Analog vs Digital

Ok, so, having fun with the Oscillator that arrived in my Synthesizers.com entry plan, I decided it would be fun to test the Ana-snobs around here, to see if people can truly pick out analog vs digital!

So here we have round one. Pulse wave at 50% duty cycle (Square). One of these wav's came from the Synthesizers.com's analog oscillator, the other came from my Nord Modular's digital osc. Hopefully, Ill get enough guesses to make this worthwhile. To make it as easy as possible to pick out, the patterns you're listening to are just simple scales.

Good luck!

a.wav 1.17 MB · 83 downloads

b.wav 1.21 MB · 76 downloads

b is analog. errrrrrrr...

they're both digital, dummy, cause they're digitally sampled.

stupid competition.

i honestly cant tell which one. If it was put through a vcf i might be able to tell but just a pure square wave is very hard for me to detect.

the difference between them is so small (to me) it just further shows that it doesnt matter.

its the notes that you play anyways...

but my guess is A is analoge. It seems a little fatter.

HELLO.

they're both digital samples, therefore a comparison via any means, aural, spectral etc etc... moot fucking point.

they're digital samples.

it's not possaible to distinguish analogue source from digital samples.

i thought people here knew better.

sheesh.

lol, the difference is actually smaller GB3, with the sawtooth Im playing now....

This is only round one! when I get my analog filter the fun will really begin!

  loganfive said:

HELLO.

 

they're both digital samples, therefore a comparison via any means, aural, spectral etc etc... moot fucking point.

 

they're digital samples.

 

it's not possaible to distinguish analogue source from digital samples.

 

i thought people here knew better.

 

sheesh.

Um, actually, it is, for the same reason that a mixdown done at 24 bit 96 khz will sound better when mastered to CD than a 16 bit 44khz mixdown would. The less resolution on the source, the worse the digital recording will be at guessing. SOS has a great article on this, search for it (sorry I dont have time at the moment).

This is a bit off topic but anyways...

Someone once commented on me and my friend's Maskine EPs at P168 and this guy said that it sounded as if we used analog synths etc., which we don't so I guess this just shows to tell that a lot of people really can't tell the difference.

it's like a debate on which types of porn are superior

ultimately just a lot of frustration and masturbation

  loganfive said:

HELLO.

 

they're both digital samples, therefore a comparison via any means, aural, spectral etc etc... moot fucking point.

 

they're digital samples.

 

it's not possaible to distinguish analogue source from digital samples.

 

i thought people here knew better.

 

sheesh.

hahaha... i still can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not (no offense meant if you are..)

  Adjective said:

it's like a debate on which types of porn are superior

ultimately just a lot of frustration and masturbation

It's like religion. Everyone is fighting over which one is the best.

so what?

was the analog recorded at a higher bit/sample rate.

source is moot.

they're both digital samples.

and if you think this point of view requires you being offensive iep then fine.

they're none of them analogue.

they're both digital.

the sources might differ, but the results are both digital.

i vote A, it has a more coherent tone

*mouse-cursor hoovers over the unregister button*

hmm..

*mousecursor hoovers over log-out button*

*iep clicks*

ps, i beliueve analogue has a richer tone, the advantage of more or less unlimited range etc.

but if you digitally record analogue, it becomes digital.

that's a fact.

  ten fingers ten toes said:

  loganfive said:

HELLO.

 

they're both digital samples, therefore a comparison via any means, aural, spectral etc etc... moot fucking point.

 

they're digital samples.

 

it's not possaible to distinguish analogue source from digital samples.

 

i thought people here knew better.

 

sheesh.

 

 

Um, actually, it is, for the same reason that a mixdown done at 24 bit 96 khz will sound better when mastered to CD than a 16 bit 44khz mixdown would. The less resolution on the source, the worse the digital recording will be at guessing. SOS has a great article on this, search for it (sorry I dont have time at the moment).

i agree with your point, but mine is that we're being presented with two digital samples, therefore it's impossible to tell because the comparisons we're being given are btween two digital sources, not an analogue and a digital source.

plus, if your digital equipment is correctly synched with your soundcard, then a 44.1/16bit sample of a digital; source at 44.1/16 is indistinguishable from a sample of an analogue source at 44.1/16.

clocking.

it's important.

A

Logan, keep in mind that it's not just about digital vs analog audio, it's digital synths vs analog synths which is another ballgame for many reasons such as : oscillator tracking/tuning, VCA and VCF. It's not about aliasing.

  impakt said:

It's not about aliasing.

that's what SHE said!!!!

OHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIT!!!!

IN BED

  iep said:

*mouse-cursor hoovers over the unregister button*

 

hmm..

 

*mousecursor hoovers over log-out button*

 

*iep clicks*

B = anatal. A = digitogue.

  Fat Roland said:

B = anatal. A = digitogue.

sounds dirty

both recordings are probably of the same source. the second one sounds a bit brighter but that doesn't mean anything. i honestly believe you can't determine the source just from listening to these 2. i deliberately haven't looked at the waveforms/freq analysis.

and if they're not the same source, okay, i admit i can't tell the difference between a digital square and an analogue square. but as you know, square wave is a waveform that really shouldn't differ much if the VCO is designed okay.

and the dotcom VCO obviously is.

what i value about the analogue is:

1. analogue mixing

2. the imperfections of everything analogue. the drifting, the imperfect waveforms, weird/uneven control curves, clipping, ... i could go on and on.

if i still had to answer - A is the dotcom.

  loganfive said:

HELLO.

 

they're both digital samples, therefore a comparison via any means, aural, spectral etc etc... moot fucking point.

 

they're digital samples.

 

it's not possaible to distinguish analogue source from digital samples.

 

i thought people here knew better.

 

sheesh.

i think this is where the argument becomes convoluted. he just wanted to compare the difference between a digital oscillator and an analog one, not digital sound vs analog sound. I might be wrong but there is stairstepping in almost all digital filters/oscillators. aside from this analog synthesizers have harmonic distortion that isn't achievable on digital synths unless it is purposefully emulated.