BTW, I should be more specific. My SACD and vinyl both sounds good. If I compare vinyl to streaming data file from my NAS, then definitely I prefer vinyl. And if I compared vinyl to streaming from internet like Tidal, then vinyl is quite a bit better. Streaming from Bluetooth is the worst.
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.
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I guess all your experience points to digital. I mean if I didn’t have over 2,000 albums in outstanding quality that I collected over the last 55 years… I wouldn’t give vinyl a second look. In my system vinyl and digital are neck and neck… the better depends on the album. But I have $45K invested in both the analog and digital end. This is the investment range where they tend to be similar, in much lower and much higher price ranges vinyl tends to sound much better for a similar price range.
I would still consider having a professional come over and examine your system. It would be worth a couple hundred to see if there is some glaring problem. Typically one gets a pretty cheap Rega, a decent phono stage and it trounces one’s digital end. |
Great point! I guess this knife cuts both ways. My original OP was highlighting the discrepancy between a well-sorted analog rig vs. a hastily put together digital setup. But you are absolutely correct in pointing out that the reverse is also true. Let me ask you this then ... let's say if you were starting out with vinyl and didn't already own 2,000 albums, would you have spent the same amount of money on building a reference analog system? Or would you have focused on extracting the last bit of fidelity out of your digital? |
If I did not have all my legacy analog stuff, I would not give it a second look. I would put every cent into digital… digital streaming.
I am currently listening to Count Basie album recorded in 1957 Chairman of the Board) on streaming. If I did not know better I would guess it was vinyl. If I had twice the budget in digital… it would be even better, no question that is where to put your money today. |
@ghdprentice, when I was a kid my parents had Basie’s Chairman of The Board LP that we played on our RCA Victrola home stereo console that had pride of place in our living room. I guarantee that if they were still alive today, and could play The Count just by touching his picture on a smartphone instead of going through the hassle of finding the record, dusting it and the needle off, and looking past all of the pops, hisses, and unavoidable skips and rumbling at loud volumes, they definitely would prefer digital. |
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