[quote user="derrickdj1"][quote user="Quiet_Hollow"]And if you think talent is dead in 2013....you need only listen to Candice Glover singing " Somewhere " over a pair of La Scala. [/quote] Now that is what I call talent![/quote]This particular example is interesting to me. I did a search of vocalists last summer that had recorded this particular piece after dragging out a dusty old Barbra Streisand disc from the 80s (David Foster arrangement) and listening to her great

[quote user="bracurrie"] Seems to me that having expansion above the threshhold would be sufficent to have an impact, but there are some here that would know for sure.[/quote]Brad, It seems to me that this is dependent on the type of music that you are dealing with. If you are using older analog recordings that need a "squelch" on tape hiss and ambient noise, etc. then both types of expansion are probably needed. However, if you are dealing with compressed-dynamics digitally-recorded

[quote user="Cask05"]Perhaps there is another way to deconflict these. I suppose having two groups: one that isn't techno-phobic that's okay with using screening criteria like the ones above, and one that doesn't. Or perhaps listing the screening data for all recordings where they are available (or pointing to them) in addition to proposing the recording itself through personal experience. [/quote]One other approach to deal with this is to have a "hi-fi thread" for

[quote user="babadono"]Hmmmm.... If the quieter parts have been boosted so they can be recorded and played louder they must be downward expanded and played softer upon playback, No? Or I'm I missing something?[/quote]Depends on implementation. If I were to guess, the upward-expanding plugins probably temporarily increase the number of bits per word on the big ends, then expand the fast-rising transients (via user-controlled settings) into these new "headroom bits", then numerically

[quote user="bracurrie"] Now a thread tie in: Most if not all analog since 19?? exists in a digital form at some point. Digital done right is indistiguishable from clean analog. Where digital goes wrong is when the computer process that handles the data (transports in players) takes shortcuts before handing the stream to the DAC, the DAC chipset itself takes shortcuts (its remarkable to read DAC chipset reviews), or the backend analog signal is handled poorly. I just integrated an Apogee

[quote user="bracurrie"]What's interesting to me is that if the analog is treated badly coming out of the DAC process then digital gets the rap unfairly. The audio interface/DAC has to perform well on the analog side.[/quote] Exactly.[quote user="bracurrie"]BTW just spent $13 on http://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/product.php?pid=459 . Recorded in 1956, released on tape, encoded by High Def Tape Transfers it has almost 30db of dynamic range. The orchestra sounds like its in

[quote user="Mike Lindsey"]I also clean every LP on my Nitty Gritty Mini Pro ($1000) record cleaner prior to it's first use, and that certainly helps. Most of the new LP's being pressed today are a lot quieter than vinyl from yesteryear. They also cost a lot more though ($25 - $50).[/quote]Thanks for that - I agree that one needs some method to clean vinyl. I have quite a few old LPs that I had to use the Spin Clean on - and it helped some of them a bit. I find that old, worn-out

[quote user="bracurrie"][quote user="Quiet_Hollow"]See also this enlightening, yet entertaining video: http://xiph.org/video/vid1.shtml [/quote]If you thought the first one was entertaining try the second. http://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml [/quote]Both of these videos have some very impressive examples to illustrate their points - the some of the best that I've seen/heard. What is interesting to me is the lack of knowledge on use of digital techniques, and why they are superior

[quote user="bracurrie"]...He quickly added that audiophiles never said "I don't know", So maybe I am an audio enthusiast. Why else would I vacillate between analog and digital as if I was searching for the holy grail?.[/quote]What I've learned thus far and reconfirmed recently is that, for me, it isn't about the format being digital or analog. It's all about the people and their practices doing the recording and producing. While it is much more difficult to do

[quote user="bracurrie"]Someone should start a subforum for sharing observations on recordings good or bad.[/quote]I agree, but I find that takes more than one person to contribute in order for it to be fun. I's also point out that many people like different things regarding the sound that they are trying to achieve (like we are discussing on the "Digital vs. Analog" thread . But maybe there is a way to collect into different types of music genres, which may bring like-minded