I once visited someone who had re-installed his record player next to his CD player (this was in the pre-streaming era). He played an old Genesis record (And Then There Were Three) and was enthusiastic about the warmth that was added to the sound - much better than that cold digital sound. I suggested to put on the CD as well, to make a direct AB comparison. To our amazement, the CD sounded much warmer than the record...Do you, or anyone else here, by any chance know if this delay could be part of the explanation of the appeal of vinyl?
Often it's been claimed that vinyl has a deeper and wider soundstage, etc.
I've usually put it down to frequency response (or EQ), which actually can affect the soundstage, perception of depth, etc., especially if you lower the harshness region.
I had a similar experience when I started to use Spotify Premium. I listened to a Dire Straits album on Spotify (On Every Street) and was convinced the CD sound was much richer, with more detail and stereo depth. So I put on the CD as well to make a direct AB comparison. No difference at all...
In both cases human audio memory appeared to be hopelessly inaccurate and completely governed by expectation.
I have a DEQ2496 in my digital audio path so I experimented a bit with a difference in delay between L and R. It appears that a delay difference of 2 ms completely ruins the stereo image. Very small delays of 0.04 or 0.06 ms seemed to have a small panning effect on sounds that are mastered to be heard coming from behind. I tested it with "Impressive Instant" by Madonna. Did not do a double blind test so I might have fooled myself as well, since slightly turning my head a bit would have caused the same L to R delay
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