Vinyl

[Rev. Rye]

When vacuum tube amplifiers are driven to distortion, they produce even-order harmonics. Solid-state amplifiers produce odd-order harmonics. The former sound better to the latter.

The problem is, you are not supposed to drive either type of amplifier to distortion. If you do this, the replicated sound is NOT true to the original.

This really has nothing to do with the analog vs. digital argument. The FACT is that digital recording techniques are far superior to any analogue techniques.

If you want to argue vacuum tube vs, solid-state, that one is easy too. The characteristics of transistors remain constant throughout their lives. This is not the case with vacuum tubes because the elements within them warp over time due to heat.

Make no mistake: Digital > Analogue. Solid-State > Vacuum Tube.

Don't buy snake oil.

As a guitarist, I know that there can actually be advantages to analogue. The thing is, as AFTT47 and I both stated, those advantages work only if you're not claiming it's somehow staying true to the original sound. Guitarists still remain fond of vacuum tubes specifically because they change the original sound (tubes being driven to distortion that sounds cool). If vinyl somehow sounds better (and there's really no reason it should, outside the loudness war), that's because the limitations of the format end up working in the recording's favour.