2. analog
  3. 140184-113812

Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD

Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort
edgewear
543 posts
 
@geoffkait 
Interesting observation. Not just cd players seem to be aiming at a more processed sound, recent cd reissues apparently go in the same direction. From an audiophile point of view this is indeed not good. All this manipulation of the datastream seems to squash dynamics, probably the only real advantage digital has over analog.

Why? Perhaps because most people enjoy music through mediocre media systems and/or earplugs. Just as most record companies compressed their vinyl records to accomodate those cute little gramophones that were used in most households. Thankfully at least some audiophile companies like Decca, Mercury, (early) RCA, Blue Note e.a. were aiming higher and used as little compression as they could get away with. One of the reasons why these venerable records are still considered as a benchmark.

Which begs the question: will we ever see an audiophile collector's market for cd first issues and pressings?


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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
edgewear
Which begs the question: will we ever see an audiophile collector's market for cd first issues and pressings?

>>>>The future is here! Check out the CDs at most thrift stores and you’ll find by and large most of them are reissues that fall under the category of aggressively compressed. That’s because collectors of which there are a great number dump them like hot potatoes. You will also find on eBay that CD reissues that are overly compressed are usually heavily discounted. Whereas early or original CDs that are not compressed sell at high premiums, if they are even available. I will not knowingly listen to compressed CDs myself. I actually look for cassettes of music I like since they are not compressed, having been produced prior to the Oudhess Wars.

glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Check out the CDs at most thrift stores and you’ll find by and large most of them are reissues that fall under the category of aggressively compressed. That’s because collectors of which there are a great number dump them like hot potatoes."
The first part is likely true, but the second part may have different explanation. For example, people dumping CDs altogether. Not that long ago, my local library was overflooded with LPs. Some really old. It was not due to collectors dumping them. It was more like their descendants dumping them. Maybe people who owned these thrift-store CDs are not all dead yet, but they may be dumping the format they consider obsolete. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Well, you’re partially correct. About 2% in thrift stores are collectible CDs. Collectible in the sense they are somewhat rare and have value. About 10-20% of the CDs are uncompressed, but extremely common CDs that collectors, not unlike your humble scribe, just don’t have room for any more or already have. You know, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Led Zeppelin 1, II, III, etc. original or 1994, Beck, Rolling Stones Exile on Main St., Beatles Abbey Rd., they’re all good, even great. They just don’t have any real value. Unless you think $2 is any real value.
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