Digital Fatigue
Back in the 1970s I started to buy records. 45s, LPs, EPs. I had a Dual 505 record deck and a NAD 3020 amp. I used to really enjoy my music. During the 80s the CD appeared. I bought a Philips CD player in 1983 for about £400. I upgraded my amp and speakers. I purchased lots of CDs. And although I listened to music a lot I found I couldn't spend much longer than a couple of hours in front of the hi-fi. I couldn't put a finger on it. A few years ago I resurrected my Pro-Ject 1 turntable. I bought another new amp and some modern speakers. I put a new cartridge on the turntable arm. Wow! Despite the odd pop and crackle music hadn't sounded this good for years. I could play LPs all day and not get tired. I thought about this and came up with a theory - Digital fatigue. Although digital recordings are improving all the time I still don't believe they can portray the full nuance of natural analog sound. Of course CDs, MP3s, Ipods, Digital radio have thei