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           Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2005-01-19 08:57 [#01466808]
         Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag
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 Fact: Speakers are, by their very nature, analogue  devices. 
  (If you accept analog is imprecise and has an infinite range  of detail)
 
  Consequence: Any "digital" recording we hear, is in  fact, an analogue representation of digital sounds. 
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:04 [#01466824]
         Points: 17620 Status: Lurker
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our eardrums are mechanical... but the signal is then turned  into electronic impulses, i'm not sure how synapses work, i  think they're more chemical than electrical...
 
  i think there are some implications in there somewhere.
 
  
         
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           i_x_ten
             from arsemuncher on 2005-01-19 09:07 [#01466828]
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does it really matter when scooby doo has just started?
 
  
         
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           Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2005-01-19 09:09 [#01466833]
         Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to epohs: #01466824 | Show recordbag
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I have always argued that our "senses" are to all intents  and purposes digital: We can only "read" (be that see, hear,  feel, etc.) to a certain level of accuracy, no matter how  subtle our palette, sharp our eyesight, good our hearing. As  a result, so long as a digital signal exceeds these  resolutions, it is indistinguishible (to humans, without the  use of extra, more sensitive equipment) from the analaogue  equivalent. 
 
  
         
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           Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2005-01-19 09:11 [#01466837]
         Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to i_x_ten: #01466828 | Show recordbag
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When you're stuck in work, and trying desperately to avoid  spending cash on ebay, by convincing yourself you can do  analogue sounding stuff with softsynths, then yes, it is  relevant ;-) 
 
  
         
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           CS2x
             from London (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 09:15 [#01466843]
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u r not an empiricist. u r teh gayer!
  Or maybe I was actually thinking of Descartes. What a cock  he was-"Oh shit, when I look at a stick in water, it appears  to bend! Ergo, our senses decieve us and we can't trust  them!" 
 
  I r happy.
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:18 [#01466848]
         Points: 17620 Status: Lurker
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i wouldn't call our senses digital i don't think.. ah hell,  i dunno, senses are generally to strange and complex for me  to think about. 
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:22 [#01466856]
         Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to epohs: #01466848
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too strange
 
  
         
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           Dannn_
             from United Kingdom on 2005-01-19 09:25 [#01466859]
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I'm going to only make analogue music from now on and I will  change my name to Alan Ogue 
 
  
         
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           elusive
             from detroit (United States) on 2005-01-19 09:28 [#01466865]
         Points: 18369 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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oh look,
  everyone is running to make analogue music!!!!
  next vsnares album will be analogue.
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:31 [#01466871]
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yeah, but the point we're trying to make is that ALL music  is analog... i mean digital... wait, no it's analog. right? 
 
  
         
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           elusive
             from detroit (United States) on 2005-01-19 09:38 [#01466880]
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no, it just gets modulated, then demodulated then to  electrical signals, hence, digital. 
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:40 [#01466884]
         Points: 17620 Status: Lurker
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so, everything is digital then?
  that's what i said.
 
  
         
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           nacmat
             on 2005-01-19 09:42 [#01466890]
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what is analogue or digital
  serilously
 
  
         
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           i_x_ten
             from arsemuncher on 2005-01-19 09:46 [#01466894]
         Points: 10031 Status: Regular | Followup to nacmat: #01466890
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digital is black and white
  analogue is various shades of grey
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:47 [#01466895]
         Points: 17620 Status: Lurker | Followup to nacmat: #01466890
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analog is a continuous change in measurements... like a sign  wave.
 
  digital is represented by distinctly different  measurements... like either a 1 or a 0.  
 
  if you look at a digital clock you know the exact hour and  minute it is displaying, but in a truly analog clock the  hands are always somewhere between the numbers. 
 
  
         
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           epohs
             from )C: on 2005-01-19 09:47 [#01466896]
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fuck, i_x_ten just blew my explaination away.
 
  
         
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           soundguy
             from London (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 09:48 [#01466897]
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Everything is kind of "digital" if you consider that analog  sound is movement in air and therefore made up of discrete  components (ie molecules) and not one continuous wave as is  commonly believed.
  It's digital but at an ultra high resoloution.
 
  
         
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           Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2005-01-19 09:50 [#01466901]
         Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to CS2x: #01466843 | Show recordbag
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you seem angry.
 
  
         
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           Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2005-01-19 09:52 [#01466904]
         Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #01466808 | Show recordbag
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errh.. isn't it so that analogue is MORE precise, and not  unprecise in the fact that "incalculable" things still  remain?! 
 
  
         
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           Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2005-01-19 09:59 [#01466916]
         Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to elusive: #01466865 | Show recordbag
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Oh look, everyone who has been looking at analogue/analogue  emulation for years, has now been accused of bandwagon  jumping. :D
 
  Soundguy: But the movements of those molecules is analogue- they are not moving on some set "grid". :)
  Drunken Master: Analogue is more precise in the sense it is  "higher resolution". It is imprecise in the sense that it is  hard to replicate and impossible to get exactly the  same each time it is played (a record is different every  time you listen).
 
 
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 10:07 [#01466921]
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but also, in digital media (e.g. CDs) there is a frequency  limit at 22,000Hz. 
 
  Even though we cannot hear above 20,000Hz, the frequences  above this threshold still make a difference to the sound we  hear. These higher frequences can be stored and recreated on  an analogue medium.
 
  So even if CDs are played thru speakers, these higher  frequences still wont be produced. 
 
  
         
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           Bob Mcbob
             on 2005-01-19 10:16 [#01466934]
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what the heck does analogue sound like anyway?
  i always thought the intro to 'cow cud is a twin' was in  analogue, then the song started properly in digital. 
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 10:19 [#01466938]
         Points: 8472 Status: Regular | Followup to Bob Mcbob: #01466934
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lol, is that the one that starts off sounding as if he's  recording the ambient environment in his room, then mixes  into the actual track?
 
  can't remember the names on 'i care...' very well.
 
  
         
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           Bob Mcbob
             on 2005-01-19 10:22 [#01466943]
         Points: 9939 Status: Regular | Followup to mylittlesister: #01466938
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erm yes i think so. it starts off with two seconds of  laughing and squarepusher saying 'right?' then goes into the  intro 
 
  
         
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           Zephyr Twin
             from ΔΔΔ on 2005-01-19 15:15 [#01467343]
         Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Show recordbag
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Anything that is perceived by our senses is analog. When you  look at a picture on your computer, you are seeing the  analog-rebuilding, so to speak, of a digital code of 0's and  1's that say "this pixel is this color, this pixel is this  color" etc and when you put that entire code together you  can see the photo. You are not seeing the 0's and 1's,  however, you see photons being emitted by your monitor  because your video card told it to do so. Same goes for  sound. When my Digital Ex-5 synth plays sounds, it is using  a series of algorithms (essentially blueprints of 0's and  1's) to create soundwaves that are converted into a series  of voltages to be amplified and heard as sound. I don't  actually hear the 1's and 0's though, I hear the sound,  which thus is analog.
 
  On a more Sci-fi note, the same would even apply to food  synthesization, granted such a thing is even possible. There  would be a series of digital blueprints and basic food  ingredients that, when combined, would create a finished  product that you can taste. You obviously wouldn't want to  taste just the instructions and the basic food ingredients,  you'd want to taste chicken noodle soup. The same goes for  looking at a digital image. It's worthless to you if all you  can see is a grid of 0's and 1's. Perhaps "the whole is  greater than the sum of its parts" is a good way to look at  it. 
 
  
         
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           elusive
             from detroit (United States) on 2005-01-19 15:32 [#01467373]
         Points: 18369 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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you guys are thinking too deep.
  but at least it's not a flame war!
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 15:37 [#01467378]
         Points: 8472 Status: Regular | Followup to Zephyr Twin: #01467343
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but its still an analog version of a digital signal, and not  a pure analog signal. 
 
  
         
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           ecnadniarb
             on 2005-01-19 15:47 [#01467387]
         Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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No offense intended to anyone directly, but every last one  of you are fucking stupid and don't know what you are  talking about.  In fact the only person making much sense  was Zephyr Twin but then he had to fucking spoil it all by  going into some Star Trek bullshit. 
 
  
         
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           Zephyr Twin
             from ΔΔΔ on 2005-01-19 15:50 [#01467392]
         Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01467387 | Show recordbag
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I was merely trying to illustrate an example, sorry if it  offended you. 
 
  
         
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           ecnadniarb
             on 2005-01-19 15:51 [#01467394]
         Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to Zephyr Twin: #01467392 | Show recordbag
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Apology accepted with the humility expected of a god.
 
  
         
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           yann_g
             from now on 2005-01-19 15:52 [#01467396]
         Points: 3772 Status: Lurker | Followup to Dannn_: #01466859
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LOL. if you do that i buy your first record without  listening. 
 
  
         
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           Zephyr Twin
             from ΔΔΔ on 2005-01-19 15:53 [#01467398]
         Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01467394 | Show recordbag
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hahah, good one. :D
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 15:53 [#01467399]
         Points: 8472 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01467387
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shed a lot of light on the subject there then...
 
  
         
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           yann_g
             from now on 2005-01-19 15:57 [#01467405]
         Points: 3772 Status: Lurker | Followup to soundguy: #01466897
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Everything is kind of "digital" if you consider that  analog sound is movement in air and therefore made up of  discrete components (ie molecules) and not one continuous  wave as is commonly believed. It's digital but at an ultra  high resoloution.
 
  digital = made of digits, generally 0 & 1. stop saying  everything is digital at a higher resolution it doesn't make  sense. molecules are not digits. 
 
  
         
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           ecnadniarb
             on 2005-01-19 16:02 [#01467411]
         Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to mylittlesister: #01467399 | Show recordbag
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No, because I would probably cause 50% of peoples head  explode with my wisdom. 
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 17:07 [#01467473]
         Points: 8472 Status: Regular | Followup to ecnadniarb: #01467411
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lol... how about a rolo then? or maybe a bit of flapjack?
 
  
         
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           tnavelerri
             on 2005-01-19 17:30 [#01467512]
         Points: 558 Status: Lurker
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If you want to say that everything is digital, well its not  digital to base-2 (Binary). You can say that everything is  digital if you are using base numbers equal to that of the  amount of elements there are, or better yet, configurations  of sub atomic particles. But we as humans can't deal with  such large numbers... we need to simplify things. So we just  say analogue instead, and accept that there are shades of  grey (and we need not define them all). 
  Whilst the output of a digital signal is analogue  (similarly, the output of a wav file is not all the  information, but a fourier transform of it.... or so my  understanding goes), the digital signal loses information.  The point of having analogue is that it has "Infinite  definition." Because with digital, things are quantized, and  whilst we quantize things to a level where we can't really  notice the difference, the difference is still known. There  are certain things that occur when processing digital  signals, for example, the sample frequency must be twice  that of the highest frequency used in the sound, (hence why  mp3s and the like are generally 44.1kHz) so that a digital  representation of a crest and a trough (of the signal wave)  can be made. I believe thats called Nyquist theory.
 
  My point, the output of a digital format may be analogue,  but it has lost quality because at some stage it has been  digitized. The point of analord (and analogue) is that it  doesnt lose anything to quantization. I bet no-one can  really hear the difference between a 192kbps mp3 (or better  yet, AAC) file and the vinyl. I think its all just novelty  value. 
 
  
         
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           ecnadniarb
             on 2005-01-19 17:34 [#01467515]
         Points: 24805 Status: Lurker | Followup to tnavelerri: #01467512 | Show recordbag
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You mentioned base 2 :(
  elusive will be back to destroy this thread with massive  misinformation :) 
 
  
         
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           tnavelerri
             on 2005-01-19 17:39 [#01467520]
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that elusive is ever so elusive!
 
  
         
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           mylittlesister
             from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2005-01-19 17:44 [#01467525]
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aslong as we dont need to explain ADC converters, we're  alright... that will explode your minds (bore you to death) 
 
  
         
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           tnavelerri
             on 2005-01-19 17:45 [#01467527]
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ohh yeah, after reading over what I said... what your  supposed to infer about nyquist theory is that information  about waves is lost when its quantized. I sine wave at the  frequency of 22.05kHz when turned into an mp3 will be a  square wave. 
 
  
         
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           evolume
             from seattle (United States) on 2005-01-19 17:55 [#01467543]
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when you watch a spinning wheel as it speeds up, it will  look like it is slowing then going in reverse then slowing  and then going forward again then  reverse again.  for  example sometimes on the hiway, if you look at the wheel of  a car traveling next to you, it will look as if it is going  in reverse.  This is because you brain is sampling images at  a high velocity, and kinda animating them into movement.  
 
  another phenomenon based on the same principle is the  illusion that your TV is pulsing if you look at it while  making motorboat noises with your lips, or playing a  digeridoo, or eating something crunchy.  the vibrations of  your skull cause a strobe effect that interferes with the  sampling velocity of your eyes and brain.
 
  so i'm not really sure what i'm talking about here, but i  thought, like, maybe it was relevant, like! 
 
  
         
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           tnavelerri
             on 2005-01-19 18:44 [#01467578]
         Points: 558 Status: Lurker
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Sometimes the hemispheres of your brain go out of sync, for  a split second. The image that one eye percieves is  interpretted before the other eyes image is interpretted.  This can cause you to think that you've seen something  before, when in reality, you haven't. Yes, i'm talking about  deja vu. Although this has nothing to do with anything, I  enjoy mentioning it. 
 
  
         
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           fleetmouse
             from Horny for Truth on 2005-01-19 19:02 [#01467595]
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One nice thing about this analog craze is that synth makes  will start competing and driving down the prices. 
 
  I'd like an analog synth like an Alesis Andromeda or a  Minimoog Voyager but I just can't justify the cash outlay to  myself.
 
  In the meantime I bought an Alesis Micron which is the best  virtual analog I've ever heard. It destroys the Nords and  Acccess Viruses I tried. It has the meaty chunkiness of real  analogs.
 
  Still and all I'd like to see an affordable quality  monophonic synth with a builtin keyboard and some nice  versatile routing possibilities for say $700 USD. 
 
  
         
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           Zephyr Twin
             from ΔΔΔ on 2005-01-19 20:08 [#01467639]
         Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Followup to fleetmouse: #01467595 | Show recordbag
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god, the synth I want most right now is an andromeda... god  those things are ace. 
 
  
         
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           Zephyr Twin
             from ΔΔΔ on 2005-01-19 20:08 [#01467640]
         Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Followup to Zephyr Twin: #01467639 | Show recordbag
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the "god" count in that last post is simply unacceptable.
 
 
  
         
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           brokephones
             from Londontario on 2005-01-19 20:12 [#01467642]
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In terms of analog shit, the only thing I really get the  urge to buy is a 303 but then I slap myself in the face to  put my thinking back on solid ground. 
 
  
         
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           Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2005-01-20 02:27 [#01467802]
         Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to brokephones: #01467642 | Show recordbag
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Same here, not just because it's iconic (although I'll admit  that comes into it), but because I love the sound and want  to use it in my tracks. However, Audiorealism Bassline is  good enough to fool me most of the time (I blind tested  myself and got it right 60:40% of the time, as opposed to  the 90:10 with rebirth) and it is about 1/10th of the  price.
 
  I can't possibly justify the cost for what it does. I know  it's an investment and will hold its value etc. but you can  get a lot better (more versatile) gear for £800. As  Fleetmouse says, you should be able to get a "proper"  analogue workstation for that much. Hopefully, as classic  synths break over the years, and the number of people into  making music increases, the price will come down. I do think  a lot of the gear is overpriced and takes advantage of the  fact that they will largely be owned by professional  studios/individuals, who can afford to throw money around. 
 
  
         
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           E-man
             from Rixensart (Belgium) on 2005-01-20 03:43 [#01467847]
         Points: 3000 Status: Regular
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analogue: 
  1. [n]  something having the property of being analogous to  something else
  2. [adj]  (electronics) of a circuit or device having an  output that is proportional to the input; "analogue device";  "linear amplifier"
 
  digital:
  1. [adj]  (electronics) of a circuit or device that  represents magnitudes in digits; "digital computer"
  2. [adj]  relating to or performed with the fingers;  "digital examination"
  3. [adj]  displaying numbers rather than scale positions;  "digital clock"; "digital readout"
 
  the key here is analogy, when the needle of an analog VU  moves,  it is air pressure (sound...) causing it to travel  in a predetermined scale representing a physical phenomenon  (volume, watts, ...) so it is a perfect representation at  any given moment of the real thing, if you could zoom as  much as you want in the scale it would always represent the  same thing with the same realism.
 
  a digital one as got a resolution wich leads to a limit in  what precision it can achive, it'll go straight from 1 to 2  if his resolution doesn't allow it to represent 1,5.
 
  a good example is knob value for synths, midi data is  typically 128 levels for a given knob, so your cutoff won't  be very precise if it's scale is limited like that...
 
  try to map thohse 128 value on the on the frequency scale of  human hearing and you'll quickly see the necessity to have  big resolution in digital for precision.
  :)
 
  
         
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