2. digital
  3. 1371227248

after TT upgrade, digital sounds like crap- help

I listen to mostly digital, and a bit of high quality 180g, 200g, etc vinyl. I upgraded my turntable, cartridge, and rack yesterday. I'm having a problem now in that my digital chain is sounding quite pale in comparison to some of my favorite vinyl. It's not sounding bad, just a bit cold, stale, hollow, etc in comparison. I'm not down with this at all.

I'm wondering if anyone may be able to suggest a method (maybe new piece of gear) to help fill out, warm up, etc my digital chain. The vinyl is just sounding wider, warmer, fuller. The stereo width difference on a lot of the stuff I listened to last night was quite dramatic.

My system is comprised of the following:

1. B&W 683's
2. McIntosh MA6300 (used as preamp, power amp, and phono stage)
3. Mac Mini and Sonos Connect running, Audirvana for hires, Spotify and MOG
4. Oppo BDP-105 (used as DAC for Mac Mini via USB and Sonos via coax)
5. Rega RP3 + Elys2
6. Audioquest cabling where it counts
radambe
hifimaniac
508 posts
 
Buy my EAR 192 DAcute DAC I have for sale and it will fix your digital issues in a heartbeat! You need a better DAC.
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
Use the digital equalizer program that is in iTunes.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"06-14-13: Radambe
Would it make sense to try a tubed DAC or just a different DAC for that matter? The MusicHall 25.3 looks interesting. I bought the Oppo to use specifically as a DAC. I'm still within the window of being able to return the thing, but I'd honestly be surprised if I'd find such a huge difference moving to something else. Am I wrong? The difference using some of my best case scenario records is pretty vast. Switching back to the digital after listening for a few minutes sounds like someone just put a huge midrange cut filter on the preamp output. What I wanted was the mac D100 but didn't want to spend beyond the Oppo (whatever it was like $1100 or so).

In terms of trying some CD playback..... I do not own a single CD. I could burn one I guess, hehehe."

If you go on like this, you will be disappointed. You can't take something that doesn't sound right to begin with and patch it up somehow so it competes with something that does sound right. You can't get more than what you started with. The solutions you are talking about can only take away/hide aspects of the sound that you don't like.

Before I go further, I'd like you to answer a question, if you can. Its regarding you DAC (The Oppo you mention). Leading up to its purchase, how much consideration did you give to the analog portion of the DAC? And what made you choose it overall?
jwm
918 posts
 
Send your Oppo 105 to Modright for a tube mod upgrade. It will now compete very well with your vinyl setup.
jetrexpro
506 posts
 
I have the same experience after replacing the old belt on my P3-24 with a Rega White belt and Groovetracer sub platter. It is more musical than my tube CD player. My 74 year old mother commented on the difference when she was visiting!!
Since my wife and I listen to classical, jazz as well as rock and our CD collection is huge we need both formats. My Ayon CD player does a very good job and didn't break the bank at around $2000 used. We enjoy CD's very much.

It does make me wonder how much better ultra expensive DACs and CD players fare against vinyl. Think about Audio Note Dacs that cost over $20000??? I would like to hear them side by side with vinyl. And if you believe that digital cannot compete with vinyl, at what price point is the sweet spot for digital?
More to discover