Analog versus Digital

Ok, let’s start in the consumer realm with the age old question among audio enthusiasts — analog versus digital. Those of you who remember records often talk fondly of their “warmth,” while bringing up the harshness of CDs. Fans of digital always bring up their clarity, and look at records with disdain at the needle and “dropping” it into the groove. (Remember, groove is in the heart baby). I actually saw an article today that says some people who have only ever had mp3s on their computer to listen to are actually moving to records, and stores in England can’t keep singles on records in their store as their selling that fast.

Let’s look at a few facts. The “warmth” that people refer to on records is actually distortion. Yes that’s right, distortion. In the analog world, when you exceeded the available volume space (or headroom) on analog tape you would distort the audio. The catch is that the distortion in analog actually saturated the tape with signal, adding to the mid frequencies. This is what provided that warm, rich sound.

In the digital world, if you overload your medium you experience this digital noise. That’s due to the fact that the computer doesn’t know what to do with those extra ones and zeros, so while analog added the extra sound to the mid area, digital just adds 0s and 1s in a random pattern, creating that noise. So you think, ah that must mean analog is better.

Digital provides an exact replication of what was recorded, and can provide more headroom than analog, but you have to start at a lower volume to provide that space. In analog if it was too quiet you would get a hiss, digital doesn’t have a hiss at lower levels. An audio wave is an ever changing wave with curves all over the place. Digital only has on or off to replicate that smooth curve. Analog could follow that curve evenly. With today’s recording technology you can actually record frequencies that a human can only feel and not hear.

For digital audio to work like it should, every step from recording to you importing the CD into your computer must be done as well as possible. Too many people record poorly, or mix too loud or any number of bad habits (we’ll get to those bad habits later).

So what’s better? As long as you are listening I don’t care what your answer is. Personally, as an audio professional who was raised in the digital world – I can’t stand the pops and clicks of records. To me they pull me out of the music, which I can’t stand. When I’m listening please allow me to listen, and not interrupt. Those noises of a warn medium that is falling apart because of a sharp needle are the only thing I hear. However, I preferred the time when people listened to records or CDs instead of the mp3s they listen to now. I love having my music on my computer, but the compression of mp3 pulls me out of the music as much as those clicks ever did, but that’s another post.