Analog vs Digital Audio | The Truth About Which Is Better...

What's the difference between analog and digital audio? Is vinyl better than CD or MP3? What makes one better than the other? In this video, you'll learn about the benefits and drawbacks of analog and digital audio. By the end, you'll be able to answer these questions for yourself.

Videos Mentioned In This Video:

00:00 - Intro
00:14 - Analog Audio Explained
01:24 - Digital Audio Explained
02:55 - Analog vs Digital Audio: Pros & Cons
03:19 - Noise
04:30 - Fidelity
07:50 - Aliasing
08:55 - Harmonic Distortion & Non-Linearity
10:52 - Production & Editing
12:33 - Portability & Durability
13:36 - (Free) Speaker Placement Guide
14:08 - Subscribe To Audio University!

Book a one to one call:

#AudioUniversity

Disclaimer: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click them, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.

[StandbyCymbalist]

If you watch contemporary recording studio tours and interviews with professional audio engineers, the vast majority utilize hybrid recording and mixing techniques. They view devices as a "color" or "flavor" tools and utilize the best of both analog and digital tech.

[ToddWCorey]

Great video! I wanted to point out another reason digital got a bad rep: the "compression wars." Many studio engineers realized that they could use high levels of audio compression (NOT digital data compression) that weren't possible in the analog realm to achieve greater loudness (apparent volume). This lead to the life (dynamic range) being squeezed out of many classic recordings when they were originally remastered for digital. People with good ears heard the difference and thought it was a limitation of digital when it was just a case of engineers abusing the power of digital. When used properly, digital has all the fidelity of analog.

[gotchagoing]

Back in the '80's I gave my vinyl albums to my ex, and replaced my then small collection with cd's. I now have over 600 cd's, no more turntables and disc washers, zero stats, etc. A decent amp with good headroom, same same for the speakers, and you can, (as I do), bliss out to beautiful music all day and night. I'm in my 70's and well remember most of the equipment I used to have, including 3 reel to reels routed into a pair of AR 4X's. Now my modest Onkyo system satisfies me immensely. I couldn't be happier with my collection, and my modest gear. Rock on peeps...

[grahamserle]

Excellent video. I'm an audio nerd born in the late 50's and I've had all the formats. I think the biggest difference in what I hear comes down to the production quality/mix. I get asked this question a lot about which format is better but personally I think the digital format is way superior in so many ways. Yes I can pick the difference in something digital that is overly compressed but digitally remastered music from previous decades generally sounds way better than a mass produced vinyl record of that time for example. In fact there are limitations with vinyl too in replicating all the original frequencies because of the very narrow grooves, so there's that. If I had the original master on 2" wide tape I might change my mind but I've moved on from those days.

[thomasstambaugh]

An excellent, well-balanced piece. As an Electrical Engineer, I particularly appreciated the overview of sampling, Nyquist rates, and so on.

All of this is based on the Fourier transform, a mathematical operation that converts the amplitude of a signal that is some function of time (t) to the amplitude of an analogous signal that is a function of frequency (f). The rub is that a time-varying signal also has a phase (phi).

There is one missing aspect that is perhaps worth mentioning -- phase linearity. It is worth mentioning that no physical amplifier can perfectly reproduce both amplitude and phase. Most analog amplifiers use feedback from the output back to the input at each amplifier stage to provide predictable and linear gain from that amplifier stage. That feedback introduces phase distortion, however. Even worse, the phase distortion is a function of frequency, so that the phase distortion of a high-frequency signal is different from that of low-frequency signal.

Similar phenomena happen with speakers -- any transducer introduces phase, as well as amplitude, distortion into any audio signal. One of the reasons that flat-panel radiators have dramatically better imaging than cone speakers is that a flat panel has dramatically lower phase distortion.

Consider a mono signal split in half and delivered to an ideal stereo amplifier and speaker system with perfect amplitude and phase linearity. The listener will hear a single source directly between the two speakers. Now consider what happens if the polarity of one speaker is reversed, so that the left channel is 180 degrees out of phase with right. That tight single source will turn into a diffuse sound that floats all over the room with no apparent direction.

That's because our ears and auditory system use phase differences between our ears to determine where sound comes from.

One challenge with the original CD sampling rate is that it is difficult to reproduce the phase of the input frequencies. An audio system with excellent phase accuracy in the amplifier chain AND in the speakers may have better imaging and sound stage for a high-quality analog recording than for a CD digitized from the same recording.

A benefit of the higher-res audio (24 vs 16 bit samples, 96K/sec or more sample rate) is that the region of pronounced phase distortion is translated high enough in frequency that the human ear doesn't hear it.

[jukkamaljanen]

You sir have explained this and other subjects the easiest way to understand that I have ever come across with! You have great talent for explaining things!

[RobinTFH]

An excellent and well-presented analysis. Essentially it is what I tell people. I have been working with audio - recording and PA - since the late 1960's. I have used everything from 78 rpm records (actually, I had some 80 rpm discs from the late 1800s too), 45 rpm singles and 33 rpm LPs, open-reel tape (2 and 4-track), audio cassettes, up to to my current iMac Pro with a Sony digital recording system with both analogue and digital mixing, and a 40-year-old Technics audio system. I often think how much my late-father would have enjoyed the non-destructive editing and mixing I can now do. Yes, I still have and use my vinyl records and audio cassette tapes.
I really do agree with you that the most important aspect in a good audio system is positioning of your loudspeakers along with reducing interference from local electrical systems and an intelligent use of the audio controls on your amplifier. Quality matters, but knowing how to use the equipment is actually more important. Thankyou for your video.

[BirdArvid]

Great video. There is one "quality" difference that you do not mention, and that is cost: I used to own almost 5000Lp's and I had an expensive hand-built turntable, with a lovely tone-arm and cartridge; I had sunk quite a bit of cash into my analogue rig.. and it sounded great, but the cost-to-performance ratio was pretty low. Now with digital, you can get a pretty good sound for a fraction of what I spent, whereas good quality analogue still costs a lot. I'm not talking about the cheap spinners being sold on the internet now; I'm talking higher quality equipment. So for an experience anywhere near good digital, you need to spend a lot of money on analogue. On top of the actual player, you also need other things, like quality inner-sleeves and if you're serious; a good LP-cleaner with solutions, a.s.o. Honestly the only thing I miss about LP's, is starting spinning my LP, and lowering the needle down into the track, watching it move at 33.3; a very zen experience.

[hvymettle]

It's not always about the physics, sometimes it's about the feeling, and that's difficult to quantify. I grew up in an analog world and was an active participant in the digital revolution. Truth be told I've been to far too many concerts and my hearing isn't what it used to be so I can't tell any difference. But when I fire up the Harmon Kardon tube amp and put an album on the Dual 1249 and hear that crackle and hiss it makes me nostalgic for that time when nothing was perfect but life was good. Digital sounds great and is very convenient but it doesn't live within me.

[mister]

Hi Audio University, thanks for the speaker placement guide and for the whole video before it. You just gave me a reward for watching a video you clearly put a lot of effort into the production of that helped me, a lot and your other videos have completely changed the way I not only listen to music but also the way I look at and experience music and it's changed what I look for in headphones, DACs, amps, IEM, speakers - I even approach cables and sound treatment in a completely different way because of all the knowledge you have so generously shared.

Thankyou Audio University

[spacemissing]

I have never believed digital audio was bad. My introduction to it and my reaction to it was entirely positive,
and, while I wasn't financially prepared to adopt it right away, I wanted to. It has never failed me like records have.
That said, I am happy to continue to acquire old records containing material that will never be available any other way.

[pokepress]

I do think it's worthwhile to work with analog recordings at least a few times, even if you plan on using digital for everything. It gives you a better understanding of how sound reproduction works and what modifying waveforms actually does.

[SilentGloves]

As a mastering engineer, I sometimes pass a track through my analog loop purely for the DA/AD conversion. Doing so can take the edge off of certain music that has mostly been created digitally. Most of my clients are independent electronic music artists, and it isn't uncommon for me to receive a song that has zero analog sources in the mix. Just pushing it through the analog domain can sometimes be just what it needs. It's amazing how just a quick analog round trip can breathe life into an otherwise sterile tune. I'm not entirely sure exactly what this phenomenon is, because my DA/AD conversion is exceedingly transparent in terms of THD+N (-114dB), frequency response, phase, impulse response, and everything else I can measure. Perhaps its just confirmation bias, but my ears definitely perceive it.

[mikelanders]

What is interesting here is how music is analysed by waveform and not by what one actually discerns with his ears. The one thing I have concluded is, yes there exists different distortions in both recording, type of circuitry, etc. However, should one have suffient quality listening equipment can one begin to make a comparison between a disc and LP from the same group and same song. In my personal experience, the LP is much more dynamic, more involving and in essense the major thing is, it's more fun.

[sambolino]

As you mentioned, the technology has eliminated a lot of the limitations we used have, like the number of tracks, and this has resulted in the music changing. Kind of like how people started singing differently when they got electric microphones, songwriters and producers can now do things that were impossible before. This is not a bad thing, but sometimes it's the working within whatever limit you have set for yourself that results in art that would not have been achieved if you'd have had no limits. There's no reason why someone can't limit the number of tracks they use in a DAW, but speaking for myself, it's a lot easier to stay within your limits if it's impossible to exceed them. People started taking pictures differently once they no longer had to worry about how much film they had, or how much it cost to develop it. I think it takes awhile before people no longer get any benefit from old tech. Eventually, this talk about the limitations of the technology resulting in different music will be irrelevant and seem quaint. Or, maybe not; maybe artists will always go back to the old ways of doing things for a fun challenge. I know I enjoy doing stuff like trying to get a good sounding recording with one microphone, for instance.

[kcgunesq]

Thank you for explaining what I've always understood in an intuitive way and how my ears hear the music. I've always maintained that when people say "warmer" they mean "more like the way I remember it sounding when I played it on older media", even though they believe they mean "better".

Also, I'm not discounting people that prefer the older, noisier versions. While it isn't my taste in music, it is very often my taste in movies. A movie shot on film with noticeable grain can evoke emotions for me that no digital movie could. If I were to think of a remastered version of say Bullit or The French connection with all grain removed and color profiles altered to reflect modern camera sensors, I would cry.

[shadowseal]

I took the audiophile pill almost a decade ago, and I can not tell you how many times I had to explain to someone that actually no, just because it's an analog medium doesn't make it the best, and vinyl especially has a lot of compromises (mainly some heavy high passing on the master to prevent wider, deeper, grooves to fit more music on each side), when I switched to lossless digital for the fidelity boost.

It's funny because I use a lot of analog hardware (synths and a few compressors mostly) but like a lot of people are saying, I use them for flavor. Mixer clipping is fun and it doesn't take long to bounce a track from the computer back into ableton and see if processing it from there is better than processing it in the box.

Fantastic video!

[johannjohann]

Life without music would be a mistake. A true gift, showing that someone somewhere - really does care about us.

[serratusx]

I always hated the inner groove distortion that affects the last few tracks on each LP as the record turns slower and the resolution takes a nosedive. It was great when I could finally hear my favourite records on CD and have consistent quality throughout

[ricktotty]

I glad to hear someone telling the truth. Most music or ruined by recording it. If you use only one microphone to record drums, you can’t go back after 30 years and fix it. I got rid of all my vinyl years ago. I stream most of my music.