yes, there are some styluses like the Shibata that can reduce somehow these noises, but there is not a needle or any other thing that can completely eliminate them.

[@cinequadom]

Hi-End Audio is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad the sound of the whole system is poor or bad. The poor or bad part is the software - sources of music - not the hardware. No one with common sense can say that listening to music with scratches, clicks and pops can be a true HI End Audio reproduction, even with the best equipment in the world. It is important to note that these noises are only on the vinyl format. It not in the original analog master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live performances, so what the term High Fidelity means, is not for the anachronistic vinyl because scratches, clicks and pops are faithful to nothing, unless if the audience was allowed to eat potato chips in concerts. The Compact Disc with 16 bits has around four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits SACD, DVD-Audio and most Hi-Rez files. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally. Obviously with such limitation cannot be a true Hi End format. But the Compact Disc's superiority to Vinyl in a number of sonic parameters are precision, outer detail, speed stability, dynamic range, channel separation which means better soundstage, up to 80 minutes of continuous recorded music, no noise floor, scratches, clicks and pops; no mistracking, wow and flutter, eccentric center holes and warped discs; no rumble, hum, record wear, without corrosive dust attracted by electrostatic charges, no friction and harm of the laser beam to the disc and no wear of it, no pre or post echoes, no coloration by acoustic reflections and vibrations, easy to handle, play, clean and store and without the necessity of adjustments on the pick-up system by the user. Unfortunately, it also subtracts those aspects of the sound which are the vital essence of music; ie convey of individuality and emotions. That is why Digital is more intellectually than emotionally satisfying. This is especially true for those who are very familiar with excellent analog sound. Now, if the Compact Disc would be better in ALL parameters the noisy, impractical and anachronistic Vinyl had disappeared more than 30 years ago as the audio cassette, but Vinyl is very alive with increasing sales year by year worldwide and this is because the analog format can convey ALL the emotion and “soul” of music and many people prefer it even with pops and clicks*, than the clean but less emotive sound of the digital formats. *(By logic, only one single click and/or pop is enough to disqualify vinyl as a Hi End Audio product). Now take in mind that those who disappeared were the two modern and superior 24 bit formats, DVD Audio and SACD. So, something is wrong with digital audio. The new Hi-Rez formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. Many audiophiles found that the sound of these files is not as good as they should be and reject the so-called PC-Audio because among other things, computers are not Hi End Audio products, they do not have discrete circuits and premium parts with very low tolerances. Therefore, the current formats are limited, corrupted and away from the original master analog tapes that are far from perfection, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital. A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica of those masters and so far only the high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) tapes can be extremely close to them and of course with an authentic 100% pure analog sound. Because I own some original master tapes and a few back-up copies, I know the huge difference between them and any other format. By the way, the so-called Hi End Audio is only for very rich people, not for audiophiles. They want to own the most expensive things in the world that most people cannot reach and that is their real pleasure, not the music. For logic, they are not true music lovers and even they have not enough time to listen to it. More information about The “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend www.analogarts.net/project-r2r www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.analogarts.net/project-r2r www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier. www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback (Short article that mentions some R2R vintage high quality 2 tracks and 15 IPS of velocity). And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 Unfortunately right now the tapes are very expensive with a few titles and I hope that this reborn and improved format grow enough to down the prices.

[@slacquin]

Tempo is time based in nature, as is tone frequency constant changes between notes. get your music direct from the string for best results.

[@thunderpooch]

I chopped off my ears years ago and poured drano in my ear canals. I was sick of my ears not hearing in high fidelity as they are just a result of blind evolution. So stupid. I'm waiting for engineers to design something better than these idiotic ears.

[@TheRealElmo86]

I think your are absolutely right, but the consequence would be, never hear to not-live-music again. In my case that would mean, there were no more music in my live, because where i live, it is hard to find live-music. So i live with this compromiss. The best music i know (and i mean that seariously) is to go in the woods and listen to the music of nature, thats the most beautiful sounds on earth. After that, in my opinion comes CDs. Vinyl is great, too.

[@cinequadom]

I live in a place that only eventually I can listen good live jazz. Thanks to the invention of the recorded music I enjoy as much as is possible, the great musicians like John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Charles Mingus, etc. When someone have a good audio system, it is possible to discover many beautiful things that are in those recordings and also the bad things like the annoying noise from vinyl and no emotion with the digital sound. I know that Laser Disc and Reel to Reel tape were superior formats, without many of the flaws than those of these days that are also excessively expensive. My critic is because it is possible to make much better recorded music at affordable prices. Thanks for your comment.

[@Grassy_Gnoll]

Jitter was pretty much a thing of the past many years before this video was posted. Reading an old CD from an old drive where the error correction can't keep up is one thing. However, most "audiophiles" are listening to lossless audio with a modern DAC. There is no jitter in that scenario. If anything, it's 100db or more below the music at 24-bit, anyway. I think I'll keep taking advice from sound engineers like Alan Parsons, who know what they're talking about because they do it for a living. And yes, I'd rather create the warmth of vinyl with a tube or even digitally, rather than listen to pops and scratches.

[@Grassy_Gnoll]

This explains it better than I did. Even at 16-bit, you can not detect any of this. www.head-fi.org/t/415361/24bit-vs-16bit-the-myth-exploded

[@cinequadom]

I do not think that jitter is thing of the past. Jitter is an anomaly caused by time base errors and as I know is not relative to quantization which is another issue of the digital sound. Jitter cannot be eliminated and even measured accurately, so there are no parameters of comparison. For instance, you will not find DAC specifications of jitter at 5%, 3% or 1%. So manufacturers talk about minimal or imperceptible jitter which is a subjective indication. Yes, jitter can be reduced in “good” DACs with complex circuits with Quartz and even expensive Rubidium clocks that make some amount of correction of the time base errors caused by that anomaly, but only in the reproduction way because is not possible to do that in the jitter that comes already from the digital master tapes. I discovered this with the XRCD format that reduces jitter considerably in the mastering process and the sound is much more natural: www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdinfo.asp www.elusivedisc.com/xrcd24digprocess.pdf About the article of Gregorio about quantization and that there is no audible difference between 16 an 24 bits, I am sure that many people including audio engineers do not agree with this. I cannot say anything about, because I do not have a SACD player to make comparisons. I have discovered that the analog sound is more natural than warm.

[@aaronstodolka3438]

I don't think you really understand what jitter is. it's timing based errors Google it

[@cinequadom]

Exactly, jitter is not a kind of noise, it is a time base error.

[@NajamReviewsTech]

Chord mojo helps a lot. It's all about timing and it does it very well.

[@madmax2010ok]

So....care to offer any substitutions or options? Kinda hard to get performers to play in your listening room all the time. Especially the dead ones. Maybe just use MP3 for convenience?

[@cinequadom]

Maybe these sites can help: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” More sites about R2R www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.horchhouse.com/home-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1 www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ (Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier or a HQ CD reproducer). www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8

[@moofymoo]

i bet he likes to tell kids that santa does not exist.

[@cinequadom]

Santa does not exist! Do you mean that my video is for naive audiophiles?

[@vicg5323]

High End Audio does exist. I was at the Hi End in Munich just last week and it was Very Hi End indeed. I agree that Hi Fidelity does not exist. Vinyl is closest due to it's analog nature and music instruments and voice make analog waves. But vinyl has a high noise floor and this make CD or digital formats shine. The only real Hi Fi is a live performance.

[@cinequadom]

ANoiseLog Vinyl and DiJitter are far from the original analog master tapes. A format as a replica of those tapes, is not as a live performance but very much better indeed and truly Hi End. Maybe in Munich you listened to the sound of high quality Reel to Reel tapes. Here is some information about: tapeproject.com/ www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.analogarts.net/ www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend

[@vicg5323]

Analog Master Tapes used by many recording studio's in the past, still have a higher noise floor than CD's and other digital formats that have 0 noise floor. Heard an awesome of Reel to Reel and Vinyl records played on some very expensive equipment. I have all three formats and enjoy them all. Still they are all illusions of the real thing; some better than others.

[@cinequadom]

I own a Technics RS 1506 almost professional Reel to Reel tape deck. Commercial ¼ pre recorded tapes at 7.5 IPS without Dolby B noise reduction system has audible hiss, but those half track at 15 IPS even without Dolby not. In The Tape Project site I recommend to read “Why Tape?” which has detailed information about that. I am a Jazz fan and thanks to recorded music; I can listen to John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Dave Brubeck and many, many other Jazz giants that otherwise was impossible to me and most people to hear to them alive and as well as all the other great musicians of classical music, pop, rock, etc. and even we can hear their recordings as many times as we want, which is impossible in live performances. Also many of them have electronic amplification, many times bad equalization and if you do no sit in a good place, the listening is not too good also. Sit on front of your good audio system alone, could be better than many live performances. A demanding audiophile as me, the current formats do not qualify for Hi End, except the Reel to Reel high quality half track direct copies at 15 IPS.

[@cinequadom]

A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica the original analog master analog tapes that are not perfect either, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital that are far from them. So, only the “new” high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) direct copies at 2 track and 15 IPS can be extremely close to them. More information about the “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. The Tape Project, which peddles legacy albums ranging from Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus to The London Philharmonic’s Arnold Overtures. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download.” More sites about R2R www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ horchhouse.com/project-r2r/ www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ (Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier or a HQ CD reproducer). www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 Unfortunately right now the tapes are very expensive with a few titles and I hope that this reborn and improved format grow enough to down the prices. So, Hi End or H Fi exists only with this high quality R2R format, with the others not.

[@crazyprayingmantis5596]

I agree, I love vinyl but R2R blows it away.

[@user-qu7jr8fx6t]

Nothing like someone jabbing their finger in your face for four minutes.

[@cinequadom]

I am sorry if that bothers you. In my country this does not matter and nobody thinks that that is agresive, it is only indicative. Thanks for your comment.

[@davidwalker1590]

CD's have a course sound. They recreate the music, relying on guesswork to fill in the gaps. SACD and 24Bit 192KHz is where it's at.

[@alfredsmith6039]

There has been extensive scientific research that refutes your claims. I'd believe science rather than some random noob any day.

[@AudiophileTubes]

One's critical hearing and contentment level with what they're hearing count for something too. Science rocks, but there are still many who still marvel and love listening to their 'imperfect formats' with great gear!

[@evil_twit]

Hahahahaha. You spend your money fool. :)

[@evil_twit]

They certainly recreate it better than any other format - except the real thing. Sorry man. You need education.

[@woopygoman]

But nowadays with femtosecond clocks like in the DACs from MSB, jitter is pretty much a thing of the past. It is not noticeable by the human ear I'm pretty sure. www.msbtech.com/products/femto.php?Page=dacSelect And now with most USB DACs being Async, it's not that big of an issue.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for giving to me the site of MSB Technology, because some people wrote here that jitter in these days is not an issue even on cheap commercial players and DACs, since there is no standard specification of this anomaly to make comparisons. “Quite reduced jitter“, “insignificant”, “almost eliminated” and ambiguities like that, are used by manufacturers and no one knows exactly concerned. MBS emphasizes the importance of jitter reduction using very precisely and expensive quartz clocks and is important also, that jitter has a different value in the low frequency region than in the high frequency region. Jitter is very complex and MBS confirms that there is not a type of measurement common that all engineers agree. Anyway, players and DACs can have a great reduction in jitter but as I know, only on the reproduction stage, but cannot reduce jitter that comes already recorded. The XRCD format has a huge reduction in the mastering process using rubidium clocks which are even much more accurate than the best quartz clocks: www.elusivedisc.com/xrcd24digprocess.pdf www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdinfo.asp A real huge reduction of jitter must be not only in the reproduction stage but also in the mastering process. Many people say that XRCD at 16 bits sounds better than SACD at 24 bits, because this has not such reduction on jitter in the digital master tapes. But we can guess that the XRCD digital masters at 24 bits sound better than the XRCD at 16 bits and the original analog master tapes sound even better without any conversion, than that the digital masters. The true is that digital and vinyl formats are far from the original analog master tapes and far also for a really Hi-Fi or Hi End audio reproduction.

[@dwindeyer]

It's a shame you have convinced yourself that digital audio sounds artificial. The reality is that no other capture and replay system in existence can match or better the performance of a well designed digital PCM system. This is usually influenced by a misunderstanding of how digital audio works. That data in between samples is lost, or that there is a stair-step like effect on the captured audio as popularly used in visual aids. The biggest idea that most can't wrap their heads around is, how can a digital system possibly reproduce clean sound when it only has 2-3 samples per cycle at high frequencies? It must sound artificial. In fact this was solved by Nyquist and proved by Shannon over 60 years ago and if you look at the output of a DAC at high frequencies, you will see a smooth analog sine wave with vanishingly low distortion and noise that no analog system can compete with. It's not even a fair game. Jitter is also so low these days with even moderately well designed systems that you're just playing into a fantasy. Do either digital or analog recordings sounds like nature? No, a 2 channel system is unable to realistically emulate a volumetric space as you would hear in nature. That is a limitation of the recording and playback methods and has nothing to do with the actual storage of the audio. Again, it's a shame you and many others have convinced yourselves that digital is somehow compromised, when you are actually sitting on the most accurate and consistent audio storage/playback system in existence.

[@cinequadom]

+dwindeyer Many people say that the sound of PCM is artificial and also TEAC agrees. The new Teac NT-503 DAC has a PCM to DSD converter because the last has better, more analogical sound: www.teac.com/product/nt-503/

[@latuman]

You don't think they have a horse in the race? This is just outright gullibility

[@the80386]

something tells me teac wants to sell some DSD units. you know, them being a business and all...

[@evil_twit]

Yea, I can record any turntable with a laptop and play it back to the 100K idiot and he will never know the difference. Fact. But hey, each to his own.

[@adhanda2017]

www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/es/node/511

[@jobelewis6416]

It does exist in some places. For example, the original source, there the sound has not gone through analogue processing where it can be affected by noise, and harmonic distortion, and it has not been sampled and turned digital. I guess for the purpose of perfect sound we need to enjoy it at it's source!

[@cinequadom]

I think this information would be interesting for you: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” More sites about R2R www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ horchhouse.com/project-r2r/ www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ (Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier or a HQ CD reproducer). www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 Thanks for your comment.

[@RocknRonni]

well records are not perfect but for me my hi end turntable plays very quiet but not perfect but close enough that 99 percent of the time i hear no background noise even in quiet musical passages but you are basically right in your presentation ty

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comment.

[@squidcaps4308]

Time based errors in nature are caused by variances in gas density and composition, causing very muc impedance like phenomenon with the phase shift, distortion and temporal shift usually associated. "Jitter" does exist in nature too and there is no perfect sound. When it comes to digital vs analog, the moment the discussion goes to "infinite waveform" or "sound is analog", we know that the person has no formal training, does not use science as the basis for their theories and most of all; does not understand how digital audio works. It is not like analog, we have to throw away our "analog brain" and start to think more in abstracts. I've done this since the 80s, have formal education as sound engineer and electronics. I still do not understand digital sound like i do analog. Analog is intuitive, digital is anything but. Just understanding why the "stairstep waveform" we so often see is wrong takes quite a bit of understanding. Trust is the key here, just trust what science says about it and find your way to get the sound you need. I warn you, it might lead one to admit they like distortion and non linear response. Nothing wrong with that, just as long as it is not called "real, natural" or any of such nonsense.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your interesting comment. Sorry, until now I can respond to you.

[@sweetsweatyfeet]

I remember what was said about CD's lack of audible noise. "That silence is not golden".

[@LorenzoNW]

I used to agree with you regarding CDs. A couple friends have very high-end digital source components (Chord and Mark Levinson). And for the longest time, they lacked that emotional engagement and nuance you speak of. But after they did some rather expensive tweaks and upgrades, my impression of digital has changed. It really can sound as emotionally engaging as live music. Of course, all the components downstream have to be commensurate with the source components. These are the upgrades that took the sound to a place that I’m sure would astound even you: (1) High Fidelity CT-IE analog and digital interconnects (2) HiDiamond 4 power cord on the transport (3) Mojo Enigma SE power cord with Furutech FI-50 plugs on the DAC (4) Marigo Audio Lab Ultima Signature CD Mat (5) Bedini Hex-Beam Clarifier (6) Symposium Rollerblock Series 2+ above and below the Superballs underneath the transport (7) Svelte Shelf below the Rollerblocks (8) Mapleshade Isoblocks below the Svelte (9) Mapleshade Micropoint Megafeet below the DAC (10) 4” thick Mapleshade platform with Isoblocks below the Megafeet (11) Sound Application power conditioner (12) Furutech GTX-D Rhodium wall outlet with carbon fiber receptacle cover (13) Densen DeMagic CD. Most audiophiles have never heard a stereo in which the entire system (components, cables, clean electricity, tweaks, isolation platforms, and room acoustics) have been optimized, in which case it's very easy to reach the same conclusions that you've had.

[@cinequadom]

+LorenzoNW Hi Lorenzo, Thank you very much for your advices but as you mentioned most of these things are quite expensive and for now out of my budget. Anyway I will give this list of components to some of my rich friends. I hope they can buy all these things and that is a way for me to listen to these improvements. My best regards.

[@LorenzoNW]

+Alfonso Viladoms The best part is that you can audition them all for free. And most (if not all) the products mentioned have a money back satisfaction guarantee. I would suggest your friends try one upgrade at a time so there’s only the one variable. Almost forgot, replacing the fuses with Synergistic Research Red fuses led to an improvement too. The next step they can take following the upgrades I already mentioned is to improve room acoustics (if they haven’t done so already). Much to my surprise, these little HFT high frequency transducers in conjunction with the FEQ Frequency Equalizer by Synergistic Research really improves the sound. In my friend’s case, there wasn’t a noticeable difference when he placed the HFTs on his speakers but on the walls, they cleaned up a lot of distortion.

[@cinequadom]

+LorenzoNW Hello Lorenzo, I live in Mexico and any purchases made outside my country pays customs duties. So there is no way to return those components. Anyway, some of my friends often go to US and they will be very happy to try to improve their audio systems with things you recommended Thanks again and regards.

[@LorenzoNW]

+Alfonso Viladoms I forgot to mention, the heart of both their systems is a First Sound Paramount Mk III Special Edition preamp. One of them recently upgraded his with high-end Duelund capacitors. Fortunately, the owner of the company lives nearby, making upgrades easy. I listened to it last night after 200 hours of break-in and almost cried. Believe it or not, it was more emotionally engaging than live music! Very few audiophiles have heard systems at that level. If your wealthy friends want the best, I suggest they look into getting a First Sound. Keep in mind that in order to reproduce music like that, EVERYTHING matters. For instance, when my friend didn’t use his Marigo CD mat, some of the magic was gone. And when he turned off his Synergistic Research FEQ, some of the dimensionality collapsed.

[@cinequadom]

+LorenzoNW OK Lorenzo, I got everything. Thanks and regards

[@ivanmaskov]

couldnt agree more,,,its like being in theather listenin orchestar,,,,and then go home and listen it on wav,or flac format,,,no mather what quality of digital format,what mics,plugins,equipment,,,there is no emotion,,,i played a lot of time on acusstic instruments,,,really beautifull songs ,,,and people cried like river flows,,,,, merry xmas by the way,,great video

[@cinequadom]

+Maškov Production Thank you very much for your comment and Happy New Year.

[@frogville]

the truthful nature of music is it disappears into the air as soon as it is created by design,,, it is unnatural to capture that magic in a bottle.. or a vinyl.. or a tape and recreate all the natural beauty of its creation. I like tape and vinyl.

[@cinequadom]

I like your comment, thanks for it.

[@1bboyred1]

one thing for sure is you need high end speakers lol to output whatever quality as it should

[@cinequadom]

My Martin Logan pure electrostatic panels are really great. But even with the best speakers of the world, if you know or think which are those, is impossible to take out the annoying noises of vinyl and they cannot eliminate jitter and other flaws of digital formats.

[@rlwings]

Actually, recent scientific discoveries are beginning to point to the idea that life as we know it is nothing more than a computer simulation in which we are all taking an active part. Therefore, everything IS digital and 'time-based'. Reality is quantized which means that digital reproduction is actually the most accurate way of capturing sound which itself is digitized.

[@cinequadom]

It's amazing how the System uses "experts" as those because it wants us to behave like robots, without feelings, not free minds and above all to be machines of insatiable consumption. If you believe you are digital I do not blame you, but sound waves in Nature are sinusoidal not staggered and recorded sound is more natural and exciting than digital.

[@peace-yv4qd]

One cannot argue with their own ears and what they hear. I used to hear music, but didn't pay attention to the nuances of music. I grew up in the so called golden age of stereo, but l wasn't in to music and audio like I am to today. Since I will most likely spend the rest of my days on earth in pursuit of best system and recordings I can afforded and probably not afford, I will continue my journey. In a chaotic world, music is the only thing I can count on, and one of the few things left that I truly can enjoy.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for you comment I appreciate it.

[@peace-yv4qd]

Your welcome.

[@pauldrewry869]

It's funny, but I've heard records without pops, clicks and scratches. They left me with goose bumps. I've also heard classic music played through cheap single driver speakers that was very pleasant.

[@cinequadom]

Congratulations!

[@repoman6508]

Have you considered or tried loss-less audio formats. The problem your having with Cd's is the compression and bit rate. With loss-less formats there is minimal if any compression and the bit-rate can go as high as necessary to accurately reproduce the entire audible frequency range and then some. If you can find loss-less audio files taken from the master recording, then, the only limitation is the system and the environment,(room acoustics). You will need a decent computer and a fast and accurate DAC . My philosophy is to put as little equipment as possible between the original recording and my ears, giving less chance for colouration of the music. Therefore I run my DAC straight into class A amplifiers, with decent interconnects, then straight to a set of Martin Logans through a pretty hefty set of bi-amped speaker wires. Not sure of your music tastes but a on good copy of say Diana Krall, off the top of my head, you can literally hear the saliva in her mouth when she moves her lips. It's really like sitting in the studio critiquing the final mix. If it still doesn't sound good it's the engineers fault for mixing wrong and even that can be objective. Hope this helps. I agree with all the flaws you mentioned but i think you may be surprised at how far dijitter audio has come. ;)

[@cinequadom]

A friend of mine will come soon to my home with his high quality lap-top, Hi-Res audio files (some of them that I have in vinyl and reel tape formats to make a comparison) and his last generation digital to analog converter. Anyway here is more of what I think about the digital sound. The XRCD format has 16 bit like any CD, but comes from a 24 bit special cared tape that has a remarkable reduction of jitter in every stage of the recording process. The difference in favor of the XRCD against the CD of the same analog recording is quite notable. Obviously the 24 bit master tape with four times more information than the XRCD would sound better and the original analog tapes without jitter and other digital artifacts must sound even much better. Now if you want to translate for instance a book in English to Spanish some things are going to change and if this book in Spanish is translated again by other person to English, there will be a quite different text than the original. Digital and analog are different languages. The conversion of analog to digital and then to analog again it never will be exact and I think this is the main problem. Anyway, listening and compare the Hi-Res files with my analog reel tapes and vinyl records, I am sure it will be very interesting. Thanks for your comment and best regards

[@erazmoroterdamskikoscak3054]

These gentleman has absolutely right,You Tube can be great exhaust and good opportunity to get rid off all frustration.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comments and best regards.

[@alfredoc777]

Alfonso, I agree with you 100%! My quest for the "Perfect Preamp and Amplifier" began 37 years ago. Finally, this year, I achieved my long awaited goal. No jitter-digital noise! Turntable pops minimized by 90%. I invented or simply discovered through unconventional electronics ways to achieve this musical perfection! Many years of electronics construction gave me the experience to finally try strange new approaches that to my surprise WORKED! Ok, to remove jitter I used unconventional transistors used in the 60's... I paired this with "Sound Coils", these coils need to be placed in two different locations of the "Sound Chain". Well,I don't want to bore you too much. If I get a chance I will do a new video demonstrating this effect, using my latest preamp designs etc... Oh Audio, so much more fun when its jitter free!!!

[@cinequadom]

alfredoc777 Alfredo, very interesting your Germanium pre and amp and I hope you can make soon a video of your jitter reduction unit. Best regards

[@rbeez2004]

True high end audio does not exists. Personal preference in audio does exist. If you listen to a 20000 dollar speaker and a 500 dollar speaker the one you choose to fit your musical tastes needs is the high end for you. Sorry people the only true to life recording is an true analog source recorded on true analog equipment. No way around it no matter what you say or want to say. Noise is part of life. If it's present in the recording. True every device adds noise but digital devices add artificial noises not natural to life. I love my cds and records and listen to both. But I listen to lps anytime I get a chance.

[@cinequadom]

rbeez2004 Your comment is not new for me. Some others wrote basically the same thing. You can read about it here. Anyway I am going to repeat some of the things I answered before. I own an excellent HI FI system and details about it are somewhere here. Scratches, clicks and pops are inherent of the vinyl format and are not present in the original analog master tapes. The invention of the CD format was primordially to eliminate those annoying noises. Noise is not part of music. For instance, all professional recording studios over the world are isolated from external noise. In a concert hall with classical music, the audience tries to stay as quiet as is possible during performance and if someone coughs, she or he feels very badly. Neither, you can go into the hall when the performance was started. It is not allowed to talk, sing, tap your feet or clap your hands. Now if I go to a classical performance, I would like to listen only the music and I do not concentrate to hear the rustle of clothing or the breath of the musicians or if someone makes some noise changing the score page. I read somewhere about that the American audiophiles listen through their audio systems these non-musical noises and are very happy if these are present, thinking that the equipment has better detail and therefore is better. If you are that kind of audiophile, is easy to understand why you enjoy noise with the music, even in the not scratched digital formats.

[@mcintoshkid]

well I'm glad I have low fi stereo system lol kzbin.info/www/bejne/anfYm6iar9eibJY

[@Tourbillondreams]

The comments in the video have merit, no audio playback form is perfect. Nothing is better than live music itself. I do however find the satisfaction of listening to high end audio music playback in the comfort of my own home and convenience of my own time to be a reasonable trade off.

[@cinequadom]

Yes, you are right except because the current sound is not really Hi End. Thanks for your comment.

[@bobghoul9855]

Sei un grande. Nomination best audio/related video !!!

[@cinequadom]

Grazie mille.

[@AudiophileTubes]

OF COURSE high-end audio exists! What is meant by 'high-end' is better quality equipment, so one can achieve better quality sonics. A pair of floorstanding Magneplanar or Martin-Logan speakers are going to sound MUCH better than a pair of inexpensive, cheap bookshelf speakers. Ditto regarding your equipment or source material. I think the most important point one can make though, is that system synergy is important, and often hard to predict, and that a 'point of diminished returns' is reached where no matter what you spend, or what you buy is not going to sound better, because of our hearing limitations!

[@cinequadom]

As I said many times, Hi-End is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad the sound of the whole system is poor and/or bad. Even if you own the best audio system of the world, listen to music with scratches, clicks and pops cannot be a Hi End performance. Considers that those annoying noises are present only in the vinyl format, they are not in the original master tapes and either in live music performances. Listen to a clean digital source that cannot convey the full emotion of the music as the vinyl and analog open reel tapes, cannot be a real Hi End reproduction either. You can own a Ferrari but if it is filled with gasoline of bad quality or even contaminated with some portion of water, the car is Hi End but the performance not. The reel to reel tape with hi quality half track copies at 15 ips that comes from the original analog master tapes is the only format that until today can deserve the name of Hi End Audio. Maybe these sites would be interesting for you: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with Why Tape? www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.analogarts.net/ www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs

[@sumanthbhat1041]

You are absolutely right sir. Feel music not audio device or system

[@cinequadom]

Thank you very much for your comment.

[@cappokenneth]

If I go to see a live artist,playing an acoustic guitar, and singing, He or she will have some imperfections in the voice, the guitar will have imperfections in the tuning, there will be noise from other people in the room, the room will have effects on the acoustics, your ears are not perfect, does this mean music does not exist!!

[@cinequadom]

Music and sound exists, Hi-End Audio not because the current formats do not qualify for that. I do not seek perfection or pure sound because that is impossible. In your example of live music you don't listen to scratches, clicks and pops, only if are allowed the audience to eat potato chips during the performance. Those annoying noises only are present in the anachronistic vinyl, not in the other formats and of course not in real life. On the other hand the Compact Disc with only 16 bits has four times less information than the original master tapes, vinyl and the 24-bit formats like DVD-Audio and SACD, which incidentally are gone and for something would be. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that may include the information that was not originally recorded on those discs. They also have other anomalies such as jitter, which distorts the sound wave producing a less natural sound and they cannot convey the full emotion of music, as in the analog formats. Obviously with such limitations cannot be a real Hi End format. A true Hi-End format must be a REPLICA of the original analog master tapes that are neither perfect, but AnoiseLog and DiJitter are far away from them. Maybe this links could be interesting for you: www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend tapeproject.com/ www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.analogarts.net/ www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback

[@cappokenneth]

hdcd is 24bit

[@cinequadom]

HDCD is a format that comes from 20-bit master tapes, but is reduced to 16 so that can be played on standard CD players. And since I know, the production of those discs was stopping eleven years ago.

[@cappokenneth]

so when the it's written on the cd that it is 24bit they are telling lies

[@cinequadom]

I am sorry but I do not understand what you wrote. But if is what I presume, this is the answer: Some formats with master tapes of 20 or 24 bit like HDCD or XRCD are converted to 16 bits, because is the only way to be reproduced in CD players.

[@im215exempt]

Only 1.6% of people tested can correctly pick 6 out of 6 songs in the uncompressed WAV file format versus a compressed 320 kbps and 128 kbps file when all three three are juxtaposed for their comparison: and with no time limit for the test. 4.5% can pick 5/6 songs correctly.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comment.

[@ezvkm77]

I've heard some audio through some great gear and it sounded great and where there is i'm guessing a lot of snake oil in the audiophile community, excellent equipment can be art and great sound.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comment.

[@ezvkm77]

You are very welcome have a great day.

[@martyn5416]

Digital audio does have its issues, but it is the way forward. It does not degrade over time like analogue. The key is the conversion from analogue to digital, and then back to analogue when you want to listen. Modern dacs can have very, very low noise and no jitter. Check Chord Electronics, I believe you will appreciate the work they are doing.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for the information. I will see it carefully.

[@weeg91]

Jitter is inherent in oversampling aka high speed digital systems with digital filters. They are actually obsolete, in this day and age and prevail only due to their low cost, not to mention they are fundamentally flawed if the filter is programmed linear phase (the whole point of the method). They are cheaper than true linear n-bit current weighing devices. Although they can can pull off 124dB of silence, where as CWD cant do much more than 17.5bit at 192khz via a 20bit device, Its important to remember following for context: 1. Reel to Reel is the benchmark medium. It wasnt much better than 72dB = 14bit. Did I say 14bit? 24 bit+ is only desirable for processing, its overkill but due to the nature of floating point arithmetic, that needed to be doubled to compete wit integer in terms of precision. double float is 53bit whilst double int is 64bit, go figure. Marketing, sale, numbers. 2. We can hear 20dB into/below noise in the most sensitive region of hearing, this is because noise is usually an averaged measurement, which is why older mediums might measure bad but sound not that bad afterall. Welcome to capitalism. For recording and playback of effects in studio via 17bit CWDs are more than enough, as was the case in the old tape/sampler days leading upto 1997, which was the last time a sampler had CWD, due to the ever increasing needless obsession with bit depth. For transmission 17bit+ is desirable to maintain the artists products, so that its delivered and heard as intended. Theres very little playback equipment can do enhance the signal. Do not fall for it. Its up to artists and engineers to ensure quality recording. In an age where recording technology is widely accessible to non professionals and quality ever increasingly rare, good luck with that. The stark realization that only music issued on LP before 1987 is worthy of titl hifi, with the year 2000 at a push if one researches how it was recorded (i,e, reel to reel straight into HDCD, which do exist but in smaller numbers).

[@cinequadom]

A few years ago an audio engineer told me this: “If you have a book in English and you give it to the best translator to write it in Spanish and then give it to another real good translator to make it again in English and compare it with the original version, you will find many changes in words, grammar and even concepts. Vinyl and digital are two completely different languages that will have several changes, missed things and other added that were not in the original analog source, after the conversion Analog to Digital and then to Analog again. He said: It is impossible to have an identical analog sound than the original, after the digital conversions”. For instance, a back-up copy of an original analog master tape is accurate because it is made with exactly the same language. I think also that the digital formats have too much processing and in my opinion in audio as simple is the thing, it is better. I think you saw these links but anyway I include them again: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. I do not know what is the signal-to-noise ratio of the IEC EQ is, but the tape project people say it's better than Dolby B and DBX and I think also these noise reduction systems have also to much processing. This link is very interesting: www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” More sites about R2R www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.horchhouse.com/home-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1 www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ (Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier or a HQ CD reproducer). www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8

[@weeg91]

TAPE IS COMINCK HOLY SMOKES

[@wu17]

I dont care with high end audio as long as the sound reproduction that I hear is good enough for me and enjoy the music thats it

[@cinequadom]

You are right. The problem is that vinyl and digital formats do not qualify for the so-called Hi End Audio that is also too expensive.

[@martyxray5171]

Alfonso - you are correct to some extent - however it is not just the source - there is 'corruption' of the signal thru out the signal processing chain - from room acoustics, recording microphones, recording media, transcription, amplification, speakers etc. The point of audio from the 'audiophile' or enthusiast perspective is to try to replicate a live musical event as realistically as possible - acknowledging that it is impossible to actually reproduce the event! So, that said - in my opinion some equipment (and combination of equipment) do a better job of reproducing the event than other. As you 'upgrade' components in the audio chain you can come closer to realizing the original event. You will soon reach a point of diminishing returns - where a greater investment in equipment yields you very little return in said reproduction. At this point you are truly in the land of 'high end' audio.

[@cinequadom]

Please see the description of my audio system. When I seat in front of it and close my eyes, I feel that the musicians are there in my listening room. Of course that is an illusion that breaks when the scratches, clicks and pops of my LPs appear. And with digital, the sound is less natural, less alive and cannot convey the whole emotion of the music. The best experience that I have in terms of that illusion is with a few original master tapes that I own and some other back-up copies.

[@giveusabananayoubastards832]

Your right. neither format is perfect... I prefer vinyl personally, maybe cos I was brought up listening to it and I like the aesthetic n interaction u get with it. Thanks for this vid, made me feel better about the cheap antiquated audio gear I use. You have probably saved me hundreds of pounds on trying to get a better sound that I might not achieve anyway lol, all the best.

[@cinequadom]

And I think that your antiquated sound gear is not so far of many current audio systems at stratospheric prices. Best regards

[@jamesm6082]

If the audio system is able to transport you to the event of it's creation than that is all that matter folks. ..end of story

[@jonasDoguedeBordeaux]

If I fall a sleep please wake me up lol

[@cinequadom]

+jonas Dogue de Bordeaux Please recommend it to those who suffer from insomnia.

[@codebeat4192]

A concert (live) without any speaker/amplifiers gives you the most pure sound, it is just you and the performers and the instruments. Nothing can beat this. But hey, the performers cannot visit you every day on every time so there must something in between to overcome this problem as close as is possible. Digital is not bad however what they do with the recordings could be bad, amplifying for example, mess with the recordings. High end does exist, it is just a term to identify quality, as close as can be or as good as can be in the format it supports. Every format can be high end in it's range, that's the tricky part. High-end doesn't mean the best, unbeatable in performance and sound of ALL formats, just of the format. A high-end turntable is really a good turntable but in it's range. High-end audio exists but is not what you think it is, doesn't have to be suberb in all kind of scenario's.

[@cinequadom]

No one with common sense can say that listening to music with scratches, clicks and pops can be a true HI Fi audio reproduction, even with the best turntable / cartridge in the world. It is important to note that these noises are only on the vinyl format, not in the original master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live concerts, only if are allowed the audience to eat potato chips during the performance. The Compact Disc has four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits SACD and DVD-Audio. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally and also they cannot convey the full emotion of music, as analog. Obviously with such limitations cannot be a true Hi End format. Now DVD-Audio and SACD are dead and gone and for something would be. So Hi End as supposes it be does not exist.

[@piepie3487]

youre right

[@johngordon1175]

I disagree because as equipment gets better jitter is reduced to a point where it is so insignificant that it no longer is an issue, also records are recorded partly mono, ie. The bass, so it is not truly stereo because the stylus would jump the grooves and some of the low notes from instruments are missing, which also you need when listening to a piece of music for a full reproduction of the event.

[@cinequadom]

+John Gordon To your first comment, I am not comparing vinyl to digital. I am saying as a music lover, that both are not enjoyable for the reasons exposed. To your second comment: jitter does not have a standard for comparison; “quite reduced “, “insignificant”, “almost eliminated” and things like that are used by manufacturers and nobody knows what exactly is about. Jitter is present in a way that contaminate the sound more or less as more or less the scratches, clicks and pops pollute the vinyl. I own many vinyl records where the contrabass is for instance in the left channel and the piano on the right and almost all at the bottom of the soundstage. Stereo is present in all instruments regardless the frequency. Digital's superiority to Analog in a number of sonic parameters: precision, outer detail, speed stability, noise reduction, dynamic range, easy to handle, clean and store and without the necessity of adjustments on the pick-up system. Unfortunately, it also subtracts those aspects of the sound which are the vital essence of music; ie convey of individuality and emotions. That is why Digital is more intellectually than emotionally satisfying. This is especially true for those who are very familiar with excellent analog sound. Now, if Digital would be better in all parameters the noisy, impractical and anachronistic Vinyl had disappeared 30 years ago, instead two modern and “superior” 24 bit formats, DVD Audio and SACD are now dead and gone. So, something is wrong in DiJitter formats and of course in AnoiseLog also.

[@janinefawcett2077]

the source of music is the very instruments that produced it not the vinyl record. high end audio is designed to re-produce this as faithfully as possible be it analogue or digital

[@cinequadom]

+janine fawcett If you listen to the original master tapes is true what you are saying but the annoying scratches, clicks and pops are only in the vinyl format and do not represent fidelity of nothing. Among other flaws, the Compact Disc has four times less information than the original analog master tapes, so it is not fully faithful to those recordings. Hi-End does not exist if vinyl and digital formats are limited and contaminated. Only a replica of those master tapes deserve that name. Maybe this site would be interesting for you: tapeproject.com/

[@dndlnx]

All you needs a nice source and well-designed DAC sounds fine to me.

[@cinequadom]

+dndlionx Much better for me are the original analog master tapes that I have and some back-up copies. Maybe this site would be interesting for you: tapeproject.com/ Happy New Year.

[@lupegonzales5120]

I agree wth you Mr. Viladoms, at least in principle, that "high-end" audio does not exist. Perhaps vinyl is indeed "purer" in audio quality than digital but, if we discussing the most accurate reproduction of recorded audio then, today's consumer electronics is arguably and subjectively superior. I simply do not hear "clicks," "pops" and "hissing" in my digital music...only absolutely beauty that indeed transports me to other times and places! As Mr. Larson has previously well articulated, digital "jitter" has at the very least, become inaudible to most of us. Today, better sourcing of digital recordings, more affordable DACs (crutial) and audio componentry now greatly compliment today's listening experience thus, 'fooling' (if you will) one's ears and mind into believing great digital audio can be experienced. I am well into my 60's and I grew up during the periods of the 60s and 70s when "33rpm" and "45rpm" vinyl discs were prolific. Thanks to good friend's dad long ago passed, I learned to listen to great music in vinyl and I prefer digital audio. No, "high-end" audio does not exist, only better delivery to one's ears of the original recording. Semantics....? Best wishes and Happy listening to all!

[@cinequadom]

Thanks Lupe for your comments. Because I bought many years ago a prosumer Technics RS 1506 Reel to Reel recording machine and I own some original professional tapes and a few back-up copies, all in 2 tracks and 15 inches per second (IPS), I can hear the huge difference between these and the music from vinyl and digital formats. First, the open reel professional tapes does not have scratches, clicks and pops and very, very low hiss, much greater dynamic range than vinyl, absolute accurate traced of the tracks and immune to resonances and vibrations. It is pure analog sound without the issues of the conversion to digital. The commercial tapes of 4 tracks and 7.5 IPS are without scratches, clicks and pops but yes with higher hiss, reduced dynamic range and an absurd way of recording on four narrow tracks two sides A & B as on vinyl. Unnecessary because it is possible to put the whole recording in just one side of the tape and with much better sound at 2 tracks and easier to handle. These complications and the advent of the audio cassette much easier to handle, less expensive and perfect for car-audio were the killers of R2R the most promising format for a real HI Fi reproduction. Now some audio companies are trying a reborn of R2R with very high quality copies in two tracks and at 15 ips and those are like replicas of the original analog master tapes. Unfortunately there is a shortage of titles and expensive as the new recording machines. So Hi End Audio is only for very rich people, not for audiophiles. Meanwhile we are hearing not a really Hi End Audio reproduction, some like you without the annoying noises of vinyl and others with clicks and pops but with a more natural sound with the full convey of the emotion of music. I think there is not a theme of semantics. As I said many times, Hi-End Audio is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad the sound of the whole system is poor or bad. In this case the bad part are the current formats. Well, happy listening of recorded music, to all of us, as much as we can until now. I include some information about R2R: First the great piece of engineering, the Studer 820: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs And these other sites: tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with Why Tape? www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.analogarts.net/ www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback

[@friedmule5403]

Everyone talk about the LP be the best, fully analog and so on! But the LP has a sort of resolution. The LP can not be cut with infinite details, the needle have to have a minimum of variation in the groves to be able to "detect" them, in other words, the LP have to have fairly rough groves to work, fare more then any digital media. On the other hand, do the LP sound as perfect as we can hear, so the rough resolution have to be enough for our limited hearing. That means that wary high resolution digital media, have to be extremely more detailed then we can hear. So yes High End do exists, it is a system that make ask yourself if you are listening live or not.

[@cinequadom]

The deficiencies of the anachronistic vinyl are even more than those you are mentioning. The digital HiRez formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. Therefore, the current formats are limited, corrupted and away from the original master analog tapes that are far from perfection, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital. A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica of those masters and so far only the high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) direct copies at 2 track and 15 IPS can be extremely close to them and of course with an authentic 100% pure analog sound. Because I own some original master tapes and a few back-up copies, I know the huge sound difference between them and any other format. More information about the “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums (now are more and coming other titles on the way). Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” You can search in Google more about the analog Reel to Reel format and fine a lot of information. For instance: hifipig.com/keeping-it-reel-reel-to-reel-at-high-end-munich/

[@friedmule5403]

Thanks for a great and wary interesting answer!! And yes, the original R2R are a world for it self, if you have heard that, all other popular media can go home:-)

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your answer and best regards.

[@ghitaciprian]

The sound is beyond the sound !

[@buddyholly2369]

Lo que dice Alfonso Viladoms es la gran verdad del Audio : en mi vida escuché un equipo que reproduciera la música como en vivo. Si me ha pasado de escuchar algunas frecuencias perfectas como ( batería ) ó voces como en vivo : gracias Alfonso.

[@cinequadom]

+Buddy Holly La batería es un instrumento cuya reproducción fácilmente engaña al oído pero en mi experiencia, las voces son bastante más difíciles. En muchos equipos se escuchan con un cierto halo de tonalidad grave que las envuelve tanto a las femeninas como aún a las masculinas y que en el sonido real sin micrófonos, no se presenta. Gracias por tu comentario es interés.

[@buddyholly2369]

+Alfonso Viladoms Tu sistema de audio es envidiable !!!

[@buddyholly2369]

+Alfonso Viladoms Lo que tu tienes es lo Máximo en Audio !!!!!!

[@cinequadom]

+Buddy Holly Y además realmente no es caro. Compré nuevos los paneles, el pre, el fonocaptor y el CD player, lo demás es usado en muy buenas condiciones. Pienso es posible tener un buen equipo sin gastar demasiado, pero si es necesario tener conocimiento para saber lo que se compra.

[@buddyholly2369]

+Alfonso Viladoms Lo que no he dicho es que como tu lo has dicho, el problema radica en los C.D. - L.P. ó cintas y no por tener Audio Sistem de U$D 10.000 ó 100.000.

[@teofilo2]

Hi end audio does exist. Perfect recording audio does not exist.

[@cinequadom]

teofilo gill Hi End must be a whole thing. You can own the best turntable, amps and speakers and you heard dirty music with vinyl records or without emotion with clean Compact Discs. The recordings of Rudy Van Gelder in Blue Note and Fantasy Records are excellent for me, no complaints. I own a few reel tapes of those recordings and are great. Thanks for your comment.

[@isiscarranca]

People interested on developing audio codecs I would be glad to brainstorm... Imagine analog inside digits

[@cinequadom]

Sorry, I do not understand you.

[@cinequadom]

I want to express my gratitude to all the people who have been subscribing to my channel. Really THANK YOU!

[@the_nondrive_side]

I'm just gonna agree. Anoiselog and Dijitter. Those are the choices. I guess I'm forced into dijitter. Thanks for new coined terms I'll be using likely for a long time.

[@cinequadom]

Thank you very much for your comment.

[@No2Ryder]

Yes, frustrating, but I love my little humble system just the same. life is not perfect. Listening to music, for me, is a fun form of meditation. I consider "myself" to be the weakest link in the audio chain. The better I focus, the better it sounds. try not get hung up on "perfect" it takes the fun out of it. Thanks for the video and have fun!

[@cinequadom]

The great thing is the invention of recording sound, more than a century ago. My critic is about the obscene extremely high cost of the so called Hi-End Audio that is quite limited especially in their source formats. Enjoying recorded music with not expensive audio gear is really great and clever. Best regards

[@WhipRunner]

I agree about digital being artificial. It is 'facsimile' of the original recording and, in reproduction, subject to jitter and limited resolution - this depletes music. Maybe we should try applying this example :- we can order prints of the great masterworks from the museums that have the rights - Van gogh, Picasso, Turner etc. - i might consider myself lucky - extremely lucky - if it has the same effect/feel/visual resonance that the original work has. Not listening to live but reproduced music itself has sacrifice embedded in it, the question is how much of the sacrifice? The most popular formats of the day (LP, CD, mp3) have moved away from the music that was recorded/mixed/mastered. High end audio manufacturers claims of sophisticated materials, circuit designs, master craftsmanship and occult level research of audio engineering always contradict one and the other. We don't really know who is right or wrong, who has the right approach - if supposedly one has seemingly the correct approach - the end product might be accused of not sounding musical enough. We, the consumers, are at the mercy of opinions of few publications and journals and the grand, seductive ideas of designers. Much like we are in the case of art/film/gastronomic critic and curator circles of the world who regularly fail to achieve synthesis in opinion and rather claim to not be authorities but those who want to tell people about what they heard/ate/saw/ read.

[@cinequadom]

+WhipRunner Thank you for your comments and I agree with you. My best regards.

[@WhipRunner]

+Alfonso Viladoms Thank you for accepting what is almost a rant. Thank you for sharing your rich experience with audio. Also, could you elaborate on your opinion on how the Martin Logan CLS is among the most beautiful speakers? or rather if they, in your opinion, are 'superior' to other electrostatic designs (like, of course, Quad ESLs) ?

[@cinequadom]

+WhipRunner About that the CLSs are the most beautiful speakers in the world is just my opinion. Almost all other speakers are boxes, some really ugly; a few others are horns, etc. The CLSs seem as a pair of modern sculptures; well that is what I think. Here is the link of a brochure of them: www.martinlogan.com/pdf/brochures/brochure_cls_ii.pdf A friend of mine had a Quad ELS-63 and I prefer the CLSs especially in the bass region, stronger and deeper. The natural and transparent bass of these speakers is impressive without a “boomy or boxy" sound, but it is necessary a perfect position of the panels between the back and lateral walls to have the best results. I also like that the CLSs don’t have a crossover like the other Quad models, the curvilinear panels have an excellent dispersion and there is not a fabric on the front that somehow blocks the transducers. Sorry I did not listen to other electrostatic speakers. Thanks for your comments and best regards.

[@souloftheage]

When digital came out, sound engineers didn't know how to set up for the BEST digital recording. Record companies just took analog(vinyl) recordings and put them on a CD. BOTH sounded AWFUL. I lost a great deal of money on throwing away those bad recordings. But the engineers learned and the vinyl was mastered and cleaned up to the point that it could be digitized and sound very good.

[@cinequadom]

As I know, the first Compact Discs came from digital master tapes that had 16 bits and 44.1 kHz. Those digital tapes were transfers from the original master analog tapes or sub-masters of them. Later for instance, with the 75° Anniversary of Blue Note Records, Rudy Van Gelder made new re-mastered digital tapes at 20 and 24 bits with 96 and even 192 kHz. I think the others are making the same thing. In my experience a new re-mastered Blue Note CD has slightly better sound than the same old disc, but a really significant improvement is the XRCD format that has a huge reduction of jitter in the digital mastering process. The sound is close to the analog sound of vinyl but without noise. But vinyl conveys more the emotion of music. www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdinfo.asp www.elusivedisc.com/xrcd24digprocess.pdf

[@roguemodel]

No system is perfect, no source is perfect. The most perfect and thus exhilarating sound, (closest to live) I ever heard came from a United Home Audio reel to reel deck. Funny how a technology from the 1960s is still the best, albeit highly modified. Those who have more money than brains can chase the dragon to achieved a supposed music nirvana. Me, I have a modest system that moves me and invokes emotion.

[@cinequadom]

+roguemodel You are right. I own a Technics RS 1506 reel to reel deck and some original master tapes and back-up copies of 2 tracks and 15 IPS and the sound is immeasurably superior to vinyl and digital. Even commercial tapes of 4 tracks at 7.5 IPS with and without Dolby-B are better than those current formats. Unfortunately the absurd 4 track system that needs to flip the tape to hear the second side, when was possible to hear the whole album in only one at 2 tracks to make more easy handling and the advent of the audio cassette killed this promising format. Otherwise in these days an authentic audiophile Hi End format would be as the recordings of the Tape Project but at an affordable price: tapeproject.com/ Because of all this I decided to make this video. Best regards

[@ipsurvivor]

Some very good points. As I have said in other places many of the pops and hisses and especially the intermittent ones that reoccur were not present when you had a new album or a well cared for LP. I'm talking about when records were the dominant medium for sound conduction/reproduction. Many of the newer remasters on CD show more respect for the original source and do sound better and in some cases warmer. Warmth and saturation of mids continues to be a problem with digital recording - new recordings or digital transfers of analogue tape. It would have been better if CDs were introduced more slowly and vinyl improved upon at the same time. I do agree that a "perfect" experience is never possible but we should do our best to obtain the best equipment we can. Also you don't have true stereo unless you are standing in the sweet spot and headphones can give the illusion of stereo but even with open air cans you still have too much separation from the two speakers to have a true stereo impresion... However when you have a great set up it sounds amazing...

[@cinequadom]

ipsurvivor I own about 900 LPs and only a couple of audiophile expensive albums with a few clicks and pops. The best and cleaner vinyls I have been purchased in the 80’s and are from Japan and Germany. I own also an excellent audio system with a great turntable, arm and MC cartridge. Somewhere here, answering to other people is the description of my equipment. I like to hear the music through my pure electrostatic panels. I do not like headphones. The XRCD is the best digital format that I heard until now but inferior to analog sound. Absolutely better than anything else, are the original and back-up professional copies I own, in the reel tape format that I have. My friends swear that the musicians are “there” in my listening room.

[@ipsurvivor]

Thanks, I've always wanted to hear reel to reel tapes. They definitely dumped vinyl too quickly and anologue in general.

[@cinequadom]

ipsurvivor I hope you can hear those tapes, but I don't know how or where. Thanks for your comments.

[@nicholascremato4861]

It's scary. I am an audiophile. I look like Alfonzo, I have a drumset in my music room which I play to recordings and I agree with him. It's a trade off that you don't get with love music.

[@cinequadom]

+nicholas cremato Thanks for your comments and best regards.

[@Kongen342]

You should try digital music with a dac (digital to analog converter). Sounds just as natural or even more natural than vinyl, since vinyl adds noice and all sorts of prolems. But i made the same mistake myself, and listened to digital music in binary for many years :(

[@cinequadom]

The new DACs are more and more analog than before or more “analog-like” and those are their slogans. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog” are those DACs? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “more analog” term. Yes, vinyl has many flaws and the worst is the annoying surface noises, but it is not the only source of analog sound. Because those vinyl flaws, now some audio companies are trying to reborn the Reel to Reel or R2R format with direct copies from the Master tapes at 2 tracks and 15 IPS, which is until now the best format and the only one that deserves the Hi End Audio qualifier. More information about the “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. The Tape Project, which peddles legacy albums ranging from Sonny Rollins’ Saxophone Colossus to The London Philharmonic’s Arnold Overtures. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download.” And more sites about R2R www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ www.horchhouse.com/home-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1 www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 Unfortunately right now the tapes are very expensive but more and more titles are appearing and prices will be more affordable in the future. I think that this format is growing more and more and soon will see new machines in the market at reasonable prices. www.unitedhomeproducts.com/the_uha_phase1_tape_deck.htm US$6,500.00 is less expensive than many “Hi End” turntables and / or cartridges or even phono preamplifiers and step-up-transformers. Here more models of this company (and more expensive): www.unitedhomeproducts.com/prices_and_features.htm

[@snakevenom39]

I just canceled one item from my wish list, a high end audio system.

[@cinequadom]

Good!

[@scottlowell493]

You can have a perfect source, but if the speakers are poor, so is the music.

[@cinequadom]

+Scott Lowell Yes of course! As I said many times, Hi End is made of several parts and if one of them is bad, the whole thing is bad. All is important, including formats.

[@martinshow5146]

+Scott Lowell first and most important secret of the high end systems are speakers, and how the wood boxes are made. a nice powerfull amplifier is allways an advantage but as i said the main secret is the speakers. that was my Job for a long time. :)

[@cinequadom]

+Zeeadster TV For me as I wrote, everything is important but if the source is dirty, the best speakers in the world do not clean it. Also, if the source loses information, the best speakers of the world do not restore it. And I can say that I am really glad with my Martin Logan CLS IIz electrostatic speakers and I will not change them for any others.

[@davidwatson2363]

+Zeeadster TV box??? why use a box. open baffles are the way to approach this. sound travels in all directions from an instrument. not just forward

[@JungPuLin]

By this kind of argument, we can also say gourmet food does not exist.

[@cinequadom]

Hi End is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad the sound of the whole system is poor or bad. The poor or bad part is the software - sources of music - not the hardware or equipment: No one with common sense can say that listening to music with scratches, clicks and pops can be a true HI End Audio reproduction, even with the best equipment in the world. It is important to note that these noises are only on the vinyl format. It not in the original analog master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live performances, so what the term High Fidelity means, is not for the anachronistic vinyl because scratches, clicks and pops are faithful to nothing, unless if the audience is allowed to eat potato chips in concerts. The Compact Disc with 16 bits has around four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits DVD-Audio, SACD and most Hi-Rez files. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally. Obviously with such limitation cannot be a true Hi End Audio and it reproduction is less natural and emotive than the analog formats because the complexity of the conversions analog to digital and again to analog. Take in mind also that the two modern and superior 24 bit formats, DVD Audio and SACD are disappeared and for something would be. The digital HiRez formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. Therefore, the current formats are limited, corrupted and away from the original master analog tapes that are far from perfection, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital. A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica of those masters and so far only the high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) direct copies at 2 track and 15 IPS can be extremely close to them and of course with an authentic 100% pure analog sound. Because I own some original master tapes and a few back-up copies, I know the huge sound difference between them and any other format. More information about the “new” R2R format in www.tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. And this is very interesting also: www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums (now are more and coming other titles on the way). Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” You can find lot information about the “new” R2R format, probably an authentic gourmet food, on Google. Thanks for your comment.

[@JungPuLin]

@@cinequadom Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Highly appreciate it.

[@cinequadom]

@@JungPuLin Your welcome.

[@ronaldsantosjapan]

Just because it is a different experience should not disqualify recorded media. Being "good enough" is fine.

[@cinequadom]

+Ronald Santos Thanks for your comments but I only talked about facts.

[@KeenAesthetic1]

+Alfonso Viladoms "Digital music cannot convey the emotion of music, the soul of music as vinyl does" Have you data on the proportion of soul and emotion missing from dijitter music formats to support the above ...facts? Examples for CD and SACD will be fine thanks!

[@cinequadom]

+KeenAesthetic1 You know that human emotions cannot be measured and “the soul of music” is a metaphoric expression. But here are some data: Digital's superiority to Analog in a number of sonic parameters are precision, outer detail, speed stability and noise reduction. Unfortunately, it also subtracts those aspects of the sound which are the vital essence of music; the conveyor of individuality and emotions. That is why Digital is more intellectually than emotionally satisfying. Now, if Dijitter would be better in all parameters the noisy, impractical and anachronistic Vinyl 30 years ago had disappeared. Instead, two modern and “superior” 24 bit formats, DVD-A and SACD are now dead and gone. Those are facts!

[@41point2]

I like scratching sound. It's the only way to listen to Zeppelin.

[@cinequadom]

Well I do not like it in an album. But thanks for your comment.

[@rbus]

"High-end audio" is a bit of a scam but that doesn't mean you can't keep seeking better ways to reproduce sound in a space, but it's all subjective. I have listened to and owned quite a few "audiophile" grade vintage systems, including McIntosh, B&O, 60's 3-piece Marantz, Polk SDA-1s ,etc, but I probably listen to music more often through headphones and not even expensive ones. Logitech X12, Sennheiser, Klipsch Ones, Marleys, Harman-Kardon BTs, Bose Soundsport (currently), whatever is within reach. As long as I can hear the music clearly with good bass and midrange, that's what matters. Interesting point about digital music jitter/time-based sampling but no - jitter doesn't matter aa great deal. Displacement of air (motion of speaker cone) is still a analog process that adequately can recreates original sound well enough. If this wasn't the case, how could noise cancellation actually work?

[@jrgenmengshoel3698]

High end audio is = Live music in an acoustically correct environment. And Alfonso as the only person in the audience so no one can make any noises. Hopefully someone have greased up the drummer chair so it does not squeek.

[@cinequadom]

+Jørgen Mengshoel As you I never heard scratches, clicks and pops in live music. These anomalies appear only in the vinyl format and are not in the original analog master tapes. Listen to music with those annoying noises cannot be a Hi End reproduction even in the best acoustically environment. I can play my drum set and the chirping of birds and other external noises without being disturbed.

[@willy1957]

Audio is an industry, and they do have to come up with « new » systems, gear, etc . in order to renew interest. It works like any other big business and marketing is doing the rest.

[@cinequadom]

Yes you are right! Thanks for your comment.

[@weeg91]

The capabilities of digital, commercially, peaked in 1988 with JVC K2 20bit mastering systems (not to be confused with K2 eXtended and its many variations from 90s), it didnt pick up because the digital storage it demanded was unrealistic relative to DAT/CD it saved 20bit at many Mhz, essentially HDCD x SACD combined. CD was more convenient and priced on par with tape/LP. JVC also set the standard for CD conducting the earliest experiments in developing PCM transmission, in the early 70s in japan in collaboration with NHK Television, (Hitachi) and Denon (a spin of Nippon Columbia label) this was about 5 years before Soundstream in the USA began developments,independent of Decca and the BBC in Europe as well. K2 20bit = King

[@cinequadom]

I think that the XRCD format is based on the JVC K2 20 bit mastering systems and a few years after with the JVC K2 24 bit. www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdinfo.asp www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdprocess.pdf www.elusivedisc.com/xrcdprocess.pdf www.elusivedisc.com/xrcd24anaprocess.pdf www.elusivedisc.com/xrcd24digprocess.pdf Thanks for your comment

[@weeg91]

Yeh but it was worse that K2 technically because it involved oversampling (hence 24bit) and therefor a Digital filter (99% of filters are linear phase which is bad for acoustics)

[@cinequadom]

OK. Thanks for your comment.

[@weeg91]

I'm new to the hifi side of things, I get equipment thinking I was going to get better quality. I soon learned that the biggest improvement starts with the source, after that, amps speakers signal processing it doesn't matter; your surely wasting money. Not a nice thing to learn after you worked hard and spent it as a young person!

[@cinequadom]

You are right, the most importat in audio is the source.

[@pyroslavx7922]

No part of affordable(whatever that word means to you, 50euro or 5000eur, it doesn't matter, it's still true;-) audio reproduction chain is as limited or as you say "corrupted" as transducers (speakers, headphones...). Ok and microphones, but recording studios can afford a whole colletion of hi-end mics. And hopefully know which to use.

[@cinequadom]

The best Hi End microphones can give an excellent recording sound in the studio but without scratches, clicks and pops that appears only in the vinyl format and that is what I call corruption. Not for instance, the acceptable distortion values on speakers, amplifiers and the other components of the chain.

[@pyroslavx7922]

Well yes, i ment that even completely untrained person can hear difference in sound from different speakers. Or headphones... Not necesarily telling which one is better, but once you listen to like 3 different pairs you can easily say which one is connected without looking... It is hard or impossible for someone not really into HIFI to tell apart different decent amplifiers by sound. Or semi-decent DACs/CD or other digital sources. Never really considered vinyl to be of real consideration for majority, or for me, you know, because lazyness (and fragility of records if improperly handeled), i think good DAC and silent computer is good enough. For me.

[@roimark358]

I agree with the thoughts of the man on the video.

[@cinequadom]

EPAL LagiOn Thanks for your comment.

[@Kongen342]

did you listen to the digital music in binary? like without a dac

[@100mphrush4]

I wish i could understand him with his accent

[@almart8991]

Alfonso is a Drummer. I trust a drummers ears above all the teories and scientific talk.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comment!

[@Dazlidorne]

I thought he was going to give us the secret of how to fix it.

[@cinequadom]

+Dazlidorne Jenkins  Here it is: The LaserDisc had analog sound using an FM carrier. Now is possible to convert the original analog master tapes in a carrier of FM, transfer them to master tapes and then to memory cards eliminating the problems of Laser devices. This could be a real replica of the original master tapes and this technology is not expensive and the reproducers with slots for memory cards neither. This is the secret, now it is necessary that some company do it.

[@z1522]

The best and brightest audio engineers developed CDs in consortiums of interested parties seeking the theoretical limits of human audio perception, and the digital encoding provided sufficient information across the 20-20,000 range known to be the boundaries of normal ear capabilites and beyond. Encoding and decoding back to analogue, where electrical waveforms are again sent through speaker wires to generate the nearest thing to perfect reproduction, without corruption or deterioration, pretty much either occurs perfectly, or not at all, where error correction algorithms and buffers work to overcome defects with no audible aftereffects, unlike pops, hiss, scratches, rumble, etc. from vinyl. There is no more digital zeros and ones somehow appearing in the sounds themselves, than there are Aurora Borealis lights hovering over magnetic tapes as they play. Direct analog disappeared as soon as Edison moved past wax cylinders being gouged by needles attached to diaphragms in the ends of gigantic room-sized horns, circa 1895. Every format is imperfect, but each technological development overall (poor recording quality aside) has diminished the perceptible distinctions to where modern audio can trick the best ears. It just can't convince the obstinate.

[@cinequadom]

Let´s see some facts: Compact Disc's superiority to Vinyl in a number of sonic parameters are precision, outer detail, speed stability, dynamic range, channel separation which means better soundstage, up to 80 minutes of continuous music, no noise floor, scratches, clicks and pops; no record wear, no harm of the laser to the disc, no coloration by acoustic reflections and vibrations, easy to handle, play, clean and store; and without the necessity of adjustments on the pick-up system. Unfortunately, it also subtracts those aspects of the sound which are the vital essence of music; ie convey of individuality and emotions. That is why Digital is more intellectually than emotionally satisfying. This is especially true for those who are very familiar with excellent analog sound. Now, if Digital would be better in ALL parameters the noisy, impractical and anachronistic Vinyl had disappeared more than 35 years ago, but it is very alive with increasing sales year by year worldwide and this is because the analog format can convey ALL the emotion of music and many people prefer it even with pops and clicks, than the clean but less emotive sound of the digital formats. The Compact Disc, the most extended in the world, with 16 bits has around four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits SACD, DVD-Audio and most HiRez files. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally. Obviously with such limitation cannot be a true Hi End Audio and it reproduction is less natural and emotive than the analog formats. Also the two superior 24 bit DVD Audio and SACD are disappeared and for something would be. The digital HiRez formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. A sound engineer told me this several years ago: “Digital and Analog Audio are two different languages. For instance, if you give a book in English even to the best translator to make it in Spanish and after that, give this version to other great translator to make it in English, you will find that this book is different to the original with changes in words, grammar and even concepts. The conversion of analog to digital introduces several changes and anomalies that cannot be totally eliminated in the digital to analog reconstruction.” Interesting is that the most recent format is the old “new” Reel to Reel or R2R of high quality, recorded almost directly from the original analog master tapes, which are not perfect also, at two tracks and a high speed of 15 ips. These are almost identical copies to the originals and of course with an authentic analog sound. As many things in audio the old technologies are better than the new ones. Here are some sites about R2R: tapeproject.com/why-tape/ The entire site: tapeproject.com/ www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend jazztimes.com/reviews/audio-files/reel-to-reel-audiophile/ maramachines.com/machines/ hometheaterhifi.com/editorial/reel-reel-recorders-resurgence/ theaudiophileman.com/metaxas-sins-reel-tape-recorder-news/ robbreport.com/gear/audio/the-most-expensive-music-in-the-world-is-recorded-mediums-not-expect-eg17-2745182/ The remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 And other titles in Elusive Disc: audiophile.elusivedisc.com/search?p=KK&srid=S2-2DFWP&lbc=elusivedisc&ts=custom&pw=reel%20to%20reel&uid=77233113&isort=score&view=grid&w=Reel%20To%20Reel%20Tape&rk=2

[@middledigit1]

Regardless of all the debates and technically driven content of such debates........some setups make Audio sound better...Period! Whether music quality or music format quality should be classed in a specific category - high end etc......well.....I can only agree its down to the recording/mixing of the material and final source being used - Vinyls, CD, DVD, Blue-ray, Digital files etc i say - spend your hard earned money anyway you like , u earned it, buy and upgrade, experiment have fun, be competitive ....but never loose sight of the end goal.........the enjoyment of Music/Audio.

[@cinequadom]

+middledigit1 Thank you very much for your comments.

[@sidvicious3129]

This argument while I understand where you were going with it, it’s greatly flawed never the less. You pointed out why both vinyl and digital are flawed and you are right they are, but so is a live performance. Sometimes a live performance can have horrible sound and even during mixing and mastering sessions things can sound horrible if the person doing the mastering doesn’t care or the vinyl is noisy. I have heard great cds and horrible cd. I have heard great Vinyl and horrible Vinyl and I personally enjoy both to include streaming. I have an all Audio Research system and I’m quite happy with it and I own Vandersteen speakers. It isn’t just the components, which is why I didn’t list them, but the area that a large percent of people forget about is room acoustics. A great,expensive system in a bad room will sound worst than a mediocre system in a great room set up well, just like a great band can sound horrible if the acoustics are bad. The room is a component in itself. When we get caught up in what is an imperfect medium and what isn’t we miss the point of hi end audio and it isn’t even about price due to a huge secondary market and lower priced mid fi that sounds incredible. I never associate great sound with price alone no more than I do about cables or anything else, great sound is the combination of acoustics and components coming together to make sweet music and price isn’t a factor. If you have fifty bucks to 500 bucks or even a million it’s your money and your time. Being an Audiophile or High End is about the ability to reproduce music at the best sound quality possible that you can afford to simulate a live performance with the key word being simulate. As an example photography is imperfect as well because a camera’s sensor will never be able to see what the human eye sees, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t take breath taking images, just like you can hear breathtaking sound. A lot of people hear music but few experience it. Listening is something you do while doing something else, but an experience is something that elicits and emotional response and it’s something that you will never forget. Do we then say you can’t produce Hi End images of course not just like you can hear Hi End sound reproduction. Human beings are imperfect and so is life, do we stop enjoying life because it’s imperfect, of course not and anything design by man will be imperfect, so do we stop enjoying cars, trains planes motorcycles or any other thing or person, of course not. We live life to the fullest and take all the lumps that come with it, we make lemonade out of lemons. I’m sure anyone that has ever been to a concert has heard noise coming from the tube amps or noise in general, that doesn’t stop you from going to a concert or saying that the band doesn’t exist due to those imperfections. Sometimes a singer might have an off night or their voice might crack, do I just stop buying music that that band makes. Sound equipment that makes the music is imperfect, do we all just stop listening to or ever recording music, of course not. We all hear different being imperfect beings, some people love bass, some treble, some miss and some a combination of all equally balanced. Some people love solid state amps due to accuracy and some love tub amps, which produce distortion, but sound like real instruments. Heck people have different musical taste and will hear a band and thinks it sounds and the system that reproduced it. Hi End Audio is definitely Alive and Well, thank you very much. I say you should care less about the imperfections and concentrate more on the focus of audio, the music. The sound system is just a means to that end.

[@cinequadom]

I am not seeking for a “perfect or pure sound”, since that is impossible in audio. The point is about the current formats that are not true Hi End. A Hi-Fi or End Audio system is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad, the sound of the whole system is poor or bad. The poor or bad part is the software - sources of music - not the hardware, equipment or the original recordings. No one with common sense can say that listening to music with crackles, clicks and pops can be a true HI End Audio reproduction, even with the best equipment of the world. It is important to note that these noises are only in the vinyl format. It not in the original analog master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live performances, so what the term High Fidelity means, is not for the anachronistic vinyl because scratches, clicks and pops are faithful to nothing, unless if the audience was allowed to eat potato chips in concerts, but is common to hear coughs or sneezes, which you will never hear in recordings made in professional studios. The Compact Disc with 16 bits has around four times less information than the master tapes, vinyl and the 24 bits SACD, DVD-Audio and most Hi-Res files. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally. Obviously with such limitation cannot be a true Hi End Audio and it reproduction is less natural and emotive than the analog formats because the complexity of the conversions analog to digital and again to analog. Take in mind also that the two modern and superior 24 bit DVD Audio and SACD are disappeared and for something would be. The new Hi-Res formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. Therefore, the current formats are limited, corrupted and away from the original analog master tapes that are far from perfection, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital. A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica of those masters and so far only the high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) almost direct copies at 2 tracks and 15 IPS can be extremely close to them and of course with an authentic 100% pure analog sound. Because I own some original master tapes and a few back-up copies, I know the huge sound difference between them and any other format. More information about the “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. The following is also very interesting, especially for the comparison between tape and vinyl: www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, surface noise, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums (now are more and coming other titles on the way). Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” You can find lot information about the “new” R2R format on Google. Thanks for your comment.

[@WR3ND]

I think you're discussing "perfect audio," not "high end" audio here.

[@cinequadom]

No, that is not the point. I am not seeking for a “perfect or pure sound”, since that is impossible in audio. The point is about the current formats that are not true Hi End or Hi Fi. Hi End is a whole made of several parts and if only one part is poor or bad the sound of the whole system is poor or bad. The poor or bad part is the software - sources of music - not the hardware - equipment -. No one with common sense can say that listening to music with scratches, clicks and pops can be a true HI End Audio reproduction, even with the best equipment in the world. It is important to note that these noises are only on the vinyl format. It not in the original analog master tapes, not in the other formats and of course not in live performances, so what the term High Fidelity means, is not for the anachronistic vinyl because scratches, clicks and pops are faithful to nothing, unless if the audience was allowed to eat potato chips in concerts. The Compact Disc with 16 bits has around four times less information than the master tapes, the vinyl and the 24 bits SACD, DVD-Audio and most Hi-Rez files. There is no a CD player, regardless the price, that can include the information that was not recorded originally. Obviously with such limitation cannot be a true Hi End format. Take in mind also that the two modern and superior 24 bit formats, DVD Audio and SACD are disappeared and for something would be. The new Hi-Rez formats are “analog-like”, their slogan. That automatically confirms the superiority of analog sound which is the reference. But how much “analog-like” are those files? Nobody knows because there is no standard or measure to determine that. More subjective and ambiguous cannot be this “analog-like” term. Therefore, the current formats are limited, corrupted and away from the original master analog tapes that are far from perfection, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital. A true Hi End format at least, must be a replica of the original analog master analog tapes that are not perfect either, but unquestionably superior to vinyl and digital that are far from them. So, only the “new” high quality Reel to Reel (R2R) direct copies at 2 track and 15 IPS can be extremely close to them and of course with an authentic 100% pure analog sound. Because I own some original master tapes and a few back-up copies, I know the huge sound difference between them and any other format. By the way, the so-called Hi End Audio is only for very rich people, not for audiophiles. They want to own the most expensive things in the world that most people cannot reach and that is their real pleasure, not the music. By logic, they are not true music lovers and even they have not enough time to listen to it. More information about the “new” R2R format in tapeproject.com/ I recommend starting with “Why Tape?” These are two paragraphs of the first answer: “Most people have not had the experience of hearing studio master tapes. Many formats have been introduced with the promise of bringing master tape sound into the home listening room. Yeah, right. We don’t expect that this tape project will replace any of your other favorite formats, so we see no need to dwell on the drawbacks of any other format. Suffice it to say that we don’t offer an “analog-like” listening experience. We are offering a chance to have in your own listening room an actual analog listening experience as close to the original master tape as practical.” I recommend reading all, including the IEC EQ, the 1-1/2 generation copies, about the prices of the tapes and of course, the entire page and site. www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9409563/reel-to-reel-tape-retro-audio-trend This is an abstract: “Like string theory, audiophile subculture is complex and defined by unresolved questions. Is an insanely expensive cable really better than an outrageously expensive cable? Do tube amps trump solid-state amps? Horn, electrostatic, or ribbon hybrid speakers? What about Kind of Blue - mono or stereo? Each position can be defended or attacked with various specs, waveform graphs, and double blind listening tests. One question, however, has been resolved: tape or vinyl? Even the most dubious critics find no ambiguity here. The verdict: tape sounds better than vinyl. What makes tape such a smart choice? For starters, it has greater dynamic range than vinyl, with extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes: the treble and bass. Next, consider the amount of signal processing that each medium requires. Vinyl: a lot. Tape: very little. Signal processing is the enemy of hi-fidelity. The less studio voodoo the master tape (MT) is subjected to, the better. It helps to understand how vinyl and tape albums are manufactured. To make a record, the MT signal must be compressed to match the dynamic limits of vinyl. Some of the highs and lows are slashed in the bargain. All the other audio tricks needed to shoehorn a signal into those tiny grooves compromises the signal even more. Dubbing 1/4-inch tapes is a much simpler task. With no need to squeeze or tweak the original signal, it can be transferred from the MT relatively unscathed. Then there’s the dicey issue of playback. With turntables, all sorts of mechanical foibles - rumble, skips, speed stability, inner groove distortion, surface noise, etcetera - can further degrade the signal. In contrast, R2R is an exercise in simplicity. The only moving part at the point of signal retrieval is the tape, which travels in a straight line across a stationary playback head. Efficiency equals fidelity. Vinyl fans may scoff at The Tape Project’s steep prices, but when licensing fees, production time (3.5 hours per album), and materials ($150 just for the blank tape) are factored into the equation, $450 seems almost reasonable to hear Lee Morgan’s trumpet riffs on The Sidewinder just as recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder heard them over half a century ago in his New Jersey studio. Incidentally, a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on tape doesn’t just sound better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on vinyl. It sounds better than a Lee Morgan trumpet riff on any audio format: CD, SACD, Pure Audio Blu-Ray, even Neil Young’s crazy 24-bit/192 kHZ hi-res files that take forever to download. The company catalog includes 27 other albums, with more on the way. Some audio critics claim this is the highest fidelity ever captured on 1/4-inch tape. That may be so, considering that each album is a first-generation copy dubbed in real time, at a leisurely 30 ips, directly from the original master tape. There is no mixing or remastering involved. In essence, this is the master tape. It doesn’t get any better than this. Better is live at Carnegie Hall.” More sites about R2R: www.chartattack.com/news/2016/01/21/after-the-vinyl-and-cassette-revolutions-is-reel-to-reel-next/ horchhouse.com/project-r2r/ www.gearnews.com/revox-new-r2r-tape-machine-set-arrive-next-year/ (Interesting that the price of the R2R Revox player it could be less than a medium priced "Hi End" turntable, cartridge and a phono preamplifier or a HQ CD reproducer). www.metv.com/stories/move-over-vinyl-reel-to-reel-tape-is-on-the-comeback And the remarkable piece of engineering the Studer A820 in their three versions: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y53GinV-dputgrs kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKXMlax8aL1kpNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqataqyEe7t8fK8 So, Hi End or H Fi exists only with this high quality R2R format, with the others not! Unfortunately right now the HQ tapes are very expensive with a few titles and I hope that this reborn and improved format grow enough to down the prices. Thanks for your comment.

[@StewartMarkley]

Alfonso Viladoms Even though you made this two years ago, I feel compelled to comment on this. I have been around R2R a lot over the course of my career, and while I agree with you that it is far superior to vinyl, I have to take issue with you about your comments regarding digital. For one thing, the CD format using 16 bits that equates to 96dB of dynamic range is not 4 times less than tape. I worked on professional tape recorders and about the best dynamic range they can provide is around 75bB. So tape provides about 100 times LESS dynamic range than the CD. Also the CD has much lower distortion than tape especially at the higher levels of music. About the jitter in digital, it has been eliminated through buffering and reclocking and in any case is much less audible than the speed variations accompanying tape or vinyl. I really can’t understand why you have so much distain for good digital sound. Please explain. But do try to be briefer than this post of yours. Thanks

[@ucbookman]

Very good points, Alfonso. I laugh when people say their $$$ system recreates the music "exactly" the way it was first heard by the artist when he was recording it. Well, if you played it, engineered it, produced it, added all the bad takes, mastered it and cut the lacquer all at the same time, perhaps. It was just an illusion created in the studio by a team, of which most music is, no matter how breathtaking. I have no problem with this. That's why bands usually have live albums. To get away from that illusion. Btw, I love some clicks and pops here and there. :)

[@cinequadom]

ucbookman Thanks for your comments and best regards.

[@Mikexception]

+ucbookman Very nice point. I also have the same opinion - what is in commercial source it is already an art of sound engineering . That is the reason why home made analog - digital recordings done with key electronic instrument (if they are done in real time) up to my experience sound better than CDs. I presented my point also in my www.diysound.eu page in chapter "Listeners judgement of sound" - it is impossible to record symphony orchestra equal to public reception so it must be recreated later. If someone ask me why my speakers do not produce exact his concert hall impression I respond it is impossible - if I arrange it it will spoil total quality of speakers performance. Another problem with which I am dealing now is wheather stereo is capable to do everything we need. Regards.

[@ucbookman]

Thank you, Mikexception. Being there is the best source. :)

[@assafshmueli]

If turntable, arm, cartridge that minimizes noise and distortion close to 0, then its hi-end. And you have to pay a lot of money for such thing.

[@cinequadom]

assaf shmueli The cavities, protuberances and record wear that are present in vinyl discs and sound like scratches, clicks, pops and hiss are reproduced better in the best turntables, cartridges and tonearms. None of these devices can reduce to zero those anomalies. Thanks for your comment.

[@assafshmueli]

I said close to zero, not zero. And its by reducing destortion from device not from the vinyl itself.

[@cinequadom]

assaf shmueli Some of the problems of turntables, cartridges and tonearms are their inaccuracy. For instance most arms, even very expensive are pivoted, but the recording cutting arm is tangential. Only a few are of that kind, but also introduces other problems; that why most are pivoted. It is impossible to adjust the height of an arm for all the records because they have different thickness. Mistracking is also quite common in very expensive moving coil cartridges. The whole turntable, arm and cartridge has colored sound due the vibrations of those elements with the reproduction of music. Vibrations are impossible to eliminate. Many people note the difference in sound with headphones. Record wear increases the noise of vinyl discs. Warped records also distort the sound, and if you add the intrinsic noise of the vinyl format, there is no expensive "Hi End" turntable that can reproduce the sound accurately, without distortion and noise.

[@scook2003]

There is a limitation in the equipment but also with the human ear. My cat thinks the high frequency is lacking in my system. I’m not lion, it’s true.

[@cinequadom]

I have received many comments like yours. Here is my answer again: Young people hear scratches, clicks, pops and specially hiss much better than people of my age.

[@scook2003]

Alfonso Viladoms I was just saying no matter how good the persons hearing, human hearing is limited.

[@cinequadom]

Yes, but is our nature. I do not think that if we could hear 25,000 cycles or more, the emotion and beauty of music would be better. At my age hardly a can hear more than 12,000 cycles, maybe less, but I can enjoy the music as well as when I was young.

[@scook2003]

Alfonso Viladoms agree, that is the point - it’s the enjoyment above all else, no matter the technology.

[@cinequadom]

Thanks for your comments.

[@johngordon1175]

Zig you are going to compare analog to digital you should compare high speed tape not records.

[@cgambarrotti]

I quest he has old records and doesn't know how to clean them. He definitely has a point in regards to the soul of music. Enjoy the music folks whether it is vinyl or digital.

[@cinequadom]

If you see the description of my equipment you’ll find that I own a VPI vinyl washing machine and I use enzymatic cleaning liquids that in my experience of many years are the best of all. Old records especially from the 70’s were manufactured with recycled vinyl and thus for are impossible to remove the blended dust and debris. I recommend to you to read all about Vinyl Quality on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramophone_record My criticism is for HI End Audio in that it ensures that with their very expensive equipment, the recorded music is played with the best quality possible and even almost like a live performance. Nobody can say that listen to music with scratches, clicks and pops could be a real Hi End reproduction and listen to music without its “soul” would be the best audio possible.