good question but unanswerable. But subject to much wiseacring. It will go on and on.
But be careful, if the zombie eats your brain you become a zombie too.
Should we separate Highend Audio into two divisions: Audiophiles (analogue) and Digitalophiles (digital)?
- Thread starter Doc76
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But be careful, if the zombie eats your brain you become a zombie too.
Though I agree with you that the first two sentences are interesting, in no way do they say it all. They beg the question how the two formats sound different. Now, in my opinion, that would be a very interesting thread topic. And I do think there would be some debate on the topic.
I’ve heard examples of both formats sound natural. It is rare for both. But “natural” is such a charged descriptor, it is not going to suffice for a real discussion. There are different levels of natural sound, or realism, and though I’ve heard both formats sound natural, the listening experience when vinyl was being played reminded me more of the sound of live music. I am sure others will say the opposite.
We are all interested in sound and in music, and in gear, so I don’t think we need to give each other different names.
I hope that was civil.
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Every problem has a workable answer. The analogue and digital battles on WTB have a reasonable solution.
True Audiophiles discuss differences, while others may make war over them (name calling, choice of scarring words and phrases, etc.). I’ve been a member of other audio forums for years that don’t have such problems. Things are much more civil!
So, it’s possible! However, if the leadership / membership aren’t willing to seek the whole truth in such matters then such battles will continue as a bad cancer at WTB destroying it from within.
WTB has changed over the years! I don’t enjoy what I’ve been observing:
1. There use to be more substantive discussions on WTB, but now (with some exceptions) it has many mud-slinging contests between various WTB members.
2. There use to be great technical articles being written on WTB, but now it seems to be a lot of marketing; mostly fluff, minimal substance.
3. The forum warns/bans many of those who post negatively concerning the forum’s marketed brands, instead of allowing the hard questions to be asked, discussed, and answered (like waiting over a year for a streamer, lack of customer service, etc.). Why isn’t the whole truth allowed on WTB?
This said, IMO there are many great Audiophiles on WTB. They always seem to add balance to a conversation. And though I don’t always agree with them, I always appreciate their posts.
There are more friendly and knowledgeable audio forums to participate in, so goodbye WTB.
True Audiophiles discuss differences, while others may make war over them (name calling, choice of scarring words and phrases, etc.). I’ve been a member of other audio forums for years that don’t have such problems. Things are much more civil!
So, it’s possible! However, if the leadership / membership aren’t willing to seek the whole truth in such matters then such battles will continue as a bad cancer at WTB destroying it from within.
WTB has changed over the years! I don’t enjoy what I’ve been observing:
1. There use to be more substantive discussions on WTB, but now (with some exceptions) it has many mud-slinging contests between various WTB members.
2. There use to be great technical articles being written on WTB, but now it seems to be a lot of marketing; mostly fluff, minimal substance.
3. The forum warns/bans many of those who post negatively concerning the forum’s marketed brands, instead of allowing the hard questions to be asked, discussed, and answered (like waiting over a year for a streamer, lack of customer service, etc.). Why isn’t the whole truth allowed on WTB?
This said, IMO there are many great Audiophiles on WTB. They always seem to add balance to a conversation. And though I don’t always agree with them, I always appreciate their posts.
There are more friendly and knowledgeable audio forums to participate in, so goodbye WTB.
I'll assume 'WTB' stands for 'What's The Best' -- pretty obvious you're talking about WBF.
re 1 & 2: Yes, the forum changes over the years. Some of the more interesting members left, such as Audiophile Bill, DDK, Phoenix Engineering and Tango. New members arrive, some make positive contributions, some kibitz and make chatter, and some make negative comments; many are silent. There are still substantive discussions, some of which appear as arguments, often technical -- it depends on the contributors -- and yes there is some amount of crap and nonsense. I encourage people to ask themselves "what am I contributing?"
re 2 & 3: Yes there are a lot more dealers here -- at least now many (not all) are identified with their avatar. A recent change for the better, imo. Yes there is a lot more marketing, a lot more. WBF charges dealers a fee if they market, so it is not discouraged and thus posting problematic or negative posts about such dealers or advertisers (WBF's customers) is discouraged. Keep in mind WBF is a commercial business and accepting that, for good or bad, is part of participating.
Personally I think you should stay and participate.
I suspect that many of the world’s problems can be traced back to an obsession over our differences rather than the things that unite us or that we have in common.
In the audio hobby, shouldn’t we be more focused on a shared love of music, reproduced in a lifelike (high fidelity) fashion, rather than petty divisions around the format (digital or analog) on which that music is recorded, mastered, and distributed?
In the audio hobby, shouldn’t we be more focused on a shared love of music, reproduced in a lifelike (high fidelity) fashion, rather than petty divisions around the format (digital or analog) on which that music is recorded, mastered, and distributed?
Yes we should seperate in 2 classes .
The Elite of course analogue .
Second class listeners digital
The Elite of course analogue .
Second class listeners digital
Elliot G.
Dealer - Bending Wave
I certainly hope that this is said in jest but since its online one is never sure
There's much more to being an audiophile than which source you choose.
As if every thread turning into a digital-versus-analog debate weren’t enough, now we have a dedicated thread for an unsolvable topic. Great!
I have no idea on what basis you make this comment and ranking. I hardly think all the people buying new vinyl of Taylor Swift’s latest drop consider themselves elite. Or any of the other new vinyl buyers. And you forgot a third class: those who enjoy both formats in their systems.
Rather than argue or debate about which is better, I would be much more interested in a discussion about how they sound different and why. Much of the discussions are about how one format sounds more and more like the other as it improves, but that doesn’t get to what I consider a much more fascinating discussion about their individual sounds. And I’m not talking about pops and clicks and poor pressings or convenience and access to unlimited streaming. I would like to know how someone who has high performance vinyl and digital in the same system would describe the different listening experiences, and what might cause those differences.
I used to visit a friend who had high-level vinyl and Digital in his system and we would compare the two and discuss what we heard. It was always fun and we learned some things. It was never argumentative. Why can’t we have such a discussion here on the forum?
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If you really want to have such a discussion, Peter, I would suggest you open a new thread with an appropriate, non-inflammatory title that actually addresses the topic you want to discuss.
It would be impossible to have a friendly discussion on this thread, which has been terminally disgraced by an inflammatory and literally divisive title and opening post that are, as has been pointed out, also demonstrably false in terms of use of language, and cannot serve anymore as a vehicle for anything good.
...I'll bet the Pitt Rivers Museum would gladly receive any "gold member" donations, upon the passing of said listeners. They revel in unusual curios, past and present, although you will likely need to ask a docent for a private viewing.
I'm not offended to only get "max silver" which coincidentally, was my stage name.
I'm not offended to only get "max silver" which coincidentally, was my stage name.
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