The minority? Doubtful. They just don't feel the need to get on the internet every chance they can get and bash vinyl .... they are too busy enjoying music .... and life.
Another Analog v. Digital Thread? Not Really
I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. The premise is this: If the highest compliment that can be given to digital is that it sounds analog, why bother with digital? I would never have posted this question, but the other week something happened. After owning my Oppo 205 for about a year and a half, I decided to sell it given the fact I wasn’t that crazy about it and the selling prices were quite good, although I posted mine for significantly less than many others are asking. BTW - In the last month I owned the Oppo, I found it tremendously improved by placing a Vibrapod 3 under each foot.
So a nice young man comes by for an audition and he likes the Oppo very much and purchases it. He is into 4k and all that stuff, but also wants some better audio quality. So that’s that.
Before he leaves, he asks to hear a vinyl record played on my Basis turntable. It’s a nice table - 2001 with Vector arm and Transfiguration Orpheus. I would rate it as the low end of the high end. Well the guy’s jaw just dropped. After sitting for an hour listening to the Oppo, he says that everything is so much more "alive" was the word he used and he couldn’t get his mind around the fact that he was listening to the exact same system with everything the same except the source.
I was considering replacing the Oppo with something like a Cambridge transport and Orchid dac because I have to play my CDs, right? But then I starting thinking why I had to play CDs anymore at all. It’s not so crazy when you think about it. Many of us gave up vinyl when CDs started getting decent, so what’s so strange about going back in the other direction?
So I asked myself - if analog is so much better, why would I even bother listening to CDs anymore?
Convenience? Well, sure, but I don’t really consider putting on a record very inconvenient, so that’s not really it.
Many titles on CD that are not on vinyl? I think that argument may be largely dissipated nowdays. It seems that virtually anything I would remotely want to listen to is available on vinyl, either new or used. You have thousands of CDs? OK, but if they don’t sound as good as a record, why would you want to listen to them just because you have them. I know it seems like a waste, but it happens sometimes.
Let me just finish with this, so there’s no confusion. If you have some insane high-end digital rig that you believe outdoes analog, this is not directed to you. But, for anyone who believes the best compliment you can give to digital is that it sounds analog, why bother? Also, to you streamers out there, the freedom from having a large quantity of physical media in your home is definitely a good argument. We all collect too much stuff and it’s nice to get rid of some.
Hopefully, this will be taken in the spirit it’s given, but I doubt it.
Merry Christmas, really.
So a nice young man comes by for an audition and he likes the Oppo very much and purchases it. He is into 4k and all that stuff, but also wants some better audio quality. So that’s that.
Before he leaves, he asks to hear a vinyl record played on my Basis turntable. It’s a nice table - 2001 with Vector arm and Transfiguration Orpheus. I would rate it as the low end of the high end. Well the guy’s jaw just dropped. After sitting for an hour listening to the Oppo, he says that everything is so much more "alive" was the word he used and he couldn’t get his mind around the fact that he was listening to the exact same system with everything the same except the source.
I was considering replacing the Oppo with something like a Cambridge transport and Orchid dac because I have to play my CDs, right? But then I starting thinking why I had to play CDs anymore at all. It’s not so crazy when you think about it. Many of us gave up vinyl when CDs started getting decent, so what’s so strange about going back in the other direction?
So I asked myself - if analog is so much better, why would I even bother listening to CDs anymore?
Convenience? Well, sure, but I don’t really consider putting on a record very inconvenient, so that’s not really it.
Many titles on CD that are not on vinyl? I think that argument may be largely dissipated nowdays. It seems that virtually anything I would remotely want to listen to is available on vinyl, either new or used. You have thousands of CDs? OK, but if they don’t sound as good as a record, why would you want to listen to them just because you have them. I know it seems like a waste, but it happens sometimes.
Let me just finish with this, so there’s no confusion. If you have some insane high-end digital rig that you believe outdoes analog, this is not directed to you. But, for anyone who believes the best compliment you can give to digital is that it sounds analog, why bother? Also, to you streamers out there, the freedom from having a large quantity of physical media in your home is definitely a good argument. We all collect too much stuff and it’s nice to get rid of some.
Hopefully, this will be taken in the spirit it’s given, but I doubt it.
Merry Christmas, really.
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- 67 posts total
Plus my friends there is another level to the digital system that HEA has not discovered. http://tuneland.forumotion.com/t509-my-low-mass-tunable-setup#9074 |
I don't have a turntable any more so I can't really comment on the comparison. But in the past few years of having access to good quality content through streaming, I have discovered more music I love than in the previous 40 years as an audiophile. I couldn't imagine giving that up at this point. I love finding more music, and while I certainly have my favorites that I go back to often, I love discovering new artists, and even new genres that I never paid attention to in the past. Since I am close to retiring, I am also watching my hifi budget much more than I have in years past, so the idea of splitting my more-limited budget between digital and analog doesn't make sense to me. If I'm going to spend $3K, $5K, or $10K more on my audio system, I'd rather spend it on upgrading my digital front-end (or other components) instead of adding a decent quality turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono stage. And that's before investing in any actual music, which is what it's all about. |
Putting aside mastering, I think well tuned digital surpasses analog above about $6k. Hi-rez is really exceptional, but even SoX upsampling from 16/44 is quite good now. Everything matters, and you have to pay a lot of attention to source PC, program, OS tuning, noise, power supplies, tweaks, etc but spinning disks are legacy tech now IMO. The bit about "good digital sounds like analog so why bother" is missing what's happening. As digital improves, it loses that harshness, glare and eventually becomes liquid and then tonally rich. So that trend is towards analog, but it retains all the benefits of digital too, low distortion, no surface noise, RIAA, wear, and physical limitations and resonances. I’m very happy with a few years old Bel Canto stack RefLink, DAC3.5mk2, VBL, and looking forward to my next upgrade, probably the Black DAC-Pre with MQA and fed by an Ether-Regen. Agree with Jaytor, sold my TT and records in ’95 haven’t looked back, but it did take 20 years longer than I expected for digital to really excel. It’s still climbing faster in price/performance than analog too. |
- 67 posts total