[A6] A vs D?

[MelloT at aol.com]

>> Technically, ALL sound you can hear is analogue, even if it comes out of a 
digital synth.. I believe there is something more to do with how sound and 
waves interact with them
selves and eachother, something that perhaps we haven't found how to measure 
yet.>>

There ARE some simple differences that cause sound changes; 

- the A/D converters  will affect the sound.
- the audio amps built to amplifiy the output of anything.
- The math processing is very hard when one moves beyond simple sine waves, 
and the waveform that results is different from pure analog. 


But our perception does change. As do analog circuits! For a perception 
example - I can listen to a CD of Switched On Bach (1968) and say "That sounds 
analog", but it's not different sound than a 16 bit sample of a Minimoog - that we 
say isn't analog. I do believe what you say is true - we can't yet explain 
how humans react to sound. 

But I have also come to know good-sounding digital and hybrid systems that 
are beautiful. Compared to old organs (Hammond Novachord and S6) you would LAUGH 
at all the synths we say are warm and musical! But they have very few 
features, a different sound.

BrianK