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
lindisfarne
511 posts
 
There is no cure. A "garage-sale" TT beats digital. So, very simply, stop trying to fix digital.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,460 posts
 
Radambe...No, you just have to upgrade your digital gear. I have both a CD player and vinyl, and find pleasure in them both. The real bottom line is how the performance was recorded....playback will only give you what was recorded..good, or bad.
radambe OP
1 posts
 
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.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Your digital is not going to sound great using a Mac Mini and Sonos without reclocking the signal (Audioengr's comment).
How does a CD played thru your Oppo BDP-105 sound?
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Chayro,
I'm with you, both formats can sound very good or not so good, depends on what you're using and the setup. Sweeping proclamations that one blows rhe other away hasn't been the case in my experience. Some records and turntables are dogs as are some digital playback.
Regards,
More to discover