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Closest DAC to Vinyl Sound?

I love my vinyl, but sometimes it's a pain to keep flipping sides. I also have a lot of digital music (WAV, FLAC and MP3) that doesn't sound half bad through my Soundblaster X FI Titanium Fatality. But I'm wondering, is there a better way to enjoy digital? How would an external DAC stack up? Can anyone recommend a DAC that has that analog sound, or is it wishful thinking? Associated equipment includes Sound Valves VTP 101, Aragon 2004 and Large Advent Speakers. I also have an Adcom GCD 750 cd player that can accept a coax input.
heyraz
bhobba's avatar
bhobba
303 posts
 
A Playback Designs DAC via DSD IMHO bests any vinyl I have ever heard. In fact I know a person that recorded the output of a reconditioned tape machine playing master tapes and played it back via DSD through a VERY transparent system. If his life depended on picking the difference he would be sweating profusely - he doesn't believe he could do it - its that close.

If you like an analogue type sound DSD via a top of the line DAC such as the PD is the way to go IMHO.

Thanks
Bill
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
07-05-13: Rrog
So, you want a DAC that sounds like a piece of plastic with grooves cut into it which created a terrible noise, so the RIAA (like Dolby) was applied in an attempt to reduce the noise, but really created its own set of distortions. And now you are dragging a needle thru this which spreads out the grooves that never return to their original shape causing wear everytime the record is played and slowly degrading the sound. This is what you want?
You can describe the mechanical process in the most derogatory way possible by which the LP reproduces sound, but that in no way describes how well this playback process works. From a results perspective, one could just as legitimately say, you mean you want a playback system that puts a smile on your face and makes you feel a little sad when it's time to turn the system off rather than one that causes you to emit a sigh of relief when you're done listening.
hevac1
812 posts
 
There are none. You will have to listen to lots of DACs till you find one that appeals to you. I listened to lots of them till I found the dCS Debussy. IMHO it has very good sound stage and depth that I had not heard with other DACs. It still does not sound like analog just excellent digital and that for me was hard to find.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hevac1 is right, there `re some excellent sounding DACs available,take your time and you`ll find what you want.
Analog playback is no different in that some are superb and others can sound rather poor.There`re analog systems that sound very etched and make your ears plead for mercy(holds true for some digital front ends as well).Avoid the stereotypes and just listen and judge.
Regards,
roscoeiii's avatar
roscoeiii
1,155 posts
 
Check out the Yamamoto DACs. Great analog output stage.
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