It's the sound of anticipation, of something wonderful about to happen. You hear a quick transient, followed by a two-second whoosh. And then music. Until very recently, it had been almost three decades since I last heard the sound of a stylus dropping onto a vinyl LP in my own home.
I bailed on analog back in the '80s, and have been immersed in digital audio ever since. Today, my whole music library is on a LaCie RAID array connected to a Mac Mini running the Audirvana Plus 2.5 audio player. I can operate the whole shebang from an iPhone or iPad using the Audirvana Remote app.
You can't be involved in this industry and be unaware of the surging interest in analog. Even so, I was surprised by the numbers. Whitby, ON-based Essential Audio Corp. distributed Pro-Ject turntables from 2003 until mid-2015, when Gentec International took over the line. "We used to bring in a couple of pallets a month - 60 to 90 pieces," says Kurt Martens, Founder and President of Essential Audio. "Last year, we were bringing in two 40-foot containers a month - 1,200 to 1,500 turntables."
Martens continues to operate Essential Audio, which distributes Ortofon cartridges, Spin-Clean record cleaners and Lehmann electronics. He also acts as an outside consultant for Gentec, providing dealer training and conducting seminars.
The audiences at Martens' seminars have changed radically over the years. "It used to be an older generation," he says, "people who had an old Dual or Technics turntable and had never stopped playing records. Now we see young kids, 16 to 25 years old, with backpacks and MP3 players who are looking to buy a turntable. Instead of buying a turntable to play records they already have, they're building a collection from scratch. Now the audience is a microcosm of people on the street. Vinyl is becoming mainstream again."
MAMA DON'T TAKE MY KODACHROME AWAY
So analog isn't a hipster fad that will go away? "I don't have a crystal ball," Martens responds. But he sees a lot of reasons to think that vinyl has staying power, one being the physicality of the format. As convenient as digital is, there's something satisfying about putting a record on a turntable and reading the album cover while you listen. As Martens observes, "Some people like reading a book, some prefer a Kindle."
Kurt Martens, President, Essential Audio Corp.: "Turntables have made a huge comeback in the mainstream market. Vinyl is no longer just an audiophile format."
But the big draw is sound quality. "I can't explain it from a mathematical standpoint, but analog sounds more natural," Martens maintains. "It has a visceral quality that is missing in digital." Adds Michel Rousseau, Technical Support Manager for Montreal-based Plurison, Canadian distributor for Rega, Music Hall and Clearaudio turntables: "Vinyl contains a lot more information than a CD or even a high-resolution download. Overtones are richer. Room ambience is much more present. Digital has greater stereo separation and dynamic range. But on analog, instruments have better sustain and greater harmonic integrity. There's a warmth that digital doesn't quite achieve."
I've been hearing these claims for years, but I have to confess that I've never bought into them. Then a couple of years ago, an unexpected insight cast the analog-digital debate in a new light.
My daughter had set off for the Nevada dessert for the annual Burning Man festival. I offered to lend her a digital camera, but she insisted on using disposable film cameras to record her adventures. Even though I was sure that the pictures would be disappointing, and that photofinishing would be a needless expense, I understood her not wanting to expose a modern digital camera to blowing sand and searing heat.
Being shot through cheap plastic optics at fixed exposures, her pictures lacked contrast and sharpness, much as I expected. But they also had a hard-to-identify quality I found strangely appealing.
Then it hit me: maybe it was the medium itself. Was the random grain structure in these analog images (clearly visible in my daughter's photos) somehow more natural than the fixed-grid pattern of a digital picture? That seemed hard to believe, because with any digital camera made in the last decade, resolution is so high that the underlying grid pattern is far beyond human perception. Yet for some reason, my daughter's flawed analog images had a feeling of life that made technically superior digital images seem a touch sterile.
Could the same be true with sound? Is the continuous yet random nature of grooves in a vinyl record (or magnetic particles on analog tape) somehow closer to life than a numerical representation, with fixed sampling frequency and bit depth? That question made me want to revisit analog.
REGRETS, I'VE HAD A FEW
It had been more than a quarter century since I had gone digital. After the Compact Disc made its debut in 1983, I continued to buy LPs, spinning them on a Dunlop Systemdek IIX belt-drive turntable and Ortofon VMS-20 phono cartridge. It took me five years to succumb to CD's perfect-sound-forever siren song. Feeling the need to be au courant, I took the digital plunge in 1988, adding a brand-new Denon DCD 1510 to my system.
I was seduced, not just by the new medium's pristine sound, but by its ease of use. Say what you want: vinyl is a fussy format, and requires a careful attention to detail. Before you listen to music, you have to clean the record and stylus; and you have to make sure the 'table is perfectly set up. I was a busy guy (places to go, stories to write), and I didn't have the patience for these rituals. Most of all, I liked the modernity of the new format: the shiny discs, the Denon's retracting disc drawer, the random-access programmability.
Compared to an 180g audiophile LP, a CD rip of Van Morrison's Moondance sounded harsh and disembodied. Does that mean the digital haters are right? Definitely not, because a newly remastered 24/192 download from HDtracks sounded wonderful. (Photo: Estate Of David Gahr)
A few months after my digital conversion, I sold my Systemdek and 500-plus LP collection, reasoning that they weren't getting much use anymore. The proceeds went toward CD versions of some of my favourite albums, and some new music. But basically, I was building a music library from scratch.
Rash? Ill-considered? You betcha. Stupid? A little strong, but not unjust. While I've come to regret selling my analog music, it doesn't crack the top 10 of idiotic things I've done during my three score and five years of earthly existence. Hell, it doesn't even crack the top 100.
An underlying motive was a wish to live lightly, not to be encumbered by too much stuff. And it's paid off. I've moved house six times in the past 28 years; that's a lot of heavy boxes that I didn't have to pack and unpack.
True, I did accumulate a sizable CD library (and later SACD); but they were easier to transport. Moreover, by the time of my most recent move, I had ripped all of my CDs. To get this music to my current abode, I just had to move my Mac Mini. (I've since ripped my SACDs, so I no longer have any shiny discs with music.)
Something I've never done is second-guess my analog exit on sonic grounds. I know what the haters say: digital sounds harsh, clinical, lifeless. I've certainly heard CDs where all those adjectives apply. But I've also heard many wonderful sounding CDs where you just get lost in the music. Digital isn't fatally flawed: far from it.
GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME
A lot of early CDs did sound crappy, partly because they were rushed to market at the insistence of the suits at the big labels. But fairly quickly, engineers learned to add digital dither to recordings to minimize low-level non-linearity that added a layer of harshness, and robbed music of air and space. Recording tools steadily improved. Digital recordings are now made at higher sampling rates and bit depths, which leaves more mathematical headroom for mixing and processing.
There have certainly been setbacks, notably the widespread use of dynamic compression to make music sound louder (squeezing out dynamic contrast and drama), and digital compression to make it more efficient to distribute (often squeezing out air and ambience).
There have been advances too: notably the move to file-based playback, high-res digital downloads (with high-res streaming waiting in the wings), and the introduction of affordable, high-performing DACs for playback from computers and mobile devices.
But analog has not been standing still. Raw materials have improved, and machining has become more precise. As Rousseau explains, on a belt-drive 'table, harder materials machined to micron-level precision translate to "reduced surface friction right at the main bearing, which means less noise fed into the platter. Now the cartridge just has to deal with the vinyl. Today's turntables have much better signal-to-noise than 20 or 30 years ago."
Improvements have made right through the chain. Tonearms are more rigid, with quieter bearings. That's important. "Any spurious movement such as tonearm flexing or bearing noise will smear or obscure musical information," Rousseau explains.
Cartridges with carefully cut diamonds can reach deeper into the groove, so that even on an older damaged record, they're extracting what Rousseau calls "virgin information." The improvements extend beyond the stylus. As Martens observes, cartridge manufacturers can now use powerful neodymium magnets, for better signal-to-noise.
The records have improved too. Today's music lovers have access to a growing catalog of audiophile pressings. Not only are they heavier than conventional LPs (typically 180g), for less groove noise and vinyl chatter, they're mastered better. With classic recordings, engineers often go back to the original master tapes. They have more sophisticated tools at their disposal, such as computerized read-ahead cutting lathes that can adjust groove modulation to match what's coming up next.
FOUR SIDES NOW
Quite a number of new vinyl records are released on two LPs to allow for wider grooves, with less noise and mistracking. This raises an interesting point. Analog fans maintain that vinyl requires more focus, because people typically listen to a full side of an LP. Digital, on the other hand, encourages ADHD-like hopping from one song to another, with less focus on the music. But it plays both ways. With digital, I can listen to a full album, or a full opera for that matter, without having to flip sides.
Compared to a CD rip, the 180g four-sided audiophile LP of Cécile McLorin Salvant Grammy-nominated jazz album WomanChild sounded a bit warmer and more organic, but the digital version was a little more incisive.
As Martens observes, the vinyl catalog is now vast. Amazon.ca lists over 500,000 vinyl LPs. Even though there are lots of duplications in its listings, many are sold by third parties, and many are out of stock with long ship times, this is an impressive number. And there's excellent variety, including recent albums by the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Adele, and classic titles by groups like Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac.
Many audio retailers who sell turntables also sell records. Not only is vinyl a profit centre, it's also a traffic builder. "It brings people into the store," Martens notes. "That's why they change their selection often."
Used record stores are springing up everywhere. Original versions of classic LPs have become collectors' items, and command greater sums than new audiophile versions of the same music. For this article, I spent many happy hours browsing used record stores in downtown Toronto, and came back with a few treasures. Even though I later found some of the same stuff on TIDAL, I really liked reliving the record-store experience, and finding records I didn't know existed (such as a 1972 release by the jazz icon Earl "Fatha" Hines, see below).
I also liked reliving the analog listening experience, reading album covers and liner notes while music played through the speakers. Of course, you can get a similar experience with digital too: reading record reviews and artist bios on a tablet while you listen.
SPIN THE BLACK CIRCLE
Enjoyable as they are, reading album covers and browsing record stores are secondary to the main question: does analog sound better than digital? There was only one way to answer that question (if it can be answered at all): listen.
For this article, Gentec supplied me with a Pro-Ject 1Xpression Carbon Classic belt-drive turntable (shown at top of story), with Orofon 2M Silver cartridge pre-installed. Retailing for $1,200 complete with cartridge, the 1Xpression has an 8.6" carbon-fibre tonearm, aluminum sandwich platter, and a stainless steel main bearing housed in a bronze bushing with Teflon bottom. Unlike many turntables, the 1Xpression Carbon Classic comes with a dust cover. I didn't need a phono preamp, as there's one already built into my Simaudio Moon Neo 340i integrated amplifier.
Because I didn't have to undertake the fiddly task of fitting the cartridge in the arm, and setting azimuth and vertical tracking angle, setup was easy-peasy. All it involved was fitting the belt around the motor pulley, putting the platter in place, adjusting tracking force, and installing the little hanging anti-skating weight. The most time-consuming chore was adjusting the turntable's three leveling feet. Total time from opening the box to connecting the phono cables was about 15 minutes.
Now it was time to spin some vinyl. Some of my listening was out loud, through KEF LS50 monitors. And some was private listening, through HiFiMAN Edition X headphones connected to the 340i's headphone output. I started with a 180g pressing of Supertramp's Crime of the Century (kindly supplied by Gentec's Dick Tuerlings), and albums by John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Annie Lennox and Diana Krall (lent to me by WiFi HiFi Publisher John Thomson).
PLAY ME MY SONG, HERE IT COMES AGAIN
This casual listening was a pleasant preamble to the task at hand, comparing some of the analog records at my disposal with digital versions of the same music. Digital playback was from my Mac Mini running Audirvana Plus 2.5 connected via USB to the 340i's built-in DAC. I used Audirvana to play music from my digital library, and also to stream from TIDAL. I started with an old favourite.
Van Morrison, Moondance: The 180g vinyl LP sounded sounded smooth, inviting and altogether natural - definitely better than I remember this 1970 classic ever sounding. Then I switched to a CD rip in ALAC format. It wasn't awful, but it was definitely harsher than the LP. On the CD rip, there was a raspy edge around Morrison's voice that wasn't present on the album. Instead of a full stereo image with air and space around the instruments, individual instruments and voices were arrayed between the speakers, without anything around them. Everything was less embodied and organic.
My first thought was: the haters are right! Digital may not suck, but it doesn't match analog. My second was, better listen to some other stuff before jumping to conclusions.
Cécile McLorin Salvant, WomanChild: The digital version of this supremely talented jazz singer's Grammy-nominated 2014 album was a 16/44.1 ALAC file ripped from CD. The analog version was a 180g four-sided audiophile pressing that I bought brand-new for $28. Both were immensely enjoyable. On the digital version, the bass was snappier and more impactful, and the piano a bit more incisive. But the presentation on the analog version was a more organic, and Salvant's voice seemed more embodied. The sound was smoother, yet more rhythmic. Despite the occasional click, slight popcorn noise, and mild mistracking on the inner grooves, I preferred the LP. Truthfully, I find it impossible to resist getting lost in either version.
Earl Hines, Fatha & His Flock on Tour: This delightful album was recorded at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1970. I bought the European pressing on the BASF label in a used record store in downtown Toronto for $3.50. The record was in very good condition, just short of pristine. The same album is also available on TIDAL. There's no way of knowing how it was mastered, but I preferred the lossless digital stream. Not only was bass more impactful and snappy, the presentation was smoother and more inviting. The LP sounded a little more brittle, and the overall presentation was less coherent. But the LP did have more energy and drive. Both were very enjoyable, and I really liked reading Stanley Dance's insightful liner notes on the LP.
Jennifer Warnes, Famous Blue Raincoat: The digital version of this 1986 classic was a 16/44.1 ALAC rip from CD; the analog version was a used LP in good condition that I picked up for $7 at a store two blocks from my home. The CD rip had more drive and energy, while the LP sounded smoother and more organic. By comparison, the CD rip was a little sterile-sounding. I preferred the LP by a slight margin.
Mozart Clarinet Concerto, Jack Brymer, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner: The analog version was a used Philips LP that I bought for $7. The digital version was a CD-resolution stream from TIDAL. Sonically, it was a virtual coin-toss. The LP seemed very slightly warmer, the digital stream a touch more incisive. Were it not for the occasional tick and pop on the LP, I'd be very hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blind test. The slight flaws on the excellent Netherlands pressing were offset by the excellent liner notes.
Moondancing Again: After all these near-coin-tosses, I had some niggling doubts about my experience with Moondance. I don't know what version of the Moondance CD I had ripped, but it definitely was not the 2013 remastered version. Many early CD transfers of classic albums were problematic. Could that have been the case here?
I decided to conduct another comparison, this time with a 24/192 download from HDtracks. The high-resolution stereo remaster (which set me back US$26) was made by the original album engineer Elliot Scheiner.
The high-res download was as smooth and inviting as the LP (or almost), but there was more energy, more life. The stereo image was as convincing. The bass guitar and drums were better defined, and the interplay between musicians was better conveyed. For example, the sudden entrance of an acoustic guitar on the far left side during the title track came through more dramatically. The raspy edge around Morrison's voice that bothered me on the CD rip was gone. Of course, with the download (and the rip), I didn't get the experience of reading the evocative short story ("The Fable") on the album cover while I listened to the album.
TAKEAWAYS
Comparing analog and digital playback is clearly an apples-versus-oranges exercise. Not only that, there are too many varieties of apples and oranges to reach a definitive conclusion.
One variable was the playback chain. The 1Xpression Carbon Classic is a very capable turntable; but in my system, there's more upside in analog than in digital. It would be interesting to move up the analog food chain and repeat this experiment. I certainly think a turntable is in my future, but it'll be something a little more revealing. I'm thinking of a Pro-Ject 2Xperieince and Ortofon Quintet Bronze cartridge; or maybe a Clearaudio Concept or Rega RP6. (I've since purchased the 2Xperience, and am saving up for the Quintet Bronze.)
In many cases I found myself preferring vinyl when I was listening for my own pleasure. The biggest variable though wasn't the playback format. It was the provenance of the recording; witness my experience with Moondance. For convenience, for having a small footprint, I prefer digital. I've embraced computer audio and high-res digital, so I can enjoy these benefits along with excellent sound.
But high-res digital isn't for everyone. "Compared to vinyl, a very small percentage of the market is into high-res," Martens maintains. "For many people, high-res digital is too complicated. Most people use Spotify for everyday convenience. Then when they get home, the vinyl records come out."
Analog has its own complications. You have to be technically adept to delve very deeply into computer audio. But you have to be mechanically adept to set up a turntable properly. Of course, turntable setup is a service that dealers can and do provide. It's not practical for them to provide that kind of assistance with computer audio. When it comes to installing the software required for high-res playback, and navigating the different online stores that sell high-res music, consumers are basically on their own.
From this exercise, it's become clear to me that the vinyl revival has real foundations. "Turntables have made a huge comeback in the mainstream market," Martens concludes. "Vinyl is no longer just an audiophile format."