Hi,
Frank Zappa became a mostly mental being for he was crippled by various circumstances thruout his life to be unable to be as physical as he wished. When he found at the start of the eighties, that digital audio was being heavily pushed by the industry, he asked fine experts, who told him that it has advantages:
Starting with the recording side, fewer non-linear distortions, as long as enuf dither is applied, and new possibilities of editing. On the playback side, again fewer non-linear distortions, easier handling and no crackle and pop due to accumulation of dust.
And disadvantages: Different sound. For one thing due to level reversal of non-linear distortions -- it does not clang at hi levels as with analogue audio but at lo ones. For another thing much harder limitation of bandwidth. They told him, that the industry was rushing out preliminary stuff cheaper and cheaper. And that in order to soften these disadvantages, one had to be careful.
So Frank got machines with good analogue anti-aliasing and reconstruction filters and the possibility to fade in, out and cross losslessly. So he could make recordings with only two generations, one multitrack and one mixing/mastering one.
Yet he overdid his mental side and had to pay with his life. Some people on this bright website play down the pitfalls of digital audio to the point, that i must call them hypocrites.
Uli
Frank Zappa became a mostly mental being for he was crippled by various circumstances thruout his life to be unable to be as physical as he wished. When he found at the start of the eighties, that digital audio was being heavily pushed by the industry, he asked fine experts, who told him that it has advantages:
Starting with the recording side, fewer non-linear distortions, as long as enuf dither is applied, and new possibilities of editing. On the playback side, again fewer non-linear distortions, easier handling and no crackle and pop due to accumulation of dust.
And disadvantages: Different sound. For one thing due to level reversal of non-linear distortions -- it does not clang at hi levels as with analogue audio but at lo ones. For another thing much harder limitation of bandwidth. They told him, that the industry was rushing out preliminary stuff cheaper and cheaper. And that in order to soften these disadvantages, one had to be careful.
So Frank got machines with good analogue anti-aliasing and reconstruction filters and the possibility to fade in, out and cross losslessly. So he could make recordings with only two generations, one multitrack and one mixing/mastering one.
Yet he overdid his mental side and had to pay with his life. Some people on this bright website play down the pitfalls of digital audio to the point, that i must call them hypocrites.
Uli
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