Amanda McBroom, "Gossamer": This selection's direct-to-disc recording session used a digital recorder as a safety backup. This was the only selection in our comparisons that was truly digital from recording to playback media. We included it in an attempt to quantitatively compare differences between CDs made from original analog or digital master tapes with their D-to-D counterparts. The CD version of "Gossamer" definitely contained more high-frequency information and overall clarity than the record. The piano accompaniment, in particular, sounded more "alive." The CD also conveyed more focused images for McBroom's voice and the backup instruments. Despite several attempts, however, we could not reliably determine whether using a high-quality analog master tape was better or worse than using a digital master for the CD source.
The Track Record, "The Higher You Rise": We first auditioned this selection with the single CD in the Meridian player, and, with System One, the record exhibited fuller and more satisfying bass with System 1. This perceived difference is a common complaint among most CD critics, and is a characteristic we had noted during previous CD/record comparisons. However, with a double disc in the Meridian, the bass tonality and impact were nearly indistinguishable between the CD and the record, and a distinct advantage in clarity belonged to the CD.
Thelma Houston, "I've Got the Music in Me": Of all the comparisons, this was the most interesting. Comparing CD and D-to-D versions on System One, we heard virtually no differences in any parameter save the slight image shimmer noted previously with the analog record. Compared with our previous results on the CD versus the D-to-D, the clarity difference of magnitude 3+ had somehow disappeared! It was remarkable how similar the Rock/Triplanar/Alpha 2 combination and Meridian CD player sounded.
We think it plausible that the CD did not exhibit a 3+ improvement in clarity over the D-to-D (as we had heard with the previous three Sheffield recordings) because the Houston master tape was recorded nine years ago. Tape degradation from prolonged storage and improvements in recording equipment over this period alone could account for the difference. Thus, it should not be surprising that the original D-to-D version sounded clearer than the nine-year-old master.
Conclusions
We started the listening experiments with what we hoped was no strong bias in favor of either CD or analog record. At the end of the testing, we were forced to conclude that, using the equipment at our disposal, the CD was not only a more accurate facsimile of a first-generation copy of the master tape, but was actually preferable to the best analog records available. The validity of our conclusions depends entirely upon the intrinsic sound quality of the Rock/Triplanar combination. Before choosing this turntable for our listening tests, we compared it with a number of other high-quality 'tables. The most conclusive of these comparisons was one in which a meticulously set-up Goldmund Studio/T38 was matched against the Rock, using the same cartridge. The comparison was conducted by recording a representative selection of musical pieces from one turntable, remounting the same cartridge on the second turntable, repeating the recording, and comparing the two resulting tapes at leisure. Aside from some tonal differences, the Rock proved to be superior in detail, stage width, and overtone recovery (timbre) when compared with the Goldmund.
Conceptually, what we compared was the sound of the CD player versus the sound of the turntable as played through a common set of high-quality electronics. Some might argue that if we had only used tube or some other brand of solid-state electronics, the results might have been different. We think this is unlikely if all stages of amplification are of equal quality. We also believe that only relative differences between sources were important in leading to our conclusions. Of course, the CD is at line level, whereas the MC cartridge is at a 5000-fold lower level. To assess the effect of this factor on our conclusions, we employed a strain-gauge cartridge that actually had greater output than the CD player. Qualitatively, our results were not changed under these circumstances. Therefore, we feel our conclusions are independent of the amplification used and reflect the relative merit of the sources themselves.
Without question, first-generation CD players were not as good as audiophile-grade turntables. In our judgment, they suffered deficiencies in imaging and recovery of low-level ambient and timbral information, producing a two-dimensional, harmonically thin and overbright sound (footnote 6). Judgments made with these first-generation players are no longer valid, and should not be used to condemn the entire digital scene. Perusal of the analog circuitry of even the best CD players indicates that considerable improvement in sound quality is still possible when discrete circuitry, separate power supplies, and the best parts are incorporated (footnote 7).
We respect the integrity of many of the critics of digital in the underground press; our study would be incomplete without some explanation of why our conclusions differ from theirs. In comparing a high-quality CD player (i.e., the Meridian) with a number of the best turntable systems, we feel that two sonic differences consistently emerge which might form the basis of the analog/digital controversy.
In the first instance, one typically hears a pleasing amount of extra bass emphasis with analog records; this adds warmth and greater "body" to a male vocalist, for example. Secondly, these turntables also add varying amounts of what could be called "sheen," "glow," or "bloom" to voices and instruments. It is only by reference to some additional arbitrating standard (a copy of the master tape) that we were able to tell that these admittedly euphonic characteristics are actually added by various turntable resonances. The analog/digital controversy therefore stems, we believe, from the conflict between trading certain euphonic colorations for greater transparency and detail. There will always be those audiophiles who consciously or unconsciously select equipment that compensates for what they dislike about many commercial recordings.
By choosing a turntable/tonearm combination which specifically addresses arm/cartridge resonances and suppresses micro-vibrations at the stylus/groove interface, we gained a substantial increase in inner detailing and image focus compared to other analog playback systems. We lost a significant bass coloration (no measurable vertical arm/cartridge resonance) and virtually eliminated a false sense of "sheen." The resulting turntable sound approached the sonic characteristics of the CD and the prerecorded tape. In the case of the Thelma Houston recording, the sound of the AR was virtually identical to that of the CD. These results indicate that the extra bass and the "sheen" or "bloom" heard on other phono playback combinations derive not from the program material, but from the turntable. We strongly believe that the characteristic sound of analog playback equipment pronounced accurate by the digital detractors includes many euphonic colorations to which we have become accustomed. As improvements in analog playback equipment reduce these colorations, it is not surprising to see CD and analog sources approach each other sonically.
Our results indicate that, for average listeners who do not own state-of-
the-art audio equipment, a well-chosen compact disc player will provide a much more satisfying home musical experience than will a comparably priced turntable and cartridge. We suggest to perfectionist audiophiles that they go to the trouble of repeating our experiment. Like us, they may be surprised at the outcome.
Addendum
Since these tests were completed, major improvements in compact disc reproduction have been achieved. We have critically auditioned a number of newer machines, including the Meridian MCD Pro, PS Audio CD-1, Denon DCA 1500, ADS CD3, and a Musical Concepts-modified Magnavox 2041. With the best one of these players, we think that CD reproduction has now progressed well beyond the best offered by analog turntables. In our view, it won't be long before the claim of analog superiority will be untenable. According to John Hillig of Musical Concepts and Robert Heiblim of Denon, the end point of digital disc reproduction has not yet been reached (footnote 8). When perfectionist techniques are applied to professional digital recorders and mixers (as has been done with Reference Recordings' L' Histoire Du Soldat), we can anticipate a level of reproduction quality that finally rivals what is heard in live concert.
Footnote 6: When a first-generation Philips CD player was substituted for the Meridian, the Oracle/Lustre/Panasonic combination exhibited superior ambience retrieval and clarity. Had this been our only exposure to digital, we too would have sided with the digital detractors. Footnote 7: We recently had the opportunity to evaluate a current version of the Meridian Pro MCD in which such improvements have been incorporated. The increase in realism in the already excellent machine used here was startling, literally raising the hair on the back of the neck!
Footnote 8: This could also be concluded simply from the rapidity of progress being made. Even with a mature technology like analog record playback, significant progress has been made in the last five years. Digital, however, has been making that much progress every six months.—Larry Archibald
We started the listening experiments with what we hoped was no strong bias in favor of either CD or analog record. At the end of the testing, we were forced to conclude that, using the equipment at our disposal, the CD was not only a more accurate facsimile of a first-generation copy of the master tape, but was actually preferable to the best analog records available. The validity of our conclusions depends entirely upon the intrinsic sound quality of the Rock/Triplanar combination. Before choosing this turntable for our listening tests, we compared it with a number of other high-quality 'tables. The most conclusive of these comparisons was one in which a meticulously set-up Goldmund Studio/T38 was matched against the Rock, using the same cartridge. The comparison was conducted by recording a representative selection of musical pieces from one turntable, remounting the same cartridge on the second turntable, repeating the recording, and comparing the two resulting tapes at leisure. Aside from some tonal differences, the Rock proved to be superior in detail, stage width, and overtone recovery (timbre) when compared with the Goldmund.
Since these tests were completed, major improvements in compact disc reproduction have been achieved. We have critically auditioned a number of newer machines, including the Meridian MCD Pro, PS Audio CD-1, Denon DCA 1500, ADS CD3, and a Musical Concepts-modified Magnavox 2041. With the best one of these players, we think that CD reproduction has now progressed well beyond the best offered by analog turntables. In our view, it won't be long before the claim of analog superiority will be untenable. According to John Hillig of Musical Concepts and Robert Heiblim of Denon, the end point of digital disc reproduction has not yet been reached (footnote 8). When perfectionist techniques are applied to professional digital recorders and mixers (as has been done with Reference Recordings' L' Histoire Du Soldat), we can anticipate a level of reproduction quality that finally rivals what is heard in live concert.
Footnote 6: When a first-generation Philips CD player was substituted for the Meridian, the Oracle/Lustre/Panasonic combination exhibited superior ambience retrieval and clarity. Had this been our only exposure to digital, we too would have sided with the digital detractors. Footnote 7: We recently had the opportunity to evaluate a current version of the Meridian Pro MCD in which such improvements have been incorporated. The increase in realism in the already excellent machine used here was startling, literally raising the hair on the back of the neck!
