[Dixielandjazz] FW: FW: Hearing the music

[Jim Kashishian]

Pat wrote:

>Hi Jim, perhaps, as a professional you can explain to me why we ever were
conned 
into using cd`s instead of  tape cassettes. 

Oops!  I can see the beginning of the many repeats we've had on djml about
digital vs analogue, etc.  :>

Anyway..., no I don't think we were conned.  Digital is just the next step
after analogue.  A natural advancement of technology.  I don't wish to get
into personal likes/dislikes of the two formats here (& I hope folks will
hold back on going on & on about it in future posts).  

I was the first person in Spain to edit audio on a hard disk editor (1987),
and was invited to speak at an professional audio forum about it.  There was
I, a lowly trombonist, telling all these audio hotshots about the
advantages!  The one that stands out the most is the ability to "manipulate"
the audio...yes, without scissors & with unlimited means to do whatever the
imagination comes up with.  Yes, imagination without good taste can create
havoc.  But, imagination + good taste + having the right tools for the job
allows creativity.  Just trying to say that digital is not bad per se.  

I began mixing on a digital mixer in 1992, and the ability to save mixes for
comparison, change the format of my mixer with the push of a button to work
on two different jobs in one day, be able to make miniscule updates to a mix
by just touching any control on the console was/is magic. (I'm obviously
sold on the format!) 

Pat continued:
>Although I agree the cassette was not perfect it was reasonable quality,
probably as good as a CD..

Not so, Pat.  Tape hiss is really nasty, and can be heard on a good system.
You can do all of the things you mentioned were good about cassettes with a
proper cd player.  Scrolling & fast forward are present.  CD deterioration
depends on the quality of material used by the record company.  The ones I
use in my studio have been proven (using fast methods of proof) to last 100
yrs.

The cd was a monster jump in quality, handling, and life expectancy over the
cassette.  Digital has taken a knock for its "cristal clearness" which is
understood by some as "a lack of warmth", etc.  This is the area in which
people get all heated up, and what I was mentioning that I hope we don't get
into again on djml.

All of my work is in the digital domain.  The many passes I use on audio
would end up with tremenous multiplication of tape hiss if I were working
with analogue.  Then, I would have to use filters to knock out the
hiss...along with a goodbye to some of the high frequencies, etc.  I'm
convinced the area I work in is the today of technology, however, there will
always be those that prefer the past.

Most of today's music is being recorded at much higher sampling rates than
can be used on cd's in hopes that one day there will be a domestic format
that can handle those rates.  DVD handles higher rates, but is not all that
accepted for music in general. Those higher rates have to be "lowered" to
the cd rate which defeats the advantages of the higher rate recordings
(accept for archiving for the future). For the time being, cd is the best we
have.

Jim