Anyone do Laserdiscs?

[Xiaou2]

As for Analog -vs- Digital...

 One thing to think about, is a comparison using frame rates, such as mame skipping a few frames when running complex hardware on an underpowered PC.
Too few, and the experience is choppy and fuzzy.   Your not getting the full experience..  even if its only fractions off here and there.

 Analog would be the full 60 frames a sec.  Or even.. beyond that..

 The sound waves are not snipped and cut into sections... with missing parts in-between.  You get the full smooth waves as they were recorded.


 Another thing to think about...  is how different something may sound if its in-person.  For example... if your out at a restaurant, and theres some live Jazz musicians playing.    Besides speaker quality issues..   just think about the sounds you hear.  The clarity and warmth.   But when you hear something like a DVD of the same performance.. or even something different, but still related... it has a cold, kind of 'sterile' sound.

 You also dont get that some level of sound vibrational effect.   Even surround sound, doesnt seem to capture the real positional sound and feel.. as the waves of sounds from various instruments and voices.. emanate.

 Now.. the kicker is that I dont have any records or a player... yet.  Maybe one day.  But its probably too late, due to any good records being totally scratched up.. and and represses, being remastered garbage.  >.<

 Finally, I miss the days when there was music that was so good that you would listen to the entire tape / cd / album.   Even the not so hot tracks, were decent enough..  and as a whole, formed a certain experience.  Todays mp3 and or 'greatest hits' cds.. destroy the unity of the sounds.   Meaning..  a typical composed record .. was all developed from one recording era generally..  and has a unique sound and way about it.   All the sounds are very similar in nature..  so they all fit together,  as they were intended to do so.   However, when you play something from the 80s era, then the 90s, and back to the 70s.. the sound differences do not match up..  and so its like watching 10 minutes worth, of 4 different kinds of movies.   Its discomforting, and ruins the overall mood and enjoyment of the original experience.

[DaveMMR]

Now.. the kicker is that I dont have any records or a player... yet.  Maybe one day.  But its probably too late, due to any good records being totally scratched up.. and and represses, being remastered garbage.  >.<

You can get a turntable for under $100 (or find a used one and spend $30 - $50 on a simple stylus, maybe a belt if necessary.)

And no, the good records aren't "all scratched up".  I have records that are 50 years old, bought from garage sales, that sound fine.  Even a record I found at a thrift store for 69 cents from 1972 sounded pretty good.

That's the thing - even with just a modicum of care (i.e., not using them as flying disks) they actually survive quite easily. 

[pbj]

I love how you guys act like you can't take a record and make sure own digital recording on it at the quality level that you want.

$20 says you couldn't tell the difference in playback if you were blind folded.

[yotsuya]

You can get a turntable for under $100 (or find a used one and spend $30 - $50 on a simple stylus, maybe a belt if necessary.)

One of my best friends turned 40 this year, and I bought her a turntable and a copy of R.E.M.'s "Automatic For The People" as a gift. The turntable was only $100 brand new.

[dkersten]

$20 says you couldn't tell the difference in playback if you were blind folded.

I would take that bet.  But then I have always had a pretty good ear for subtle differences, plus I spent quite a few years installing and tuning audio systems.  I wouldn't say I am a "snob" or an "audiophile" though, I don't own any analog sources, and my entire theater wouldn't cost more than $3500 brand new despite being a 100" screen, projector, bluray, 5.1 receiver, 10 inch powered sub, and some pretty decent quality speakers all the way around.  I haven't had an aftermarket stereo in my current vehicle which I have had for over 3 years now, and when I do listen to music at home, it is either FM radio or Pandora.  And it is 'Good enough for me'.  Nevertheless, I still know what to look for in the differences, and I could still pick them out. 

That being said, in my experience, easily 95% of the high end customers I dealt with in the past would fail your challenge, yet they would still drop $3,000 on a pair of speaker wires. 

Don't get me wrong, if I had truckloads of money, I would upgrade all my audio/video in my home.  I spent many hours late at night at the store I worked at setting up and listening to the differences between speaker wires, speakers, sources, amplifiers, etc.  I also got the opportunity to take some interesting classes about audio and video, sound staging, and acoustics.  So while I know the differences, there are dozens of other things in my life that are more important to me.  Perhaps part of the reason I don't spend time listening to and enjoying music as much as I used to is because I don't have a good enough source to really appreciate it.  Or maybe I just lost interest after so many years.  I don't spend too much time thinking about it these days, lol. 

[ChadTower]

When I was a young 17 yr old punk..  I was mouthing off to the bus driver about how ridiculous Laser Discs were, with their expensive prices and massive size... on my way to buy my first Stereo Receiver.

Wait... why were you talking to a bus driver about Laserdiscs? Need some back story on that. 

DON'T EVER DO THIS AGAIN. 

[DaveMMR]

When I was a young 17 yr old punk..  I was mouthing off to the bus driver about how ridiculous Laser Discs were, with their expensive prices and massive size... on my way to buy my first Stereo Receiver.

Wait... why were you talking to a bus driver about Laserdiscs? Need some back story on that. 

DON'T EVER DO THIS AGAIN.