The Ear of the Beholder

I wanted to talk a bit more about my audio society meeting I mentioned yesterday. One of the things that surprised me is that it seemed that some members came to the comparison with a closed mind. Some there seemed to already equate 'digital' with 'bad'. I knew that there were some big analog heads in the room, but I was surprised buy the strong, almost visceral negative reaction that some of them had.

As I said, we first listened to the SACD, then the CD, then the record, then the reel to reel tape. These were all of the same recording, all from the same master. After we listened to the record, I heard some in the room say things like "now it finally sounds like music" and "finally, something not digital". I was surprised by this because I really felt that the CD was not that great, but the SACD we heard sounded much better than the record. I felt that the SACD had tighter bass and better definition than the record did, plus it had none of the pops and hisses often associated with listening to vinyl.

Now I know I just posted about how much fun I was having with vinyl, and that is true, but I am looking forward to listening to some SACDs tonight. I like to think that I keep an open mind about formats and try to pay attention to what I am hearing in the moment. Now maybe because these guys are accustomed to listening to vinyl they do not hear the pops and hisses. Maybe since they were closer to the center of the room and I was off to the side they heard something in the imaging that I did not. I dunno, but in any case I thought that in that particular example the SACD sounded great, and the record good, but not as good. I guess the beauty of music just can't be objective.