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Digital is far better than vinyl

I have invested a decent sum of money into my digital setup, including a decent streamer (Innuos Zenith MK3), a very good dac (Denafrips Terminator 2), Eno filter, and good cabling. But after being told by many here that vinyl is vastly superior to digital, I thought let’s build an analog system and see what all the fuss is about. So this is what I did ...

I picked up an Audio Technica TT from Amazon for around $299. I then used one of the older integrated amps with a built-in phono, which I believe I paid around $500 a few years ago. And, finally, just to even out the playing field I bought the cheapest possible cables from alibaba. Since I didn’t have extra rack space to put the TT on, I got a couple of bricks and built a DIY platform for it.

So after listening to the analog setup for a few days, I can proclaim without a shadow of doubt that digital is far, far superior than vinyl on any given day, and twice a day on Sunday.

What has been your experience? And please, don’t mention your gear or any special. cartridges, isolation, etc. Not interested in your system details. I just want to make sure you guys understand that digital is far, far superior than vinyl.

128x128arafiq
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arafiq OP
1,602 posts
 

@jefflz We are truly sorry for not meeting your lofty "professional" standards. There's another site called ASR where I believe humor or satire, or any other emotion for that matter, is frowned upon. From what I've heard they are quite uptight over there. I think you will be a good fit there. Good luck!

sns
3,011 posts
 

OP is furthest thing from provocation if you get it. Far too many vinyl vs digital threads and posts where individuals become totally unprofessional with personal attacks.

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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

i personally like this forum BECAUSE it is populated by ’unprofessionals’... that is, regular people who are dedicated to, and love music, and the fine equipment that produces it for us

there are some professionals that post here, and these posts can often be rather cringeworthy with their transparent commercial bias

gte357s
281 posts
 

I also cannot get great sound out of vinyl even I put in similar amount of money for my digital and vinyl rig, around CAD $5000 for the turntable, arm, cartridge and cable, while my CD player + DAC cost around $3000. Until recently, I added a power conditioner and separate the power supply of the turntable and preamp from the power amp, big improvement on my vinyl rig, and the improvement is bigger than my digital rig. Now, I can finally get equally good sound from my vinyls. But still, I question myself, is it worthwhile to keep going the vinyl rig if I can only get equally good but not better sound. Each decent vinyl disc cost 5x more than a CD, and much limited in selection, and much less convenient.

ghdprentice
6,605 posts
 

@gte357s

This is an unusual experience. Typically in this price range vinyl outshines digital. What is your Phonostage? I would look carefully at your analog end. See, if there is a cartridge alignment or others mounting problem. I would take it to a pro for setup.

On the other question. If this is all I had invested in vinyl I would not go on, especially with the poor sound. Typically in your price range vinyl just sounds so much better, it pulls you in. Digital will just get better and streaming best of all is nearly free with $14 / month with millions of tubes many higher def than CD. It is here and the future.

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