2. digital
  3. 138846-18279

Where is my digital problem: taste, vinyl v. digital, DAC, realities, etc?

I want my digital to sound better.  While I have about 500 vinyl records, I really like being able to sample music first before buying what I know that I will listen to in the future.  I tend, though, to not want to listen as much to poorly recorded music or digital in general.  I'd like to get my digital sounding better to make it more engaging so I can listen longer and test out albums before purchasing.  

Here's what's going on with my digital end versus vinyl.  

Vinyl is holographic--spooky and romantic at times.  The sound fills the space better.  Digital emanates sound more directionally from the loudspeakers.
Vinyl makes certain instruments sound more realistic--i.e. horns, drum sticks, brushes, acoustic guitar/bass.
Vocals on vinyl (in particular when I play jazz vocals from 50s/60s) sound sublime. Digital is not bad, but the vocals sound less in the room and more like a picture of the recording session. 
Digital has more harshness, fatigue, and I cannot play things as loud or as long.  

My DAC is an NAD M51 (fed by Tidal to Bluesound Node 2 to DAC)
My phono pre is a Manley Chinook, taking its signal from a Technics 1200 GAE table and ART9 cartridge.
I seem to get this sound, as described above, regardless of speakers.  

On some level, I haven't spent as much money on the digital end as the analog end.  

Should I try another DAC?  Should I just conclude I'm a vinyl person and live with it?   I'd prefer not to go down the road of getting back into CDs because the beauty of Tidal high resolution is the ability to try out tons of stuff before purchasing the album.

If I try another DAC, what do folks recommend if my priorities are increasing holography, realism of individual instrument sounds, making vocals sound more in the room, and decreasing bite/harshness/glare, etc.   I'd really prefer not to spend Lampizator money.  Can I reasonably achieve an improvement in these objectives by going the route of Border Patrol, a tube DAC, or something in the $2k range?  

BTW, If I didn't love my vinyl sound so much I'd say the NAD M51 is a really great DAC.  



128x128jbhiller
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,379 posts
 
JB, good to hear that!

I have Chord Mojo and mhdt NOS Constantine DAC. I use both in my setup depending on mood. Both very good but very different sound! For one who finds digital too edgy in general I’d go with the NOS Constantine. NOS DACs in general have a good rap for being very musical and easy on the ears. The Constantine sounds more like my vinyl. I’ve had the Constantine for a good 10 years now, the Mojo about a year. I enjoy the Mojo a lot but it has not retired the NOS Constantine.

I used to also have an mhdt Paradisea tube DAC. Tube rolling with that had big effect on the sound. I liked it best with the Tung Sol tube which made it sound less warm and more neutral and dynamic than the stock GE tube, more like the SS Constantine, so I sold it here a few years back and kept the SS Constantine. I’d buy another mhdt tube DAC in a heartbeat though if I had a need.
geek101
284 posts
 
What is your amp?. What all DACs did you try?.
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller OP
1,437 posts
 
I’m so leery of going down an interconnect rabbit hole to get me to where I want to be.  I’m using DH Labs line level RCAs feeding a Primaluna integrated. From the bluesound I’m feeding the DAC with DH labs coaxdigutal product from the same silver sonic line.   

I’m curious, does Mapman think I should play around with interconnects. Did you do that before trying the Chord? 

I tried the Creek DAC upgrade to my Creek Evo 100A. Then I tried the NAD was more extinguished. The creek was smoother though just by a touch. I suppose I could fire up the creek by moving it from my living room to my dedicated room. 

Cord releases the Quetest. Is it the same thing as the Hugo without portability options?  
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller OP
1,437 posts
 
NAD was more “exacting” was what I tried to say. Damn autocorrect!
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

Your problem is probably jitter.  Since you are using S/PDIF coax from the Bluesound to the DAC, there is an opportunity to minimize this.  Not that the NAD DAC is perfect, but It will probably be a LOT better fed with a low jitter source.

On the other hand, everything that the NAD gets is evidently resampled and changed to PWM signal, so it may not be a huge improvement.

You might try USB first.  You will need a good USB cable from Bluesound to the NAD.  I personally use the Wireworld Platinum.  Also, it is a good idea to use this in the USB cable:

https://sotm-usa.com/collections/sotm-ultra/products/copy-of-tx-usbultra-regenerator-1

This regenerator will improve things a lot with USB, particularly bass focus.

If you want to try reducing the jitter from the Bluesound S/PDIF output to see if that helps, you could try one of these:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=157348.0

7 psec of jitter and 30-day money-back, less shipping.  I highly recommend getting a better S/PDIF coax cable, BNC type with adapters for RCA.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

More to discover