circuitfarmer

Spoiled for choice is a good thing, and it’s one reason why Linux is great. I think the community could do better at two things in this regard:

1. Helping new users understand that the choice is not really a major one (relative to making the switch to Linux). Adjust whatever to your needs as you learn, or distro hop.

2. Not jumping down new users’ throats if they pick Ubuntu / Mint / Fedora / whatever. Again, the freedom is a plus. A new user picking Ubuntu doesn’t make an older user need to use Ubuntu. Let the new user have that joy of discovery how they want it.

I think if we all focused on these, the community would be better off for it. I’m all for a good ribbing about distros between experienced users, but it definitely can scare newbies away.

His skin would clear up if he stopped drinking.

I totally agree it’s just vibes. I’m sorry if I suggested otherwise, but most of my point is about audio being subjective.

If everything is subjective, then some people will like tape.

I totally agree that CD should be better.

I really wasn’t trying to make a point, except that a simple search shows that the debate about VHS vs CD exists.

I don’t think it comes down to either one being objectively better.

This is why the debate still exists:

There is no analog audio format that can rival a 32bit 96KHz PWM recording, and that’s not even the best digital recording available

Analog audio is not sampled. By definition, it includes more data than any sampled version.

Now, the benefits of the sampling in terms of reducing format noise or similar are (subjectively) up for debate.

Totally agree with things sounding better if you introduce noise. I suspect it has to do with sampling, and maybe is not well understood.

Fun fact: if you add some hisses and pops and a little bit of compression to CD audio before playing it, some people (me included) will say it sounds better.

Exactly. It is subjective. It’s not about right or wrong.

I think there are things (like above) where the measurements are misguided. But at the end of the day, even that doesn’t matter.

Agreed. Main issue is “better” is subjective and doesn’t always mean the same thing to different people.

I have dabbled in other tape formats, and one thing stands out to me about the compact cassette (not VHS): most people used them in the car, where conditions were bad for cassette storage. Car cassette players also tended to have poorer quality mechanisms and heads. As a result, many people remember the format being bad, when in fact, it was more about their use case. A quality home cassette deck with a quality cassette (e.g. type II or chrome) stored in the right conditions is capable of extremely good results.

Not sure if there is something similar with VHS audio, though. Very different format. I just know there is a debate, but it could be entirely bogus.

There’s a weird debate about the audio quality on VHS. Under the right conditions (right tape, right player, right source) it could be shockingly good – perhaps even better than CD audio, despite not being remembered terribly fondly.

If you really want to wow the ladies, be the one guy with a music collection on VHS.