Why is Sony Digital sound more like vinyl?

but piano is hard sounding. it's a percussive instrument. little hammers hitting little strings.

Yeah, but the little hammers have little felt booties on them.

And Slappy, I have to disagree with you. I am an advertising slave and incredibly influenced by all that I see in print and outdoor advertising. When I saw the Stereophile Alpha-Core ad with those Flapjack MkII interconnects coiled on Dawn's melons, I was overcome by an uncontrollable urge to suckle.

Sony analog sounding, wow.
Mine DVP-S9000ES is harsh very digital and really sucks.

Sean - I have a disk in teh 963SA on repeat-play for 2 days now. Have not tried it again yet. I installed a Jensen cap, so that might affect this. I am talking about the Transport performance, not the analog outs.

I agreed, piano is hard-sounding. What your tube DAC has done is limit the HF dynamics. You are getting the sustain and decay, but not the attack. This will make a Steinway sound like a Baldwin. I have experienced this "pretty" sound myself, since I mod so many different DAC's. It isn't real, trust me. To achieve live-sounding piano (which is my reference recording), you need sibilant-free playback with excellent focus and good HF dynamics. My wife plays our Yamaha grand in our music room, so we both know what live piano sounds like.

And just because most stock Sonys can be bettered by more expensive gear means nothing. The key is that the right digital signal processing is being done in there, so with mods, these other deficiencies can be overcome.