Vinyl vs. digital: what am I doing wrong?

I have found about a 75 to 80% in the win column of Vinyl vs. the same CD… That means a few can in fact just be good, and mostly this really depends on the music being played, or how good the pressing on vinyl is that you have… some vinyl are dud's so don't kid yourself, and some CD's are pretty dynamically superior in few cases due to all the time and money went into mastering the CD at the time the piece was recorded and the vinyl was an afterthought. By the way I have pushed systems in the past to be nearly identical sound quality via vinyl or CD, Where they both would do it nearly as well as the other matching up.. Again you are not really comparing the two devices of a Turntable vs. a CD player, but a Recording vs. a Recording, you will have to Expand your Vinyl testing to some other things vs. AUDIOPHILE only recordings and you will most definitely start to find some Vinyl cannot be touched by the cd no matter how many DAConvertors or Transports you put behind some recordings.     

In my system, SACD, DVD-A and vinyl are all usually on the same level and CD lags behind, but is still good enough to be enjoyable, most of the time.

Dave

What????? Studio 68...I hear the exact opposite. I have an Ayre C5xe CD player - not a slouch, however the vinyl is warmer, more 3 dimensional, more air, ...just more real. If you didn't hear the vinyl, the CD is wonderful, but I do hear the vinyl. ..check your setup!!

You're probably not doing anything wrong and it looks like you're putting together a very nice system. From your descriptions and pics, and without me knowing more, my suggestions would be: a) in line with Audiofeil's comments (above) - your table deserves, first, a better arm and second you'll get more resolution, air and improved tonality from a higher-end cartridge; and b) though not TT related, your room might benefit from some acoustic treatment. Just some ideas - good luck.

Tim

For critical listening, I adjust the stylus tip angle to suit the record. No mention of this was in your post, so that might be something you have overlooked.

I wold also personally confirm that the turn table is level and set up properly. In a time where most people don't know how to run a record player, the person setting up your player might not be able to go beyond basic assembly.

Nothing against the famous name who set up your table. I would generally trust them, after all, I am not famous for Audio distinction and the are , yet in something so critical you must know it is correct. No matter who set up the table, you must understand that it is correctly done, since this is your starting point for all the sound downstream.