The digital devolution: Analogue vs Digital
Ah, the reoccurring topic of analogue vs digital! Vinyl vs CD! Old vs new! Although this topic has been discussed time and time again, I will try and make this article as comprehensive as I can with the inclusion of my own thoughts and open-ended questions for you guys to comment on with your views. So… let’s get going…
It’s 2009 and we are soon to be entering a new decade of (no doubt) further technical innovation. Hell, things have changed significantly since the 90′s and that wasn’t that long ago! Since vinyl records came about, things have evolved! From vinyl to tapes, tapes to CD’s, CD’s to the short-lived footnote of the music world “the mini-disc” and then evolving from all these physical products to the downloading culture of today. Looking back Walkman’s were a sight to behold at the time and no-one even considered the possibility of an iPod type of device. What does this have to do with analogue vs digital? Well it’s a brief timeline of how things have changed since vinyl records were introduced as the premier listening method of music. Surely the newer methods would be better right? However this is where the debate lies…
Vinyl records are the closest representation of the overall master that leaves the studio. In other words the music coming out of the speakers when the record is playing is how the artist intended you to hear it. So, how do CD’s lessen this experience? Well, because of the size of vinyl, more data can be etched onto it resulting in a fuller more rounded audio signal. CD’s are a different matter. Because they have less space to put the full audio on, the signal is chopped up and then pieced together, missing out certain (small) parts of the track. Without getting too technical, the bit-rate is increased so that the gaps between the samples fool the ear (our hearing fills in these gaps). So really we are comparing the closest audio representation (vinyl) to an inferior signal (CD), all to make the disc more “compact”.
Many people claim not to hear the difference between the two forms, but I would extend the comparison to music videos. If you take a music video from today (usually ultra-polished, visual touched etc) and then take, say, the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video. You can see a difference in character. Polished compared to the more grainy, organic finish. I’ve always noticed that vinyl sounds “sharper” and that the drums in particular are more defined and sound way better than on any CD. It really is quite fun and surprising to see the difference between the two when they are played next to each other! Also when you’re playing a record on turntables, there isn’t really a need to EQ the music (depending on the quality of your speakers) as this has been done in the studio to the desired level. Without adding additional EQ to the signal, the record plays as the artist intended you to hear it!
One of the most important factors that I feel has brought vinyl back into the mainstream is the so called “loudness war”. If you are unaware of what this is then prepare to be taken aback… There was a time where music would be made dynamically (that is have quiet and loud parts both distinguishable on a track). During the 00′s in particular there has become a belief that if your music is louder it will sell more copies and make a bigger impact when it’s on the radio. Upon first look you would probably think “fair enough, it’s not like the song is being compromised right?”. Wrong! During the mastering stages of a lot of today’s music, the gap between the louder and quieter parts of a track is shrunk. Ultimately this takes the tracks dynamics out and makes the song the same level of loudness throughout. To make up for the track being quiet overall, gain is applied to boost the whole signal. So, in short what has happened is the dynamic track has had it’s dynamics removed and has been made louder! (just to sell more copies!). A great example of this is Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” album. You can’t hear many dynamics and the gain applied to boost the overall signal has been made so loud that the whole track clips (distorts). The music has been pretty much ruined just to make more of an impact! Ridiculous right? However, does the same apply to vinyl? Well, the limitations of vinyl make it so that the compression and loudness are restricted so that the record is playable. Because of this, the loudness war will never cause vinyl to suffer like its digital counterpart.
Example of the “Loudness War”
It wouldn’t surprise me if it was proven that the “loudness war” is a key reason why vinyl is making a comeback. A digital rebellion of sorts. If you want to listen to music, you want it to be at the highest quality available right? Not compromised because of other non-musical related reasons! However, quality aside, I think that the analogue world has a more interesting musical culture than that of the digital age. Some could argue better! Record shops are a great musical institution and are still alive today (I would urge you to support your local ones as they really are great places!). The sense of community found in a record store is admirable and sadly becoming a thing of the past. Instead of it being about buying and spending money like inside your local high street retailer, there is a sense of underground camaraderie with fellow record owners with them being able to recommend you new purchases. Some of which you may have never heard of! Independent bands have been known to release material only on 7″ vinyl (in keeping with their underground/indie ethos). There’s something quite special about knowing that people who own a record player and listen to music in that manner are the ones that can hear your music. It may not be the most commercially viable way but it’s pretty cool in its display of total digital disregard.
So, if vinyl is so good, why was it replaced and made pretty much obsolete in the mainstream music world? Well, I guess the saying is true… size does matter! The scale of vinyl records make it pretty tricky to carry about and impossible to listen to on the move. CD’s were initially made to give a more portable alternative to vinyl. Shrinking down the disc and artwork for convenience. If music comes with artwork, than why not have it the proper size instead of shrunken down? It seems every part of the shift from analogue to digital is based around convenience over quality. This has continued to evolve to this day. The selling point of portable music players such as iPods was to provide a small convenient player which could store your whole music collection on. Although that’s a pretty cool thing to be able to do, the audio (again) is sacrificed. Being able to have 1000′s of mp3′s isn’t much of a privilege for the reasons described previously (bit rates and such). You can get around this to some degree by listening to wav files as opposed to mp3′s but they are larger and even those won’t give you the warm sound vinyl delivers. In other words, it’s pretty much quantity over quality.
Last but certainly not least, I think that the biggest difference between analogue and digital is how they are consumed and listened to. As referred to above, it may be cool to listen to your iPod on shuffle or skip between different artists and tracks but what does this say about how we listen to music these days? Do we have musical A.D.D.? Can’t we concentrate on one artist, one album or even one song at a time?! The thing I’ve found with vinyl is that because it’s a single black record, it demands attention. You can’t fast forward or rewind (without continuously lifting the needle!) and skip between artists and albums at the press of a button. It requires a level of patience that the digital age has slowly eroded away. We like to think we’re all too busy and everything is moving so fast, but the reality is we are the ones in charge of how we choose to listen to music and the methods in which we choose to do so.
I hope you enjoyed this article and as always comments are encouraged!
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Enjoyed your article. Coming from a group that is primarily electronic, the vinyl vs cd/mp3 question comes up often. The vinyl version _always_ has the greater dynamic range. Of course, who does the final mastering has a lot to do with it, too. The other debate we have is analog synth vs digital synth. IMO analog wins here, too.
what is yo MySpace site?
My own is http://www.myspace.com/andypricemusic (music/stuff to come soon…)
My former band’s MySpace http://www.myspace.com/acidpyros