In the age of digital music, vinyl records have survived partly because the act of putting on the LP and nudging a needle towards the groove on the spinning record somehow makes the act of listening to music all the more involving. Not to mention that records could sound better too.
Still, it is quite surprising to see Sony introducing a vinyl player that also helps to encode the tracks into Hi-Res (High Resolution) audio. Sony, after all, has been in the forefront of digital music for so long with its Discman dominating the market in the 1990s.
Perhaps this new PS-HX500 player is to meet the needs of those who appreciate vinyl records’ “imperfections” and have a taste for warmer, more bassy renditions over the pure digital files.
It can take what you like on a record and help encode those qualities in high resolution music files so users can have a close representation of a analog music track in digital form.
The PS-HX500 plays vinyls at 45rpm and 33rpm, so you shouldn’t have an issue with most of your collection. It has a simple lever to lower the stylus onto the record so you don’t damage the previous record accidentally.
I have a cheap LP player that pales in comparison to the PS-HX500. The Sony player is able to pick up more detail in the tracks and even expand the sound stage.
When I played the track “Last Train to London” by Electric Light Orchestra and compared it to a Spotify track, I preferred the warmth from the LP though some details in the high frequencies appear a little lost to me. So in the end it all boils to personal preference and how you want to enjoy your music.
Converting analogue tracks to digital is pretty straightforward. You start by downloading and installing the “High Resolution Recorder” app on your PC. Plug in the USB cable that connects to the player to the PC and you are set to go.
Just hit the record button on the app when the music is playing from the PS-HX500 to save the sound file on the PC. You can choose between .dsf files or .wav depending on the file format your digital hi-fi system can support.
A few more clicks to determine the start of each music track and you can save it as individual files.
This S$799 player isn’t cheap when you have viable alternatives to do exactly the same thing. The PS-HX500, however, provides all the tools necessary to record it in High Resolution audio files out of the box.
So if you are after digital audio files that have that warmth of vinyl, this may be a quick and easy way to get those files playing on your digital players.
