For those new to electronic music, what exactly does it mean to have digital sound versus analog sound?
Wendy: Digital, of course, is essentially computer data which accurately describes an audio signal. It’s easily manipulated and can be copied exactly — all those ones and zeros, you know. Analog is how we usually describe sound waves, a continuous change of pressure or an electrical signal, what a microphone produces, what we used to record on tape. It’s a much riskier way to handle audio, but historically was the method we first discovered. Between the two, don’t look for deeper meaning or arbitrary differences. There is a cult of near-religious dogma that proclaims analog sound on LPs (“vinyl”) to be perfection (what a hoot that is for those of us who used to cut LPs for a living!). They think you have to use special wires and elaborate techniques they don’t even understand, and they claim that digital is in cahoots with Lucifer. It’s kind of pathetic, based on ignorance and flamboyant cheek. The simple answer for synthesizers or reproduction is: To the listener, it shouldn’t matter
