On 2014-07-03 17:05, Anton Aylward wrote:
On 07/03/2014 09:34 AM, michael norman wrote:
I repeat, with properly designed and set up equipment surface noise on vinyl is not an issue.
The 'popcorn' noise due to dust in the groove and minor damage (aka cracks, not least of all in the shellac of 78s) is easily dealt with by modern software.
That's digital filtering or processing. If you listen to a vinyl disk with a digital tool in the chain, you have broken the rules. It is no longer a purist thing. :-) ...because digital processing means that you have to digitize the signal, and sample it at some frequency, same as with a CD. Then, we could as well just have a CD. I can not accept comparing a CD to a vinyl replayed with digital processing. Ok, I can, but then saying that "vinyl is a superior technology" is not that true. Ok, we could sample at 1 Mhz. True. We can not adjust the sampling frequency of CDs, but we can with media files, use any sampling frequency and number of bits we decide; CDs are just one currently available standard.
Heck, popcorn and other 1/f noise is inherent in all electronics due to electron fluctuation. Liquid cooled laser amplifiers suffer less than, for example, hot cathode valves.
And some purists prefer valve sound. :-) There is a market out there, hand manufacturing valves on a room on some house, and selling them via internet.
We've known about this for almost a century and we know how to deal with it.
Analog filtering is a known technique, with a lot of math involved. Any analog filter you can design inserts distortion, no matter how good a designer you hire. There are always consequences to "filtering". Thus, yes, the technique for adjusting to the RIAA curve has been known for decades: but absolute perfection in that adjustment is impossible. Different people and manufacturers built their amplifiers differently, and differences could be measured, and, depending on quality, easily heard, or not easily heard. Digital filtering or processing is not the same, but I refuse to allow comparison of vinyl sound to CD sound if "digital" goes in the vinyl reproduction tool chain. -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" at Telcontar)