Worth pursuing analog sound from digital?

I think glennewdick has a lot of truth in what he says. I am just getting back into records having used mainly CD's for years.
I don't have thousand's to shell out for a DAC so I use an old (1990) Parasound D/AC-1000 DAC that uses two Burr Brown PCM63P chips, probably the best R2R chip ever made with a older Sony 5 disc carousel feeding it. Preamp is an older Audio Research SP8 feeding a set of restored Mac MC40's. Speakers are basically Altec Valencias with mods.
Early on I would listen to a few CD's before this DAC, using whatever CDP I had on hand and some CDP would having me turning the system off after the first CD. I figured I wasn't in the mood for music but it eventually dawned on me that I didn't like the edginess of the sound. Change out the CDP  to a different one and found out I was listening longer. With the Parasound I can listen all day.

Decided to setup my CL score, a Yamaha PX-3 linear tracker. Cart is a new AT120 and I'm using the phono stage on my ARC. Most of my records are older rock and country and I love the way they sound on this rig.
It's better than my digital but I can go either way. With my digital setup I can listen for 5 hours of music after I load it. With my vinyl setup I'm stopping what ever I'm doing and flipping sides or loading a new record every 20 minutes or so.
Now I'm interested in picking up a new release that was recorded and mastered in the all digital realm. It would be interesting to hear it on my all tube system. I'm thinking there should be a difference, after all the early master tapes were an analog media and tape done well always sounds great.
BillWojo

The orchid is a very good dac for the money ,but this  4 tubed tube rectified Lampizator Amber -3 dac  I have heard  both in my brothers system  the Orchid good but not  in the same league
 . At under $3k $2950; with shipping from Poland 
even st $6 k I know of None as musically engaging. I just ordered one  myself.

Get nos dac ! Mhdt balance pagoda is my natural sounding dac that I can listen to all day without fatigue and headache! Do a research about nos dac if u llook for analog sounding ! 

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-airist-audio-r-2r-dac?mode=shop_open&gclsrc=aw.ds&&utm_s...

Limited to 3 inputs-USB, spdif and toslink. Only single ended outputs. But damn if she doesn’t sound sweet, much more so than my Mytek, PS Audio Stellar and Raleigh RAKK dac. Can’t beat the price either.

3 years ago I would have said "no way!"

Today I feel differently.

Firstly I had a nice analog setup:
Vpi Classic
Benz Micro Cart
Quicksilver Phono Pre
Quicksilver Mid Mono Monblocks with KT88's

The problem I was having after 3 Cart re-builds (and these were not my only carts) was that every time I played a disc I would think in the back of my mind, "this is $5 to play this record". I was obsessed with the wear of the diamond and the time till degradation, and "If the diamond is worn, will I damage my original pressing of Lee Morgan Vol.2?" and twice children of friends would walk up to the cart and pull the cantilever right off. WHY THE HELL WOULD ANYONE DO THIS!?!?!?

Anyway....

I decided to search out digital. I started with demoing several dacs, each one more expensive and better. Then I purchased the PS Audio Direct Stream Junior, which took 46 days 24/7 to break in but it was shockingly worth it. I kept my mono blocks and purchased a new AT7 Tubed Quicksilver Line Pre. I ended up trading up to the Directstream Sr. and another 46 days of breakin.

When I first powered these dacs I felt like crying, they sounded so bad  and then got worse at about 300-500 hrs. At 1000 hrs a switch is thrown and they sound amazing.

Yes Mary, it DOES sound like vinyl. If some one is using digital and it doesn't sound like vinyl, they have other issues: the dac? Using digital Amps or preamps? Something else??

Bottom line, I spent 25 years perfecting vinyl, I know what good vinyl sounds like, and this current system sounds like vinyl. I could and do listen for 6 hours a day with ZERO FATIGUE. I listen while I work every day and then at night when family goes to bed.

I can't speak for the NUwave. Never heard it.

For the guy in the thread that said anyone with $200 can get what digital people search for....wha???? $200? I think not. If you are playing on a $200 table, my system will make you poop your pants.

And for the guy who poked fun at people seeking the analog sound....well duh, analog is nature, what else would people be searching for.

Also....the source material is vitally important, Direct Stream Digital recordings are the way to go. A CD with NOT sound like vinyl even through the DSD Sr.

T