I have 25,000 LPs, 7,000 78s and 7,000 CDs. Sure, I love playing analog. As of yesterday, I now have more than an analog-like sounding CD front end (EAR Acute). I purchased a COS Engineering DAC (D2). I have entered to realm of great digital playback. As mentioned, digital can be sonically uncolored unlike most analog gear. My new DAC is not 100% perfect but it allows me to hear music with a unfettered/untethered frequency response, dynamic contrast, soundstage, tonality, resolution and imaging. I wonder if it's pacing could be bettered. There is so much music I was missing, the subtle sounds that my best LPs have. Moreover, this is the first time that I can enjoy music from very soft to very loud sound pressure levels (my system should have been able to play quietly did not until now). My friend Grover Huffman has the H1 and last week showed me how fabulous my system could sound. I got pant flapping bass without distortion, wild dynamic contrasts and an ability to listen for 4 or 5 hours without listener fatigue (his demonstration led to a very long listening session). I should mention that I have Grover to thank for his all silver RCA 75 ohm SPIF cable, his Pharoah A/C and RCA ICs which I own. I enjoyed the EAR from 2006 with it's rich, lively sound but it has been eclipsed by the DAC. Warning-this DAC is not forward sounding to bright. The plane of the sound is between the speakers. Digital playback cannot make a mediocre or poorly mastered CD sound great, but I have so many great CDs that it is as difficulty to choose music to hear as it is in the analog realm.
How much do you need to spend to get digital to rival analog?
I have heard some very high end digital front ends and although they do sound very good, I never get the satisfaction that I do when i listen to analog regardless if its a"coloration" or whatever. I will listen to high end digital, and then I soon get bored, as if it just does not have the magic That I experience with a well set up analog system. So how much do I need to spend to say, " get a sound that at least equals or betters a 3K Turntable?
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- 175 posts total
- 175 posts total