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You Make the Call: Analog vs. Digital Audio
For those still on the fence on whether digital audio sounds better than analog, check out CE Pro's analog vs. digital audio comparison.
Chris Maggio, a Boston-area guitar player, warms up prior to a performance with his Taylor 414CE electric/acoustic guitar.
Recently with the rise of iTunes, digital downloading services and the revival of hardware like external digital-to-analog converters (DACs), proponents of digital audio have had more ammunition to fuel their opinion that digital audio is better than analog audio.
Coincidentally, during the same time period, analog fanatics have had reason to brag with the sudden spike in vinyl sales and a renewed interest in tube electronics.
Recapping this decades old argument, digital music supporters claim that digital music offers better dynamic range, less distortion and a more transparent listening experience. Analog supporters counter those claims by saying that digital music is less involving and “cold” sounding, and that it lacks the texture, weight and emotional involvement of analog.
I thought we here at CE Pro could help shed some light on some of those differences.
Now I know that it’s not a completely neutral comparison we’re making here. The music is downloaded first of all so it’s not truly an analog music delivery chain and we’re not comparing the same song and instruments, but we are listening to two comparable and popular instruments that people should be familiar with: an acoustic guitar and a piano.
The acoustic guitar track, “A Light onto my Path” was written and performed by a Boston-based musician named Chris Maggio. This track was recorded in a couple of takes with two microphones (one condenser and one dynamic).
Maggio fingerpicked the song using a Taylor 414CE guitar and the song was recorded, mixed and mastered with computer-based recording software.
The piano song, “Stand me up” was written and performed by another Boston/New England musician: Micah Sheveloff who also fronts the band The Voodoo Jets.
Sheveloff recorded his song on a nine-foot Steinway piano and he played it live with studio musicians where it was recorded using analog methods that included the use of two-inch tape.
Both tracks are uncompressed WMA files (16-bit/44kHz), which means both offer full CD sound quality, and both performances were done by top-level musicians with backgrounds based in the Boston classical music scene.
To download the digitally recorded “A Light onto my Path” click here. To download the analog track, “Stand me up” click here.
Micah Sheveloff, shown here recording his track "Stand Me Up" on a Steinway piano, recorded to 2-inch tape.
Coincidentally, during the same time period, analog fanatics have had reason to brag with the sudden spike in vinyl sales and a renewed interest in tube electronics.
Recapping this decades old argument, digital music supporters claim that digital music offers better dynamic range, less distortion and a more transparent listening experience. Analog supporters counter those claims by saying that digital music is less involving and “cold” sounding, and that it lacks the texture, weight and emotional involvement of analog.
I thought we here at CE Pro could help shed some light on some of those differences.
Now I know that it’s not a completely neutral comparison we’re making here. The music is downloaded first of all so it’s not truly an analog music delivery chain and we’re not comparing the same song and instruments, but we are listening to two comparable and popular instruments that people should be familiar with: an acoustic guitar and a piano.
The acoustic guitar track, “A Light onto my Path” was written and performed by a Boston-based musician named Chris Maggio. This track was recorded in a couple of takes with two microphones (one condenser and one dynamic).
Maggio fingerpicked the song using a Taylor 414CE guitar and the song was recorded, mixed and mastered with computer-based recording software.
The piano song, “Stand me up” was written and performed by another Boston/New England musician: Micah Sheveloff who also fronts the band The Voodoo Jets.
Sheveloff recorded his song on a nine-foot Steinway piano and he played it live with studio musicians where it was recorded using analog methods that included the use of two-inch tape.
Both tracks are uncompressed WMA files (16-bit/44kHz), which means both offer full CD sound quality, and both performances were done by top-level musicians with backgrounds based in the Boston classical music scene.
To download the digitally recorded “A Light onto my Path” click here. To download the analog track, “Stand me up” click here.
Micah Sheveloff, shown here recording his track "Stand Me Up" on a Steinway piano, recorded to 2-inch tape.
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About the Author
Robert Archer, Senior Editor, CE Pro
Bob is an audio enthusiast who has written about consumer electronics for various publications within Massachusetts before joining the staff of CE Pro in 2000. Bob is THX Level I certified, and he's also taken classes from the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) and Home Acoustics Alliance (HAA). In addition, he's studied guitar and music theory at Sarrin Music Studios in Wakefield, Mass.
1 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
You are right that this is a far-from-neutral comparison, and is really only a comparison of recording techniques and not playback media, which is where the analog and digital nerds mostly convene to do battle.
I always shake my head when the pro-analogs somehow believe that vinyl sounds better than uncompressed digital or optical media, even when it was originally recorded and mixed on digital equipment. Inducing distortion;del;del;del “warmth” should not be a function of the playback equipment, but of the recording and/or mixing equipment.
It’s one thing to simply prefer one type of sound to another, like the kids that like the way their EQ sounds when it’s shaped like a “V,” or the religious ceremony that is the unsheathing of the LP and the feeling you get as the tonearm descends to the surface (I have to admit to my ritualistic behavior), but at least acknowledge that it may not be what the artist/engineer intended.
Great recordings, by the way.