This is a longstanding debate amongst those who love digital vs those who understand and have experienced the virtues of vinyl/analog playback on a properly setup table. I love the convenience of digital and can say digital playback has made significant strides in sound quality with high performing DACs, Servers and streaming devices. Both formats and reproduction devices have a place in my home. While my digital playback system (dCS Vivaldi One Apex DAC/Player optimized with the dCS Vivaldi and Mutec Ref 10SE120 Clocks, along with the Taiko Audio Extreme Server), does a fantastic job reproducing music they still do not provide the naturalness, spaciousness and musicality of my less expensive (25K less) Analog rig (Acoustic Signature Ascona Neo TT w/TA-7000 TA with DS Audio 003 Optical cartridge and preamp). I won’t even talk about another dinosaur Reel to Reel which is even better sounding then digital and Vinyl playback. At the end of the day we all have personal choices and preferences - The most important thing is to enjoy the music.
Digital is far better than vinyl
I have invested a decent sum of money into my digital setup, including a decent streamer (Innuos Zenith MK3), a very good dac (Denafrips Terminator 2), Eno filter, and good cabling. But after being told by many here that vinyl is vastly superior to digital, I thought let’s build an analog system and see what all the fuss is about. So this is what I did ...
I picked up an Audio Technica TT from Amazon for around $299. I then used one of the older integrated amps with a built-in phono, which I believe I paid around $500 a few years ago. And, finally, just to even out the playing field I bought the cheapest possible cables from alibaba. Since I didn’t have extra rack space to put the TT on, I got a couple of bricks and built a DIY platform for it.
So after listening to the analog setup for a few days, I can proclaim without a shadow of doubt that digital is far, far superior than vinyl on any given day, and twice a day on Sunday.
What has been your experience? And please, don’t mention your gear or any special. cartridges, isolation, etc. Not interested in your system details. I just want to make sure you guys understand that digital is far, far superior than vinyl.
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- 200 posts total
- 200 posts total