Paging Sir Terrance

[topspeed]

I don't know if you read TAS, but there was an interesting discussion between Doug Sax, Mark Levinson (I had know idea he was recording engineer), HP, and Jon Valin. They were discussing the merits of analog tape, LP, sacd, and dvd-a. Anyway, Doug's comments were facinating and as you're an engineer, I was curious hear your opinion.

Note to those interested, PLEASE no flame wars. Been there, done that, move along already. Thanks.

[hifitommy]

he has put more good music onto disc, vinyl and otherwise, than nearly any other engineer. i WONDER if he knows something. i would bet that he does.

[topspeed]

he has put more good music onto disc, vinyl and otherwise, than nearly any other engineer. i WONDER if he knows something. i would bet that he does.

No joke, Tommy. I've always been a fan of Sheffield Labs and didn't realize he was a founder until the article! Oops.

[hifitommy]

speedy to realize that the hi rez vinyl thing (and hi end recordings in general) started because sax and mayorga heard some superiority on 78s and eventually realized that it was because they were cut dtd.

i wonder how many DBTs they did? arararar!!

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Speed,

I got a chance to read this article while flying to Chicago this weekend. I feel VERY vindicated by the statements of these distinguished recording giants. After reading the article, I realized how uniform the comments, and widespread the support for SACD has become amoung audio engineers.

I was also surprised how close their comments mimicked my own experience.

I really wish that Chris could get his hands on that article. Unless he is willing to dismiss the whole article as testimony, he could learn quite a bit about what listening to music is all about. Its not about specs, but about how it emotionally touches you. Good formats present music in a way that it reaches out from the speakers, and literally pulls you in. The redbook CD has only been able to do that to me twice in my life.

Thanks for the tip, it was a very good read.

[topspeed]

It sounds like they all preferred SACD over DVD-A, something to do with pcm vs dsd. I don't really understand how either work or why one should sound better than the other, both theoretically and realistically. What I found amazing was that they all seemed to agree that analog tape is still the best method for playback, or did I read that wrong?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It sounds like they all preferred SACD over DVD-A, something to do with pcm vs dsd. I don't really understand how either work or why one should sound better than the other, both theoretically and realistically. What I found amazing was that they all seemed to agree that analog tape is still the best method for playback, or did I read that wrong?

I think they meant for recording purposes. I can not see any way in the world the average consumer would ever accept having a 2" recorder to have to deal with. Too much maintainence, tape cost to high, and no way to fit it in that audio rack!

SACD and DVD-A are not the same animal. I think it is DSD way of handling data that gives it its analog like sound. PCM is PCM, and some engineers(especially the ones who prefer analog sources) do not like the "digital" signature it has. Some say that DVD-A 24/96khz and 24/192khz sounds more "accurate" than SACD. So it really boils down to taste IMO.

[topspeed]

Thanks again. BTW, whatever happened to all of those cool smilies you used to use?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Thanks again. BTW, whatever happened to all of those cool smilies you used to use?

The little suckers are still around, they are currently doubling as dust mites

[E-Stat]

...he could learn quite a bit about what listening to music is all about. Its not about specs, but about how it emotionally touches you.

Amen, Sir T !

rw