A/B Vinyl/Digital

Hevac,

Not familiar with the BErkeley.

Agree DCS is very nice but way too expensive.

I'm very happy with my $500 Paradisea DAC sourced from either Roku Soundbridge Network Player or modest Denon player,

The a/b that is the most fun is to take the same song and a/b it for someone who says "I don't have good ears like you do..." EVERY time I have done it an amazed look crossed their face and every person prefered vinyl. I have a cheap high-end TT (Rega 2) and compared it with the Rega Planet 2000, which is not only twice as expensive but it was a fine player. I used Nora Jones 2004 album which I bought on vinyl and CD.

Personally I think digital could be better than Vinyl, but SACD is still not good enough. The computer Tech that determined the limitations of redbook CD recording was early eighties "stone knives and bearskins."

I've been listening to digital over the winter because of the dry air. Static on the records isn't my cup of tea. Now that the humidity is rising, I decided to play some lp's the other day. Just as hevac1 said, analog sounds warmer, and has more depth and a better soundstage. Makes me think there may be something wrong with the output tubes in my Jolida cdp, but I know there isn't.

Mapman
Just a note. Funny thing happened I saved up and purchased the dCS Debussy instead of the Berkeley.

Here are my results from doing so A/Bing Vinyl vs. Digital.

System: An almost new Technics SL-10 with original cart with a Cambridge 640P with Pangea P100 PS vs. an Oppo BDP-83.

Speakers were KEF 104/2s; Amp and Preamp at the time was Kavent S-33 preamp and Kavent P3300 amp combo.

Specs of gear: http://www.kellsieavdesign.com/products/S33-P3300.htm

We listened to a bunch of alt rock records (Depeche Mode, The Cure, Garbage, etc) as these were the only records and CDs we had available.

A lot of us found the difference between swapping between the sources was in this set-up was the music from vinyl was just a lot more relaxed. The music from the Oppo had a bit more boominess in the bass and was a tad more forward. With vinyl the music had a bit more resolution and detail with no fatigue but the volume had to be turned up a little more.

When we were done playing records that afternoon and started discussing things it mostly came down to preference. One listener liked the oomph the Digital recordings had. Another listener enjoyed the vinyl sound. One didn't like the fact that it was such a process to clean the record before and after playing while another didn't mind the process. I think on one Depeche Mode album the CD sounded more treble heavy and there was a bit of harshness in the music.