The great thing about this "hobby" is that subjects like this always come back for discussion. That is a good thing. As I have stated many times, when comparing equipment, one should compare apples to apples. I encourage that price point comparisons are always the way to go. Do your homework on equipment, then afterwards determine your price point, then and only then start comparing equipment within that price point. For Analog (vinyl vs digital), lets just say that I have many LPs that are poorly recorded and sound terrible no matter how expensive the TT/Arm/Cartridge, etc is. However, the same can be said for CD recordings. In the early years, the advantage of CDs over vinyl was that it was simply easier to use. No elaborate cleaning involved, no pops, scratches, etc. But the early CDs were compressed to death and the recording quality (not the music), was crap. It even got to the point where CDs were showing how they were recorded, AAD, DDD, etc. just to convince people of their quality. I have many, many early CDs that I simply can't listen to. The music is wonderful, but they are so poorly recorded that it hurts my ears. A good friend of mine brought over her favorite music on CD to listen to and her favorite music sounded terrible. She now can hear the difference between bad CDs and good recorded CDs. All that said, I have a really nice CD/DAC setup that is absolutely wonderful. I also have a really nice TT/ARM/Cartridge/Phono Stage setup that still routinely sounds better (wider soundstage, more open, etc.) that the CD system. That is not to say that the CD system isn't great. it is. But as an Engineer also, you can't tell me that sampling an analog signal into pieces doesn't lose information. it does. Copying CD to CD you don't lose information because it copies bit for bit. But recording an analog signal to digital, no matter the sample rate, you are going to lose information. Everyone has their preferences. Vinyl was never perfect also remember. RIAA has inherent flaws also. However, I'll take both until something new comes along that is better, which I can afford. Last night after the Superbowl at my house, we turned on the system to listen. I played songs from Eva Cassidy Songbird CD and also had it on vinyl and played the same song on vinly. While listening to the CD, everyone absolutely loved the sound and was really into the music and her wonderful voice. When I switched (one push of a button on my pre-amp's remote control), to vinyl, everyone in the room heard differences to the point that each and every one loved the vinyl better. But, don't forget, before we switched, they loved the CD also. It was just that the vinyl was more open, more depth, etc. It was fun. My digital rig, cost when new, probably about the same as my analog rig. well, close. But, I'll take both right now. But in conclusion, to tell you the truth, the best sound I have heard came from a reel-to-reel setup.
enjoy
