#Digital Recording

[itsallmadonnasfault]

Like A Prayer CD 1989: A Digital Recording

[audio-luddite]

Digital Voice.

My Tube Guru sent me a message about several AD/DA converters he has had experience with. This was a follow up to my post a short time ago. These machines are of excellent quality, but each produce different digital files from the same input. Interpretation of that is they will sound different from each other even if they are remarkably precise.

I use the word precise deliberately there.

The difference between perfection and what these devices do may be very small. But the primitive human sound interface can detect and differentiate them.

There is no perfect.

How many bits you have or how many megahertz the sample is done at is about resolution, but it is all still dots on a screen to use a visual analogy.

I like to think about DSD bitstreams that use what is called one bit by marketing, but is properly delta/sigma recording. The device outputs only one bit which is either a 1 or a 0. The thing it is measuring is the signal increasing or decreasing compared to the last measurement. If it is more it is a 1. If it is less it is a 0. A steady voltage would be a series of alternating 1s and 0s (101010101010101010). That would play as a extremely high frequency squeal at the sampling rate, but that is filtered out. What is left looks like a steady signal, but it is not.

Delta/Sigma is about the best method as it is flexible and can generate lots of highly resolved data. It is a workable model of the sound if we are talking about sound. But it aint the sound.

The things that do all this stuff are chips made in various factories around the world. They are made for many things, and some work better than others for signal processing. High End Audio is just one thing they are used for. Another is missile guidance systems.

Sometimes I overthink stuff, but that is the curse of being an engineer. (not an electrical engineer mind you)

Am I going to push this around to claim analog is better? Analog is not perfect. Every step in the chain from performer to recording to your system and into your ears, is flawed. How flawed is the subject of debate. It is ironic that people who really understand how this stuff works usually step back and not get too bothered by the shit flying back and forth.

just enjoy the music.

[unpeeled-human]

also on bsky..

[richardvarey]

Telarc's 'unique' digital system

Telarc Records has a ‘house sound’, or so I’ve been told. I wanted to know more, and this is what I have learned. Co-founder, chairman, CEO, and head recording engineer Jack Renner (1935-2019) said in the early 1990s that Telarc’s proprietary 20-bit system promised listeners “much cleaner soft passages, more dynamic ‘punch’, a greater sense of space and ambiance, a complete sense of freedom from…

[mangozic]

my dead goth son and his friendly neighborhood personified concept of insanity

[chris-ostkreuz]

Turning Digital Drab into Analog Fab: Tape Saturation Hacks!

In the realm of music production, digital audio often reigns supreme, boasting pristine clarity and immaculate precision. However, amidst the polished sheen of ones and zeros, it’s easy to lose that delightful warmth and character that records once captured on magnetic tape. Enter the world of tape saturation—a magical process that turns digital drab into analog fab! In this article, we’ll dive…

[wildbasil]

things haven't been great but i think they will be. eventually 🌻🌼🩷

[pleasestopthese]

there's no stairsteps in digital audio. the way this is presented is each data point describes part of a wave that is then reconstructed later but that's not the story. PCM audio is related to AM or amplitude modulation – there's a fixed frequency carrier, at 44.1kHz or 48kHz or usually some multiple of one of those. it's on a clock, it pulses. at each pulse, it sort of takes a picture of the amplitude of the sampled wave, usually 24 or lately 32 bits but also sometimes 8 or 12 or 14 in old samplers or 16 for cd quality audio, more bits is more detail between full scale loud and infinitely quiet. the sampler continues to pulse at its rate and each pulse there's that string of bits read out: that string of bits is exactly the amplitude of the audio as captured at that given point in time.

you end up with something not do different from this except the carrier is up to 32 switches turning on and off rather than the integrator circuit of analog AM.

if PCM had stairsteps AM would have an audible ripple – and it doesn't! it has other problems over the air and that's why digital transmission is over FM or QAM (i do not understand QAM and i'm not ready to work through it) even while still encoding through PCM and with lots of error correcting.

aliasing happens above the 1/2 frequency of the carrier in both cases and it sounds fuckin nasty.

all that said, i could be wrong. i don't actually know this for sure i'm just kinda slogging through it and trying to undo a bunch of marketing talk.

[malk-with-tea]

How Can You Help Me, Stardust?

[Speedpaint]

[cyberstarlope]

based off of a beautifully unfortunate phrasing of conversation between myself and @arsonistmoth

[edensbackyard]

Tape recorder click sound my beloved

[dragonwhisky]

Mami Tomoe ⭐️

[medicalequipmentabimed]

12-Channel Electrocardiograph

A 12-channel electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) is a medical device used to record the electrical activity of the heart. It provides a graphical representation of the heart's electrical impulses, which are produced as the heart muscle contracts and relaxes.Real-time and continuous recording of accurate ECG waveform

[doodlenoodleh]

I know you thought you could hide behind that camera. But I saw you. 🌱

[richardvarey]

High-Res Audio: Sound Revolution or expensive bluff?

This article by Lothar Brandt is on the In-akustik blog. He argues that digital technology is a tool, and as with any other tool, the quality it produces is determined by how it is used. https://in-akustik.com/blog/high-res-audio-sound-revolution-or-expensive-bluff