On the Fence with Analog Vs. Digital. Need Help

Jwglista: It's hard to argue with vinyl sounding great, which it does, but if buying a vinyl rig and all that goes with it won't solve the problem you're having right now--unpleasant digital playback--you may (and I speak from my own experience) find yourself enjoying records but still missing all the good music on your CDs. The DAC suggestion is a good one, or an investment in a better stand-alone CD player. This idea has been batted around a bit on this forum already, but if you want to try a smoother sounding CDP, a Playstation One for about $25 is as cheap an experiment as you can get. If you find its more laid-back presentation suits you, you could then look for a "real" player or DAC with those attributes--or just keep the Playstation. Me, I'm on the Playstation train and loving my CD collection again. Vinyl's still vinyl, but why not get the most out of the music you have before pursuing another format?

Restock: I live in the Pittsburgh area. I called the local Music Hall dealer and they do have a listening room, but do not allow in-home auditions of the equipment. I do know of a few record stores I could check out though.

Ablang: A Playstation One? Why choose this out of hundreds of other cheap cd players? What other players would have the same attributes as a PS One?

Do not think you need to spend a small fortune to get into vinyl. Sure, I have (probably) $8k+ sunk into my analog front end, I didn't start out that way. My first table was a Music Hall MMF-5, a Hunt brush, and a couple of bottles of Last.

My recommendation (take it for whatever it's worth) is to buy yourself a KAB Technics SL-1200MK5SE, and have KAB recommend and install a cartridge for you. For your first table, IMHO it's the setup / alignment that matters. Plug it into your NAD and enjoy. Simple as that.

If you think you'll get most (or at least some) of your vinyl used, I would also recommend going over to The Disc Doctor and get a couple of scrub brushes and a small bottle of solution (the solution lasts longer than you'd expect, and by the time it's gone, you'll be into the discussion on the "best" cleaning solutions). Yes, there will be a lot of debate on the "best" way to clean vinyl. Well, while the debate rages on, go find some gently used vinyl, scrub it up, and kick back and listen.

Don't let some of these enthusiasts freak you out by suggesting you *need* to spend a lot of money to enjoy vinyl. It's not that they are wrong (per se) but they are pretty far removed from the perspective of someone who is just starting to get into vinyl. I'm sure many of their systems sound amazing (although some don't have their systems listed as a point of reference to their advice), but everyone has to start somewhere, and if I would have been told that I needed to sink $3k into my first analog setup, I never would have taken the plunge.

My advice comes from similar experience. A few years ago I owned the Paradigm Studio 60v.2 powered by older Japanese electronics. Things could get unbearably harsh sounding. There were several system upgrades through Audiogon purchases which improved things over the past few years. Here are a few of the things I've learned to help tame digital harshness.
The single biggest improvement to alleviate the digital nastiness was the purchase of a Resolution Audio CD-50 cdp. I believe it listed for $3k+ when new but I got it on ebay at a steal price, maybe no one in the know was looking that week. The point is, there are cdps that can sound wonderful.
Another thing is those speakers. I remember auditioning my Paradigms and falling in love with them but they would never be called smooth.
One more thing which has been mentioned above is the room. That takes work but is extremely important for good sound.
As for vinyl, my experience is way different than yours. I owned 500 or so albums that were stored in a closet. There is so much work that goes into listening to vinyl it isn't for me. I auctioned off most of my albums here and honestly haven't regretted it. Can vinyl sound wonderful? Most definitely. Can digital sound wonderful? For me the answer is most definitely. They both take some work to get good sound but it is achievable either way.

Jwglista: I bought the Playstation One because I was saving my few pennies for a CD player I wouldn't be able to afford for a good while, and in the meantime all of my CDs were sitting practically unlistened to because I couldn't stand the harsh treble glare I thought just went with the territory of digital. $25 didn't seem like too much to part with, so I tried it--and it's impressive. People compare it to $5000 dollar players--6moons does, anyhow--and while I don't know that that's true, it does play music beautifully. I said it has a laid-back sound, but to my ears that isn't at the expense of detail: it's simply well-balanced, vivid, dynamic and if anything more tonally realistic in its portrayal than many of other "detail"-oriented players I've heard. If you want something other than a cheap gray plastic box, the Paradisea DAC or another "analogue-like" player could be a good bet--PS Audio DAC, Rega, Jolida, Eastern Electric, etc. I haven't heard all of those, but they're the bunch I was considering. For $25 to see if CDs can still be worthwhile? Worth it.

I have a low-budget vinyl rig--old Technics table, Shure cartridge, and Cambridge Audio preamp--and the only constant as I've cycled through a series of amps this year (beginning and ending with NAD) was that it always sounded (in certain aspects) better than my CDs. With the Playstation, I'm listening to CDs again for the first time in a while, though, and my choice of which to listen to has to do not with which format I feel like listening to, but which album. For me, the greatest benefit of vinyl has been the ability to find jazz albums that have never been released on CD, and I'll likely upgrade my vinyl rig at some point just to deepen that pleasure--maybe even before I replace the Playstation. But if you already have a lot of music you like in the CD format, why not at least try a different source before pursuing a whole different medium ?

Hope this helps in some way. I'm no authority by any means, but I've driven myself nuts on a similar roadway. Happy listening.