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My conclusion: mid level $$ analog vs digital

Good morning

I purchased a mid level analog system 6 months ago 
     project classic
     Hana sl
     Musical Surroundings Phenomena II+I’ve compared the analog to my digital 
      Roon 
      Chord Qutest 
      24/192 & Streaming 

and ;

After listening to a bunch of albums and music.

A well recorded album with a well setup analog is tough to beat . The analog has a certain snap to the drums and bass that digital cannot match.  Extremely , quiet and smooth
 The mid level price point and the associated quality is surprising to me 
Do not get me wrong , digital is close , but good albums really can show a difference 

Ive listened, at homes with much better analog setups, and the difference seems to get better 

So, For you guys think to take the analog jump ?

Don’t worry 

Jeff

frozentundra
seta45
4 posts
 
Just compared my Thorens TD 124 (rebuilt, slate plinth, Kuzma reference arm, Hanze springs, ART-7 cartridge, retro tone upper platter, +) vs my new Lumin X1. With 75 hours breaking for the Lumin the TD124 has a slight edge in detail, space and PRAT; close but I was surprised...playing through Pass Labs 30.8 and Magico A3. Time will tell as the Lumin needs 250hrs to settle in...or so I am told.
chicagoblue1977's avatar
chicagoblue1977
224 posts
 
Like what you like.

It is all good.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
8,001 posts
 
jjss49 said:
i would venture to say that digital front end will outperform analog at low (1-2k) to middle levels (2-4k) but when you get into really good analog, have it all dialed in (no trivial task) it sounds better but then you are into quite expensive territory at that point - all cases here factoring in the all important phono stage too...

I agree with you on that. At lower price points, digital can be very competitive or better.
rbstehno
1,444 posts
 
I sold a $15k turntable setup and all my vinyl because getting a very good dac surpasses a good analog setup. I spent $7k on a dac and it sounds better than my analog setup. If you go on a budget, its going to be hard to get the best sound in either setup. I use a network interface to the dac instead of the flawed USB which improves SQ. When I was into analog, I have friends that have $100k in analog setups and in those cases, a very good vinyl album would be very close to the same album in DSD or MQA format.
geof3
1,129 posts
 
Popcorn anyone? I’m with jjss49... both can be good in their own right. I prefer my vinyl overall, but my digital stuff gets it done for casual listening. Digital streaming CANNOT be beat for sheer musical exposure, and one of the primary reasons I use the medium. CD’s on the other hand? Not too impressed after listening to really good vinyl.
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