Podcast #1065: Albums, CDs, and Hi Res Digital - Listeners Chime In

This week we have three features provided by our listeners. Scott Hawk has thoughts on why CDs were considered superior to albums in the early 80s. John Lyman compares Records vs Airplay and Digital lossless and Tim Klevar reviews the Airfly Bluetooth dongle and the Sony Mark V headphones. Plus we have listener emails and news.

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News:

• NBC Could Give Third Hour Of Nightly Primetime Back To Local Affiliates
• Samsung, Prime Video to Offer 8K Content From ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
• Report: Budget-friendly Samsung displays on the horizon

Other:

• AVR-X1700H-Refurbished $550
• Join the Neat Exchange - Social Media for Whiskey Drinkers
• Ara's Woodworking
• Join the Flaviar Whisky Club and get a free bottle

CD’s Were Universally Recognized as Superior to Albums in the 1980s

By Scott Hawk

Back in 1985, cassettes were outselling records and you probably remember how terrible they were.  Cheap housings made them wobbly inside your player. Cheap tape material gunked up the heads and reels of your cassette deck with soot. They used Dolby B or no noise reduction. All this got worse if you kept them in your car. 

For many people, records were not much better. Few people cleaned their records so pops, hisses and cracks were common. Plus, the record undergoes wear with each play since the needle is physically touching the grooves.  Plus, the stylus would also exhibit wear, reducing its ability to track the grooves on the record. A stylus starts off with a nice point but gets rounder over time.  So, play a record 300 times and the wear on the stylus and record obviously effects the sound quality. Most turntables were belt driven and the belts had been stretched, dried out or slipping which caused all sorts of wow & flutter. 

Now, enter the CD. Even though CD players were at first expensive, within a few years all CD players sounded alike. Everyone who listened to music got an upgrade.  If you had a cassette tape, the new CD sounded amazing. And, if your tape was a few years old, the new CD sounded like it came from heaven.  If you had a worn out record playing on a worn out turntable, you also got a major sound upgrade.  And, if you listened to FM radio, you too got a huge sound upgrade.  Plus, they sounded great on the first play and the 300th. CDs were also indestructible compared to tapes and records. 

No wonder everyone raved about digital music.  

So, what happened since then? Today, getting a good music experience is much simpler. Any phone with even basic headphones stream good sounding music. And, nice sounding music can even come from a bluetooth speaker.  But to get music out of a turntable, you have to go through a process which has some attraction. It’s certainly more of a process than using your phone. That process has some allure to it and the music will sound different. People can decide for themselves if something that sounds different is actually better.

I think my own experience was not the most common. I was passionate about this as a kid.  I saved up to buy a fancy direct-drive turntable, with a floating suspension and a carbon fiber tonearm. I bought a Shure cartridge, installed it myself and adjusted the tonearm, tracking pressure and tracking angle. I’d buy a new album and play it twice … once to remove any manufacturing artifacts and then again to copy it to a Hi-Bias or Metal tape with Dolby C noise reduction. I splurged on a 3-head tape deck and cleaned it (and my records) religiously.  I’d only play the record again to replace the tape or make a mix tape.  I was very particular in getting the tape to sound as close to the record as I could. 

So … a friend gets a CD player and loans it to me.  I go out and buy 2 CD’s … Don Fagan’s Nightfly and Dire Straits (first album).  Holy cow … it blew away my ears.  The highs on the cymbals were stunning. The dynamic range was astonishing.  The extra thump of the bass gives me chills to this day.  Even after all the effort I took to get the best sound, this new technology just ran the table.

Record vs Airplay and Digital lossless a Listener’s Test 

By John Lyman

With all the discussion I was curious about the difference in the following three formats: Streaming via AirPlay 2, USB to Amp streaming at highest rate vs a record.

My setup for the test:  

• M1 iMac streaming to an Airport Express (Airplay 2)  - digital output into the receiver (10 Feet away)

• 2019 16” MacBook Pro connected to Amp using USB output set to 24 bit 192Khz 

• Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo Turntable - connected to a Cambridge Audio phono amp

• Amp is a Cambridge Audio CXA-81 

• Speakers are Wharfdale EVO 4.2 

• Sub is turned off and no EQ running

• Using Apple Music for digital content

The songs I picked were  determined by the few albums I have and those that are brand new.  I also chose the first song on a side of the record so I was listening to the same thing from all sources.  I played about 1:30 minutes of the song.

I went in the same order starting with streaming to Airplay, USB direct connect and then turntable.

Songs used

• Elton John - Sweet Painted Lady (24 bit 44.1Khz  lossless from Apple) 

• Neil Young - Old Man (24 bit 196 Khz)

• Pink Floyd - Speak to Me/Breathe (24bit 96Khz)

Overall I noticed the same thing 

Airplay had the narrowest soundstage, was the brightest sounding of all, and the instruments did not stand out as much.  The horn on Sweet painted lady was not as pronounced.  In the chorus of Old Man where its a higher pitch and louder - the other instruments get lost.  Breathe you can’t tell there are two voice at the beginning 

USB Connection While Painted lady was at the same stream quality I could hear a difference. The soundstage was larger and I noticed a horn that I did not in the Airplay 2.  Old Man is where I really could hear the difference in the sound stage being a little wider and the instruments were clearer.  When they get to chorus its not as bright as the Airplay and I could easily make out the other instruments.  Breathe - I noticed there were at least two voices singing and again bigger soundstage 

Album - WOW this blew me away on all three songs with a much warmer sound and clean.  Sweet Painted Lady had a great soundstage, the horn came out great along with the other instruments.  Old Man the chorus was not as high pitched as the others and I could make out more of the background singers. Speak to Me/Breathe - this is where I was blown away.  In the digital version the jump between Speak to me and Breath is very pronounced there is no ramp up to the louder music you just jump there.  On the album there was a ramp up and then the wall of music hit me.  

Conclusion 

I found that the higher bit rate/more information provided did create a better sound picture filling in the holes a little better because of the additional information.  I would also say the direct connection does make a difference as I noticed with Sweet Painted Lady.  However, with the majority of my listening being done during the work day or streaming around the house with a non-critical ear. I will continue to use Airplay 2 because it is easy.   However, for critical listening I will be using either a Mac hooked up directly or an Album with a good bourbon.

Update 

I wanted to send an update after this weekend.  I was reading an article about Open Core Legacy Patcher (OpenCore Legacy Patcher) that allows a person to install the latest Mac OS on older machines.  So I went through the process of updating my 2012 Mac mini that I use as media server.  This allowed me to load Monterey on that machine and take full advantage of Apple Music lossless on the machine and also Airplay to the machine from other devices.  I’m streaming the music over USB to my amp as it allows full 24/192 output (digital capped out at 24/96) when direct streaming.  

I also received Supertramp’s Even in the Quietest moments original album.  This album has a song called Fool's Overture that I have been using for speaker testing since the 90’s. A great song because of so many instruments and changes really puts speakers through its paces. So I listened to this song from the album and again I noticed  a warmer and good sound stage.

To me the bottom line is that both lossless and vinyl sound great for those dedicated music listening times.  The reason I believe those two give a better sound quality is similar to streaming vs a Blu-ray Disc the more information the better the end product will be and the better the sound stage. 

Airfly & Sony Mark V A Listener’s Review

By Tim Klevar

The Airfly is everything it promises to be. I bought the Duo and it allows two devices to connect. If you have cup phones and earpods, this or the Duo Pro is for you. There are two models of the Airfly: Duo and Pro. Both allow for two devices to connect. The Pro provides an “Aux in” function. The Duo is about $10 less expensive than the Pro, although neither are more than $55. Mostly, I think, cars and other things do not need this. 

I bought the Duo. It works well, it is “elegant” in its design and function. It only has two buttons with dots. There is a single dot and double dot button used to connect and select the devices. Pressing either button connects to the device that was paired on that button. It charges via a USB-C port and has a USB-C to USB-A cable included. It is only about 6 inches long, but enough to get from an IFE USB to the AirFly. It is pretty cool.

The Sony Mark V headphones are everything they promise to be. I agree with Tom’s and RTINGS analysis. While they do not come with aptX, they have the other main codecs, including LDAC. These seem to me to be better than the Bose 700’s, which likely will not be upgraded until next year. On the other hand, the Mark V uses BT 5.2 and I was able to get about 40+ feet away from the source with no dropoff in quality or squeaks/pops. It was just as clear as when I was in the room.

These work really well. They are not perfect. And pricey. But if you have the money, they are worth it. I believe it is better than the Bose 700s.  The noise canceling is super and the sound is excellent. I do not have one of the subscriptions to try the spatial 360 stuff. The ear cups fit nicely over my normal sized ears and provide a snug fit. There are only two buttons, one to power on and one to change the noise canceling levels, of which there are about 6 or 7. I have not yet been on a plane to see about engine noise, but around the house, it is a “dark” zone when I have these on.

However, I notice that sometimes when I laugh or move my jaws just so, it pauses the video/audio stream and I have to double-tap the right cup to play again (I watch one or two episodes of Hogan’s Heroes or Bob Newhart to relax my mind before I go to bed). It is still pretty cool that when I take them off, the stream pauses and then resumes when I put them back on.

The connection via BT was clean, and the Duke Ellington I listened to was sensational. All ambient noise in my home office was eliminated. The app is a little lame, and to get the 360 Spatial, you have to use one of 5 services, one of which is TIDAL, but the others were obscure to me (Deezer, Artist, mugs.net,, Peertracks)

I particularly enjoyed being able to use the conductive touch feature to raise/lower the volume, skip ahead and such. Just a quick swipe on the left earcup was all that was needed. They also include a 3.5mm cable for a wired connection if you run out of juice, but they are supposed to last for 30 hours at full charge. A nice thing, you can get a couple of hours with a 3-5 minute charge, although with the advent of more in-seat power this is not really a “feature.” 

In theory you can use Aa-Lady to do things with the app, but I have not been able to figure that out yet. I also Have had issues trying to update the firmware.

While I know that high-speed connectivity is coming, many do not have that and use the IFE system. This doohickey will let them use their BT headphones for which they paid a fortune.

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