Why so much obsessing over analog? All the best albums are digital sounding...

[robotmonkey]

During a long bus ride went over my mental list of sonically most stunning and adventurous albums. What in my opinion distinguishes these albums from all the others is excellent programming, sound design and of course mixing. All these albums sound like nothing else out there and many of them were clearly revolutionary in their time.

Having read some of the "Does the average listener really care if its analog?" thread and remembering that someone recently accused Emulator X3 sounding too digital, I also realized that actually all my favorite albums actually do sound very much digital. I think in my top 15 or 20 there aren't any "analog sounding" albums.

Now granted, most of these albums were made by using a mix of analog, digital and acoustic gear. But overall they all sound very much digital. No supersaws or anything like what is used in most of modern bland sounding cookie cutter dance and pop music.

Some of the albums I was thinking of:
Peter Gabriel IV, Passion, Us by Peter Gabriel (CMI Fairlight, various versions of Emu Emulator, Wavestation, Kurzweil K2xxx)
Anything by Paul Schütze (mostly Kurzweil K2xxx)
Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook "Sleeps With the Fishes" and most other things Michael Brook has done, especially for Real World Records (mostly DX7). Also Brian Eno's Nerve Net has plenty of DX7.
Keen-O Nobody Knows How and Why. Not sure what digital synths but I'd guess M1, DX7, E-MU Proteus and some Ensoniq due to heavy involvement of Roger Eno.
Jon Hassell's Dressing for Pleasure (lot's of E-MU module sounds there). Tim Story Buzzle also features plenty of E-MU stuff.
Two albums made by Russell Mills that are absolutely stunning sound-wise sound completely digital.
And I could go on and on.

But to me seems that digital offers much more interesting sound and programming possibilities that analog ever could. Also there is nothing wrong with the "digital sound" that many seem to think is bad.

[Acid Mitch]

No supersaws or anything like what is used in most of modern bland sounding cookie cutter dance and pop music.
.

Super saws are digital. They first appeared in the JP8000 which is a digital synth.
And your list of albums is entirely subjective.I wouldn't even consider the artists or the albuns you mention.

[Gamma-UT]

Peter Gabriel IV, Passion, Us by Peter Gabriel (CMI Fairlight, various versions of Emu Emulator, Wavestation, Kurzweil K2xxx)

I can't help feeling that the PG examples in particular show what goes wrong when technology becomes the underpinning of an album. The three eponymous albums that came before IV were stuffed full of interesting songs and experiments (particularly the third album) that weren't tied to a particular technology. III was the most cohesive in terms of a sound, which involved a fair amount of studio trickery, but not something anyone would characterise as belonging to a particular technology. After all, you have big gated digital reverb mixed in with dime-store guitar amps.

But IV seemed to be mostly: "Hey guys, you can make funny sounds by banging a pipe on a stone slab and sampling it. Far out!"

[Tricky-Loops]

I still don't know why a hardware synth with a DIGITAL chip is called "analog". Now whether I use a processor in a hardware synth or in my computer, it's the same thing. Maybe I would call a piano, an acoustic drum kit or a guitar "analog" but everything with a DIGITAL chip and power supply is DIGITAL, IMO.

[Bronto Scorpio]

I wish people would just subjectively judge if something sounds good instead of using analyzers and buzzwords to form their opinion.

Cheers
Dennis

[cryophonik]

Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook "Sleeps With the Fishes"

What a great album. Nice to meet another person who is familiar with it.

[Acid Mitch]

I still don't know why a hardware synth with a DIGITAL chip is called "analog".

if the digital chip is not in the signal path ,then it's still classed as analogue, as it's only the analogue components making the sound.
Examples would be the DSI synths or the modern Moogs, where the digital stuff is only used for control, not generating sound.

[chk071]

How is it with digitally stabilized analog oscillators? Is the digital component considered to be "in the signal path"?

[Tricky-Loops]

Are there synths out there which work without power supply or battery? Like an acoustic piano?

[Acid Mitch]

Are there synths out there which work without power supply or battery? Like an acoustic piano?

You mean electronic instruments that don't run off electricity ?

[Acid Mitch]

How is it with digitally stabilized analog oscillators? Is the digital component considered to be "in the signal path"?

No. The digital part is a control signal, not what generates the sound.

[chk071]

Alright.

[Tricky-Loops]

Are there synths out there which work without power supply or battery? Like an acoustic piano?

You mean electronic instruments that don't run off electricity ?

Yes, something like that. Like an acoustic piano, drum kit or guitar...

[Acid Mitch]

Are there synths out there which work without power supply or battery? Like an acoustic piano?

You mean electronic instruments that don't run off electricity ?

Yes, something like that. Like an acoustic piano, drum kit or guitar...

No, I've never heard of an acoustic synthesiser.
Maybe a pipe organ would count,as organs are essentially additive synthesisers, where you use the drawbars to add harmonics and create the sound.

[stillshaded]

Sorry but the albums you mentioned have analog written all over them.