Unfortunately there’s just too much that happens between the master tapes and the disc or file you play to be able to draw any direct conclusions about analog vs. digital. Besides vendors deliberately sweetening mixes to prove the superiority of DSD, or what have you, tastes and fads change. The disk engineer of two decades ago would have been satisfied with a different balance on vinyl than one working on DSD today.
When CD’s came out, compression and loudness were king. Bob Carver famously demonstrated the lack of channel separation present in a CD, when the CD was technically far superior in that dimension.
Don’t get me wrong, if I didn’t have cats I’d love to have a record player and nice vinyl collection. :) I’m just saying we are buying more than technology when we buy vinyl, we are buying a musical culture.
If you are trying to stay with an all analog setup, I would at least encourage you to think about a miniDSP at the subwoofer. But, measurements are key and accelerate getting to great.
Last tip, don’t try to tune the sub for flat. I usually go for around 1dB to 1.5 dB /octave downwards slope.
Erik
When CD’s came out, compression and loudness were king. Bob Carver famously demonstrated the lack of channel separation present in a CD, when the CD was technically far superior in that dimension.
Don’t get me wrong, if I didn’t have cats I’d love to have a record player and nice vinyl collection. :) I’m just saying we are buying more than technology when we buy vinyl, we are buying a musical culture.
If you are trying to stay with an all analog setup, I would at least encourage you to think about a miniDSP at the subwoofer. But, measurements are key and accelerate getting to great.
Last tip, don’t try to tune the sub for flat. I usually go for around 1dB to 1.5 dB /octave downwards slope.
Erik