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Why is Sony Digital sound more like vinyl?

I have had Levinson, BAT, ARC, Wadia, Meridian, Denon etc...players..and the top ones, yet when I purchased a Sony scd-XA777Es I was touched in a way none of the others could! The one thing in common with the other gear was Burr Brown DAC's. Also, I have come to believe that RCA (single ended)connections are more musical. Most of my gear has been balanced...when I went all single ended...ah!!!...music like when audio was new!! Lastly, I have found that if CD playback levels on a preamp rise quikly with low volume settings...musicality and low level detail is lost. Perhaps others out there in Audiogon land have pondered my musings...or maybe I've got way to much time on my hands!!
128x128dave_b
robm321
932 posts
 


LOL !
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Hmmmmm......
I've had the exact opposite experience compared to you! My friend & I compared his Sony 777ES to my Wadia 861 in his system & we played SACD on his Sony vs. redbook on my 861. The 861 was significantly better than the 777ES & this was admitted even by my friend.
His preamp is a Spectral DMC-20, power amp is a Plinius SA-250 & speakers are B&W N803.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
My reference transport is the Sony DVP-S7700. It does not have particularly low jitter, even after digital and power mods, but I believe it must be the digital signal processing that Sony does in their custom chips. It just sounds more natural and live. I am breaking-in a Philips 963SA which is also a dual-laser like the 7700, It is well-focused, but it just sounds clinical. The jitter on the Philips is much lower than the Sony and the digital signal is textbook perfect, but somehow it just does not have the magic....

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
Manufacturer
prpixel
876 posts
 
The only Sony that I ever heard that was decent was the SACD1. IMHO.

Good luck,
dave_b's avatar
dave_b OP
3,159 posts
 
Perhaps I am adrift in a sea of fellow audiophiles who can not, or will not get past the hype of what the mag's say should sound great!! Remember when it was far easier to listen to a decent reciever and a turntable than it is to put together a musical CD based system today? Does anyone listen to well recorded, meaningfull music anymore or has radio and the record industry pithed everyone by now?
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