Analog v Digital listening tests

[Prep74]

Hi all, newbie here.

I came across this 2000 paper, Geringer, J., Dunnigan, P. "Listener Preferences and Perception of Digital versus Analog Live Concert Recordings." Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. 1 Jul. 2000, Number 145: 1-13.

Music majors were subjects who listened to digital and analog recordings of the same concert performance, recorded unequalized and unmixed (to control EQ variables and level matched. It was a double blind test and the listeners were able to switch back and forth between the two at will. Overall, the digital version was preferred in all ten scoring areas.

The researchers concluded that music major listeners rated the digital versions of live concert recordings as higher in quality than the corresponding analog versions. The listeners gave significantly higher ratings to the digital presentations in bass, treble and overall quality, as well as separation of instruments and voices. The ratings were consistent across loudspeaker and headphone listening conditions.

The main criticism of this test was that the media used was compact disc and cassette tape (albeit high bias tapes recorded on a professional deck), so it is not directly comparable with vinyl or a professional reel to reel recording. However, it would be quite difficult to produce a similar vinyl record, ie direct to disc and unequalised and a professional reel to reel would have been academic as it is quite rare for an individual to be listening to music on such a deck.

It was an interesting study nevertheless and it does accord with my preferences when comparing a well mastered CD/hi res to vinyl. The question is, does anyone here know of any other similar controlled tests?

Cheers

 

[Vincent Kars]

Try this one: udibility of a CD-Standard A/D/A Loop Inserted into High-Resolution Audio Playback". E. Brad Meyer and David R. Moran. JAES 55(9) September 2007

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1105/0b42c641807bbcf24ba7f6e11af49f135e8f.pdf

 

[thewas]

A German audio magazine (Stereoplay) had conducted in the early 80s a blind test were a high quality analogue source (I think it was open reel) was compared to its output which was converted to digital and back to analogue again and despite the technically rather primitive converters of that time the listening panel could not perceive any difference between both.

 

[Prep74]

A German audio magazine (Stereoplay) had conducted in the early 80s a blind test were a high quality analogue source (I think it was open reel) was compared to its output which was converted to digital and back to analogue again and despite the technically rather primitive converters of that time the listening panel could not perceive any difference between both.

Even before then, back in 1980 (i think?) after Phillips engineers provided proof of concept of CDs, their Board wanted (among other things) evidence that the sound quality be better than other consumer media. So they put together an independent panel of audio experts and they could not distinguish the CD from the analog master in controlled tests. That was in an article from a book written by one pf their key engineers involved in the development of the standards - I forget now but I'm sure I could dig it up (actually the reference is on the Phillips website).

I do know several controlled tests over the past 30 years that established the transparency of digital audio, such as the Meyer and Moran study but what I'm looking for is tests on subjective comparisons between formats. I suppose it is not really possible except for (as one example) a controlled test between a competent needle drop to the record. I did a few of these controlled tests (though not to a standard expected in a peer review journal) back in the 1990s in a friend's studio (before home software became available), comparing the recorded CD with the record being playback on the same donor turntable/pre-amp. I nor my colleagues could reliably pick them apart.