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What sounds best: Vinyl or CDs

My system in an introductory level of high end music reproduction, I realize.  I like music, not so much gadgetry so I am content, although I keep tweeking from time to time trying to get better sound.  Martin Logan ESL mains, Def. Tech 800 subs (2),  NAD C375BEE Int. Amp, Project Debut Carton turntable w/Ortofon Red cartridge, Yamaha S300 CD player (with a Rega Apollo R player on order),  Niagara 1000 power conditioner. My question/concern is this:  My CDs sound Sooo much better than my vinyl albums.  My vinyl collection is substantial, from the '60s through the '80s, with all in great condition.  But on my system CDs are more volume sensitive, with more dynamics and depth.  Is this normal or am I missing something in my system?  I had originally thought, "Oh well, they are 40+ years old with 40+ year old recording technology".  But is there more? I have even gone to point of buying the CD if there is a particular vinyl I want to listen to frequently.  Comments?
128x128chipito
tooblue
1,924 posts
 
In my system, and you are welcome to go look at it rather than list here, vinyl is so much better than my redbook cd setup that I don't consider listening to anything but analog when critical listening is done, CD listening only for background.
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
You have not mentioned how much experience you have at setting up your arm/cartridge, or how you went about it. When I returned to vinyl around ten years ago now, I was disappointed at first. In my naivete, I blamed my choice of equipment, when actually, it was mostly caused by my own inability to properly set up said equipment.

Since I am persistent, I eventually honed my cartridge set up ability, now my analog front end is at least on par, and recording dependent, superior to my digital front end. Don't fret too much at this stage, you're just getting started. Make sure all the set up parameters are spot on first, and go from there.

Best of luck, regards,
Dan    
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
1st, you will never rid your vinyl of Snap, Crackle & Pop tho money & time can reduce other elves causing problems

2nd, at a certain point, the mastering and recording processes will pre-dominate over any increases in system quality (which come at increasing cost per ’unit’ SQ improvement - the law of diminishing returns...), so you need to be careful about what versions of an LP or CD you buy

very early CDs (mid-80s) were not well recorded, and very recent releases may have a lot of compression (masted for gag-tunes)

the CD layer of an SACD may well sound pretty good as more care is often taken for SACDs

I have kept a couple dozen LPs (special recordings, MoFi etc.) and have ripped my 2,000 CDs onto computer using Apple Lossless, so that tells you where I’m at on this
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lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
You can do much better than an Ortofon Red cart. Your TT is certainly competent enough to reproduce the wonderful sonics of well produced vinyl. It could be that your arm and cartridge need proper setup, but IMHO, a better cartridge would help.

And once the Rega CDP is in your system, digital will sound far better than  your current vinyl setup.
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