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Pros and Cons of "Staying with" Analog and Vinyl

After having various turntables over the last 40 years, I am seriously considering getting out of analog. The "vinylists" argue that analog playback sounds more natural, musical, and provides more of an emotional response. I have experienced this feeling several times while listening to my modest vinyl collection, and tend to agree....until I begin hearing pops, clicks, surface noise. I keep my vinyl generally clean and protected

However, after listening to the 40th anniversay edition of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" I am more convinced that analog is just not worth the time, money and, maintenance. The dynamics on new Aqualung are superb and there seems to be much more detail to what I remember of the Mobile Fidelity remastered recording

I have a modest analog set-up Rega P3-24 with their upgraded PS and the Dynavector 10X5 MC. I was on the verge of upgrading to the new Rega RP-6 which includes a newly design PS, and a choice of color plinths. Even with a generous trade-in value offered by the dealer, I would still be putting in about $1300 + which would get me into the Dynavector DV 20MKII ( above their 10X5.)

I personally don't see the value regardless of the sonic qualitative edge of analog. Maybe, the money could be spent elsewhere or not at all. BTW, I am not getting into computer audio, and am STILL not convinced that a BASIC DAC will bring me closer to analog sound quality. Members have recommended Peachtree's DACIT, and even the supposedly new and improved Musical Fidelity V-DAC II. I have a Rega Apollo player. A great sounding player, but it has its flaws.

Therefore, I would like to hear the pros and cons of staying with analog....or just dumping it. Thanks
sunnyjim
mt10425
1,138 posts
 
I agree with Elizabeth. Also, I probably hear clicks, etc in only about 5% of my 3000+ albums. If you're hearing it in most of your LPs, you might need to change your buying standards. I sold all of my 1100 albums when cd came out. I was dumb. I've done my best to replace those and increase the number. I ordered 5 new ones this Christmas alone. Digital does ZERO for me.
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
7,859 posts
 
"Also, I probably hear clicks, etc in only about 5% of my 3000+ albums."

If this is true, assuming you have normal hearing, then LPs ain't what they used to be.

"I have to say the small amount of surface noise is not a problem at all"

Would you be so forgiving if you heard noise on a CD? Would you tolerate a small amount of noise in a preamp or any other component? I almost said wire also, but the Lord stopped me in time. :) Seems as if noise is ok, depending on the source. One of my favorite CDs is very unpleasant to listen to because of the 'breathing' of the violinist. To me noise is noise, regardless of the source.
mlsstl
1,452 posts
 
Viridian wrote: "There are tons of performances that have only been issued on LP and never remastered on any other format..."

There is another option. Over the past 10 years I've converted about 2,000 LP and open reel tapes to digital format. I now have my entire collection on a music server and, other than a few items with sentimental value, got rid of the LPs.

I resigned from the "audiophile" club long ago. Digital has its own issues, but I find it amusing when the vinyl advocates blithely overlook the inherent clicks, pops, surface noise, off-center holes, inner groove distortion and other flaws while proclaiming the format inherently superior.

My take? I have wonderful recordings on LP and lousy ones. Same thing is true of digital. Many of the complaints about modern recordings have zero to do with format. Rather, the problems are based in the fads and fashions currently in vogue in the recording industry.

I've got a couple of 2nd generation open reels made from master tapes back in the early 1970s. When I record them to digital, they sound just like the tapes! The digital process does nothing to change it. The same thing happens when I digitize my LPs - unprocessed, they sound just like the original LP.

I know the golden eared types can spend endless hours worried about minutia, but as respects impact on sound quality, I find the original choices made by artists, recording engineers and producers multiple orders of magnitude larger than the storage format decision.
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dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Others have covered most of the questions you have to decide. What music do you have in your record collection that you value and can't hear otherwise? If it's not much, consider transferring it to digital before bailing.

If, OTOH, it's substantial, you should investigate WHY the surface noise is so significant. There are plenty of threads here on the topic, including a very recent one.

Despite Rok2id's scepticism, many on this forum and elsewhere listen to vinyl with little or no problems with surface noise. I'm one of them. I'm not going to argue this point from theory. I merely cite my experience while not in any way maintaining that it's valid for anyone but me. I can't tell Rok2id what to like and he can't tell me... and neither of us can tell you!

I have a reasonably good system for both digital and vinyl: a $6K universal disc player (including CD, DVD-A, SACD and Blu-ray) and a $20K+ vinyl front end. We have ~1500 digital discs and ~4000 LP's and enjoy them all. The advantage of digital discs is their convenience and of course they're inherently quiet. It takes me 20+ minutes/side to clean an LP but once I do it's almost invariably quiet enough so that we can enjoy the the natively higher resolution of vinyl (higher than blu-ray, just as film is still higher res than blu-ray for PQ). Home digital media have not yet matched the resolution of analog sources, whether in sound or in video.

From the above you might deduce that very expensive equipment and much work is necessary to do vinyl well. For me that has proved to be true. That will factor into your decision as it does for anyone. For myself, my LP collection contains many hundreds of releases that will never be available on any other medium. Abandoning those would be musically unthinkable. Degrading them by converting to (today's) digital would be audibly intolerable. But YMMV surely applies here, as everyone's collection, musical tastes and sonic priorities differ.

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