I’m a piker when it comes to serious digital playback of music. Long time vinyl guy (since 1965!, although my turntable then wasn’t quite in the same league as what I’ve been using over the past decade or three).
I’m now seriously considering that new CEC TL5. I don’t have a DAC yet, and am looking at R2R type (chip), non-oversampling, no digital filters type.
My more sophisticated (in digital) friends tell me forget the transport- rip and set up a network, you can stream, do hi-rez, etc.
I’ve never been bothered by physical media. Frankly, the less complicated, the better. Although I can use a computer, I don’t really want to add networking and computer issues to my playback.
I’ll admit- I’m a luddite.
And I’m still not sure what to expect- my vinyl quality playback is top notch, my record cleaning is pretty intense (I buy mostly old pressings) and my ear is very attuned to digital artifacts. But, the main reason I "need" to go digital is simply access to music, and particularly older rare records where the cost is now astronomical. Leaf Hound Growers of Mushroom = $6k dollars for an original pressing. I don’t believe there are any legitimate* reissues on vinyl. See for Miles label of that recording on CD, done in 1992, and taken from the tape (they let the tapes out for 3d party licensing in those days) cost me 30 bucks. Not an "audiophile" record, but for my needs, I’d like to maximize Redbook.
*NB- there is a Repertoire vinyl reissue. These are taken from digital files. At some point, it will be interesting to compare that copy with the CD taken from tape.
I’m now seriously considering that new CEC TL5. I don’t have a DAC yet, and am looking at R2R type (chip), non-oversampling, no digital filters type.
My more sophisticated (in digital) friends tell me forget the transport- rip and set up a network, you can stream, do hi-rez, etc.
I’ve never been bothered by physical media. Frankly, the less complicated, the better. Although I can use a computer, I don’t really want to add networking and computer issues to my playback.
I’ll admit- I’m a luddite.
And I’m still not sure what to expect- my vinyl quality playback is top notch, my record cleaning is pretty intense (I buy mostly old pressings) and my ear is very attuned to digital artifacts. But, the main reason I "need" to go digital is simply access to music, and particularly older rare records where the cost is now astronomical. Leaf Hound Growers of Mushroom = $6k dollars for an original pressing. I don’t believe there are any legitimate* reissues on vinyl. See for Miles label of that recording on CD, done in 1992, and taken from the tape (they let the tapes out for 3d party licensing in those days) cost me 30 bucks. Not an "audiophile" record, but for my needs, I’d like to maximize Redbook.
*NB- there is a Repertoire vinyl reissue. These are taken from digital files. At some point, it will be interesting to compare that copy with the CD taken from tape.