About two years ago I gave my LP records, about 400 of them, to a relative and focused on going through my CD and SACD collection (currently about 800 discs) and replacing the dogs with the best available mastering. By now, most of the collection has been ripped. When I rip a disc, I measure and record its dynamic range using TT-DR Offline and check it against the online dynamic range database. I own a streamer but use a Denon DCD-A110 SACD-CD player most of the time.
I took this approach based on the following:
1.) The dynamic range of the best-mastered CD’s and SACD’s is essentially equal to that of the best-mastered vinyl. If the DR of the vinyl release exceeds that of the CD/SACD, it’s seldom more than a point, a difference generally considered to be insignificant. Weaker bass is often associated with slightly better DR. This is a key reason why mid-1980s CD’s tend to sound a little thin but often have better DR than later on--they were mastered to sound like the records they replaced. Records were mastered to fit the RIAA curve, suppressing bass sufficiently to keep the needle from jumping out of the groove, especially nearer the center. The trends in recent years--first the loudness wars, then the shift toward mastering recordings for car stereos and earbuds--have not made it easy to find releases with good DR, but it’s still possible.
2.) SACDs and steady improvements in players closed the sound-quality gap vs. vinyl. Nothing that can be said about jitter or light scatter, which are better managed now than twenty years ago, compares to the problems of the RIAA curve, decreasing sound quality as the needle approaches the center of the record, wow and flutter, or the effects of dust, dirt, and wear on the record and the needle. YMMV. To each his own.
3.) More recently, advances in the use of interpolation-based algorithms have dramatically improved playback of redbook CDs. I have owned four SACD/CD players: a Marantz SA-8004, a Denon DCD-A100, a Denon DCD-1600NE, and a Denon DCD-A110. Each new one has been a step up from the previous one. Each of the Denon models I have owned came with a new version of the company’s "AL32 Processing," which smooths the jaggies, so to speak, of 16-bit redbook CDs. These improvements have practically closed the gap with SACD.
My DCD-A110 is mated to a pair of fully-restored solid-state Sansui amplifiers--the AU-717 and BA-F1--from 1979. An AU-919 is undergoing restoration at this time. The combination of latest-model player and retro amps works for me.
I took this approach based on the following:
1.) The dynamic range of the best-mastered CD’s and SACD’s is essentially equal to that of the best-mastered vinyl. If the DR of the vinyl release exceeds that of the CD/SACD, it’s seldom more than a point, a difference generally considered to be insignificant. Weaker bass is often associated with slightly better DR. This is a key reason why mid-1980s CD’s tend to sound a little thin but often have better DR than later on--they were mastered to sound like the records they replaced. Records were mastered to fit the RIAA curve, suppressing bass sufficiently to keep the needle from jumping out of the groove, especially nearer the center. The trends in recent years--first the loudness wars, then the shift toward mastering recordings for car stereos and earbuds--have not made it easy to find releases with good DR, but it’s still possible.
2.) SACDs and steady improvements in players closed the sound-quality gap vs. vinyl. Nothing that can be said about jitter or light scatter, which are better managed now than twenty years ago, compares to the problems of the RIAA curve, decreasing sound quality as the needle approaches the center of the record, wow and flutter, or the effects of dust, dirt, and wear on the record and the needle. YMMV. To each his own.
3.) More recently, advances in the use of interpolation-based algorithms have dramatically improved playback of redbook CDs. I have owned four SACD/CD players: a Marantz SA-8004, a Denon DCD-A100, a Denon DCD-1600NE, and a Denon DCD-A110. Each new one has been a step up from the previous one. Each of the Denon models I have owned came with a new version of the company’s "AL32 Processing," which smooths the jaggies, so to speak, of 16-bit redbook CDs. These improvements have practically closed the gap with SACD.
My DCD-A110 is mated to a pair of fully-restored solid-state Sansui amplifiers--the AU-717 and BA-F1--from 1979. An AU-919 is undergoing restoration at this time. The combination of latest-model player and retro amps works for me.