PBS/Wired Science outdid themselves with this sweet video in which they compared the merits of digital audio vs. analog audio, a debate that often brings my musician friends to bloody blows.
Included are interviews with two of my musical gods, Steve Albini and Ken Andrews. Albini, dedicated analog dude, famously recorded Nirvana and fronted Big Black and Shellac, while Andrews fights for the digital corner and has recorded artists like Beck and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, along with playing in the totally sick band Failure.
The video's capper though, is when two recording engineers with "golden ears" and two musicians are tested on their ability to differentiate between analog and digital recordings. Check out the video after the jump for the results.
Next time I record my voice — which I'm told has a clear, Castrati tone reminiscent of the nascent Christ-child's — I'll have a lot to think about.
Image Credit: Wired Science
Thanks to Jeff
Comments
Job says:
I'm more concerned about the so-called Loudness War than about the transition to digital.
CDs supposedly have MORE dynamic range than LPs (don't know what it's like with file formats), but poor mixing gives you results with less.
November 10, 2007 5:55 AM
John Pavlus
says:
Ouch. Poor Albini doesn't really come off too well in this vid. Kind of like a senescent cobbler.
November 12, 2007 6:12 PM
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