The term analog implies a signal is continuously variable, compared to digital where a signal has been converted into discrete numbers. In the land of modular synthesizers, analog refers to a circuit design that has no digital (or at least, computer-based) components – instead, it does all of its processing using transistors, diodes, capacitors, and the such rather than CPUs and DSPs.
Some will say analog sounds warmer, fuller, more organic, etc. than digital. In reality, very good digital can sound just as good or better than typical analog circuits, and poorly implemented analog can sound worse than well-implemented digital, so I personally stay away from value judgments when it comes to analog versus digital – they’re just different methods or types of circuitry to achieve an end. Do you like the end result? Then it’s good, whatever its origin.
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