Digital as good or better than YOUR analog?

My digital with best recordings is getting closer to my analog, but not close enough to make a mistake and at a serious cost.

My redbook digital rig is very good and I enjoy listening to it a lot; my SACD playback is even better. Both of these rigs have substantial advantages in certain areas over my Basis/Graham/Koetsu analog rig, particularly in the areas of bass extension and control and, with SACD, dynamics. But when I want to truly relax, forget about soundstaging, equipment, cables, etc. and get lost in the music, I still turn to vinyl. Can't quantify it, but it's just more involving.

My system may not be a fair comparison, but I prefer digital in most respects. However, my analog rig (VPI HW-19 Jr./RB300) is not really up to my digital source (GamuT CD-1S).

Bomarc has it correct. It's really a function of the mastering job on the medium that you're playing. I had an audio club meeting at my place last June. We played the same albums on CD and on vinyl, then voted. Lots of different ears and opinions. It was about 60% vinyl and 40% digital at the end, with quite a few surprises. All agreed that the recording itself was the most important element.

Basically you can't find the same mastering job on both CD and vinyl for the same album. If you could then some universal truth's probably will come out, like the vinyl seems to be smoother and more liquid, but the digital seems faster and tighter with (possibly) more extension, depending on your cartridge.

Enjoy the hunt,
Bob

I agree with Bomarc and Ptmconsulting (okay - Bob). We're at the point where, given decent gear for both anolog and digital playback, the mastering and manufacturing quality of the software is often the larger determinant in terms of ultimate sonic quality (although digital will always enjoy certain inherent advantages in the area of lowest noise).

But as for my own rig, I can't really say. The few recordings I own in both formats yield mixed results for overall superiority, some going one way, some the other. The fact that I play analog much more often than digital has entirely to do with my collection, and nothing to do with audiophile considerations.