That is the title of a book, published in 2009 or so, that I obtained recently on the used market. I heard about it from an old NPR interview with the author (Greg Milner) I uncovered online. I have posted this on a new thread as I believe this is not a technical reference per se. It is a fascinating history of music reproduction, emphasis on recording. It is exhaustively researched with a great deal of primary source work. It reinforces some episodes and corrects others. That and its thoroughness are why I find it so useful. Most importantly, it always gets the big picture. It is, IMO, a great read too.
One thing I heard in the radio program I wanted to share (with a quote from the book) is about the fidelity of vinyl disks. I have, to repeat myself from other posts, an audio rig of unusual accuracy and like it that way. When I have heard apples to apples comparisons of vinyl and digital sources (CDs, downloads and streaming in 16/44.1 or higher), I have consistently noticed that the vinyl is softer sounding. Less detailed. Rounded edges. Missing some information that has nothing to do with artifacts and all that. It is easily verifiable that engineering has shown vinyl to be 13 or 14 bit equivalent capable at the most, and having lower equivalent sampling rates than CDs, for instance.
I prefer the digital myself. Many prefer the vinyl source. All fine and nothing needs any defense or argument. What I am tired of is vinyl being touted as being more accurate. Pleasurable, sure. That's personal and unscientific. But more accurate? Here is the quote.
To give it a little context, Bob Woods and others at Telarc were about to become the first commercial Soundstream adopters. Woods researched vinyl extensively.
"We learned one very clear thing about LPs," Woods says. "All you gotta do is take the blank lacquer. have no signal coming down, cut a series of silent grooves, put it on to a turntable and what do you get? You get" - he makes a soft hissing sound - "a nice, soft, round pink noise. Everything you're listening to on an LP is being heard through that filter of pink noise. And so it has the tendency to feather the edges of things. It gives the record a sense of a little warmth. Violins sound like really special violins. But if you stand in front of a real violin, it's got some grit. It's got a little edge to it."
The author goes on to say that digital tends to sound like real life but record buyers like the sound of records. In the radio interview, the author revealed that he loves the sound of vinyl and usually prefers it, so this is all coming from a believer in vinyl, not a skeptic.
I am relieved to know that I am not imagining things when I notice how "soft" vinyl sounds. Anyway, good book, for history as well as facts.
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Originally Posted by Ducatista47
