If digital is better than analog, why do people prefer analog effects instead of digital? (guitar)?

Question

This is mainly based on what I have read. I am looking into electric guitar effects and was wondering why people bash multi-effects processors because they are digital instead of analog because I have been taught that digital sound has better quality than analog.

Answer 1

There are huge advantages to analog equipment over digital. However there are things digital technology has helped with. Every professionally produced record you have listened to has some amount of analog production to it. In studios almost all of the external processing we use is analog, whether that be compressors, pre-amps, EQ's or whatever there is still a significant amount of analog processing, even on those pop records we all love to hate. Digital doesn't distort naturally or nicely, you cannot not even compare the sound of a tube guitar amp to a solid state amp. You may think you don't know or can't hear the difference but to the professionals there is vast difference and that's why they are used in the studio and on tour. Nothing beats an actual plate reverb or the real reverb chambers Les Paul built in the Capitol Records studios, every record that gets cut in that facility uses those reverb chambers. Analog distortion actually has a unique sound to it and digital distortion is just a clipped waveform and the way the algorithms are written it can't behave the same way a tube distorts an audio signal. It would take 4 years of college to explain all of the theories behind this.

Answer 2

I don't agree that digital is better. I've never heard a digital reverb that sounded as good, to my ear, as a spring reverb tank or a digital distortion that sounded as good as tubes being clipped. But I guess it's a matter of opinion really. I guess I have to refer to the old saying "the proof is in the pudding" (whatever the hell that means). Almost all professional guitarists prefer analog effects, so take that for what it's worth I suppose.



Personally I can deal with digital modulation effects but never heard a digital distortion I liked. Just sounds fake of lack of a better term.

Answer 3

I like the mulit effects boxes myself, but here's what the crumb bums are thinking. They're going back to tubes, claiming a "Warmer" tone. How do you quantify that? They claim the same thing on mulit effects, some boxes add unnecessary tubes just to placate the tubeophites. Fact is, most people can't hear the difference. I'd say none of the tweeny girls that actually buy music these days can hear the difference, I mean who are they listening to? Bieber? One direction? What's that tell you. They don't know squat, so why are these guys giving a care about something so inexact as "Warmth" of sound? I don't know. In theory, the digital encoding doesn't have the smoothness of analog. However, depending on the quality of the unit, it's nearly impossible to hear on higher quality units.

Answer 4

Because they think they sound better. Digital technology is "better" than analogue technology in the same way that solid state amps are "better" than vacuum tube amps and guitars with active pick ups and pre-amps are "better" than those with passive electronics: technically this may be the case but generally people prefer the sound of the old technology.