Analog playback on computer.



Some years ago there was very heavy discussion on the PC forum about how to down load vinyl to PC. At this time, the analog forum was touting how inferior PC was to analog, instead of tuning in on the discussion, which was even in "Stereophile".

I purchased the audiophile cards for the PC that Stereophile recommended, and tuned in to the proper interfacing of analog to PC. Compared to how expensive analog is, the necessary hardware was quite reasonable.

Just recently, after purchasing a new cartridge, and some 6922 tubes recommended by "Uncle Kevin" at Upscale Audio for both Pre and Phono Pre, I got quite an improvement in analog.


          https://www.upscaleaudio.com/products/telefunken-e88cc-6922


The question was, could all of this improvement be heard on computer playback, and the answer was a resounding YES.

You gits out what you puts in.





orpheus10

Showing 4 responses by jim204

Analog playback on computer is a perversion if you have analog system standing near. @chakster.  Aw! come on really.

Why do people go on the defensive when someone has the audacity to say they enjoy listening to difital copies of analogue media. I too used to use cassette tapes of my vinyl records and I did them with a Nakamichi 582 and in the day it was no slouch. I came across some last year and went over to my friend's house and put some of them on his Nakamichi Dragon. Frankly the sound from them was just laughable and these were metal Maxel tapes that were individually calibrated on my Nak to give the best conditions available to record onto. When we played them on his dragon we looked at each other in sheer horror, There was very little treble to speak of and lots of tape hiss ( and that was With Dolby B in circuit ). There was also print through giving pre echo ( remember that little revelation ) and the bass was muddy and had a lack of detail. All in all it was an unmitigated disaster so you can guess where those tapes went , yes the trash. Now you may think that It was taped on an old Garrard SP 25 by what i have been saying but it was state of the art for 70's Brittain at the time. Linn Sondeck with upgraded power supplies and other mods that I don't fully recollect at the moment, a Sirynx PU 2 tonearm and a  Dynavector Ruby Karat cartridge. Of course now people will probably laugh at that level of equiptment but in my day it meant a very serious investment. All I can say now is I am glad I junked all my analogue stuff in the nineties and went down the digital road. I now do a lot of my listening by streaming now and apart from the convenience of not getting up to change siides I am now getting a dynamic range that is totally believable and treble quallity that is divine. I use a computer to do this listening with and it is brimming with software from Mark Porzilli ( he of The Memory Player fame ) . The music comming from it I wouldn't swap for even a very high end analogue rig of today. If anyone is interested in really doing a high end remake of their music computer phone Laufer Teknic and speak to Sam I am really glad I did. Oh and just to let you know also it is just as good as my Gryphon Mikado Signature CD player which now sits from one week to the next without spinning a disk.
"Analog playback on computer" - do you hear yourself ?

If you have a sound card in your computer other than a DAC connected to it by USB then the sound card has to convert the digital signal by way of the DAC on the sound card and into the analogue inputs on your amplifier then you are listening to analogue from a computer. Simple really when you think about it for a moment.
@chakster    digital has no value!

I.m sorry but I couldn't disagree more, I think we are all audiophiles and also record collectors. Why else would we buy recordings and also try to update the sound quallity on our equiptment when time and money allows us to do it. What I will throw into the pot is the term Music Lover. That is what got me into hi fi in the first place as I used to listen to music on valve radio when I was a boy and I derived a lot of pleasure from it. When I got older and started working for a living I then could buy Hi fidelity equiptment to play recordings on so that I could get more pleasure from my first love, being a music lover. Now there are some audiophiles and some record collectors who are not music lovers, you just have to look at their record collections to find it out. They generally have their music and hi fi bought from suggestions garnered from music and hifi rags . I have seen it first hand on many occasions and on visiting some of them they have usually told me they have bought from reviews from Hi Fi News and Gramophone and never even hear before they purchased. Some have even said they have bought because they liked the nice glow the valves gave off or their wife liked that box because it would fit in with the decor and again not hahing listened before purchase. I would have a component in a biscuit tin if it gave better sound.
No I shall always remain a music lover and I love streaming now because I have a computer that is as good sounding as my Gryphon CD player and I can also listen to a recording before I decide to buy it in hi rez format and it won't deteriorate no matter how many playings.

@chakster
Yes I get what you are saying about analogue being collectable and I do agree with that. But digital remastering of analogue no I cannot condone that because I have digital remasters of some of the Greatest recordings of the sixties in Classical form. Solti's Ring Cycle and Klemperer's Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde to name 2. What Decca and EMI have done with those original analogue tapes is nothing short of a miracle. Have a listen if you don't believe me.