When is digital going to get the soul of music?

Never. The technology is not there to accurately transfer the analog sound wave to digital w/o loss of info. Ever listen to cymbal strikes on a good analog rig versus a great digital rig ? All cymbals mostly sound alike on a digital rig...not so with analog. An experienced drummer probably can tell if a cymbal strike was on a Paste or zildjian cymbal. Good luck trying to descern that on digital playback.

03-01-11: Tompoodie
May be it has. I was on the threshold of purchasing an EAR tube or Modwright Sony 5400 player and happened to hear a PS Audio DAC/bridge setup through reference full range speakers. I am a vinyl lover (Rega Planar 9/EAR phono preamp) and was very favorably impressed. I read the website and learned that part of the reason for the excellent sound is error free reading of the disc, which generally doesn't happen even with expensive CD players. Furthermore, it uses a Wolfson DAC, which is the same manufacturer as in the EAR acute CD player I was considering. I have been reluctant to consider computer audio because of a learning curve and the amount of time involved. I now believe that it may be worthwhile. Opinions?

If you don't want to deal with the computer server detail using the bridge, by the PWT with the PWD as I did. Burn hi-rez 24 bit files to DVD and play them back just like a redbook CD. I am very impressed with the rig. I still will grab a vinyl LP if given the choice when playing back a musical selection.

Learsfool -- nice thought-provoking post. Do you think what you said applies to high-end SACD also? I notice that with good SACD, I can just breathe deep and relax and take in the music in a way I can't with redbook. So I think I am hearing what you say is a basic fault with digital, but that problem really seems to vanish with SACD for me. Have you heard a lot of SACD and what do you think or feel?

Hi Rgs92 - I do not own an SACD player, so my experience with them is limited - a couple of friends of mine have one, but they live pretty far away and like me, mostly listen to vinyl anyway. Certainly the quality of SACD is higher than redbook, and there are some very good sounding ones out there. But if we are comparing them to the "golden age" of analog recording, they just don't measure up. Also, isn't it true now that there are not very many SACD recordings being made anymore? For me, the cost of them is prohibitive.

(All cymbals mostly sound alike on a digital rig...not so with analog).

You must have a very poor performing system. Not only should you be able to tell what type of cymbal was use but also what brand of microphone was used to record it. I never have a problem doing so and neither do any of the folks I hang with.