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after TT upgrade, digital sounds like crap- help

I listen to mostly digital, and a bit of high quality 180g, 200g, etc vinyl. I upgraded my turntable, cartridge, and rack yesterday. I'm having a problem now in that my digital chain is sounding quite pale in comparison to some of my favorite vinyl. It's not sounding bad, just a bit cold, stale, hollow, etc in comparison. I'm not down with this at all.

I'm wondering if anyone may be able to suggest a method (maybe new piece of gear) to help fill out, warm up, etc my digital chain. The vinyl is just sounding wider, warmer, fuller. The stereo width difference on a lot of the stuff I listened to last night was quite dramatic.

My system is comprised of the following:

1. B&W 683's
2. McIntosh MA6300 (used as preamp, power amp, and phono stage)
3. Mac Mini and Sonos Connect running, Audirvana for hires, Spotify and MOG
4. Oppo BDP-105 (used as DAC for Mac Mini via USB and Sonos via coax)
5. Rega RP3 + Elys2
6. Audioquest cabling where it counts
radambe
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
In terms of trying some CD playback..... I do not own a single CD. I could burn one I guess, hehehe.
Burned CD's can vary greatly in quality. I have heard some that sound great and others that were unlistenable. Probably worth the price of a single CD to help determine the problem. I'm thinking the CD will sound much better than the Mac Mini or Sonos.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,411 posts
 
It's worth testing CD playback. You must know somebody who owns a CD; try using one mastered after 1990.
hifimaniac
508 posts
 
Buy my EAR 192 DAcute DAC I have for sale and it will fix your digital issues in a heartbeat! You need a better DAC.
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
Use the digital equalizer program that is in iTunes.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"06-14-13: Radambe
Would it make sense to try a tubed DAC or just a different DAC for that matter? The MusicHall 25.3 looks interesting. I bought the Oppo to use specifically as a DAC. I'm still within the window of being able to return the thing, but I'd honestly be surprised if I'd find such a huge difference moving to something else. Am I wrong? The difference using some of my best case scenario records is pretty vast. Switching back to the digital after listening for a few minutes sounds like someone just put a huge midrange cut filter on the preamp output. What I wanted was the mac D100 but didn't want to spend beyond the Oppo (whatever it was like $1100 or so).

In terms of trying some CD playback..... I do not own a single CD. I could burn one I guess, hehehe."

If you go on like this, you will be disappointed. You can't take something that doesn't sound right to begin with and patch it up somehow so it competes with something that does sound right. You can't get more than what you started with. The solutions you are talking about can only take away/hide aspects of the sound that you don't like.

Before I go further, I'd like you to answer a question, if you can. Its regarding you DAC (The Oppo you mention). Leading up to its purchase, how much consideration did you give to the analog portion of the DAC? And what made you choose it overall?
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