2. music
  3. 166595-130064

Classical music listening... what is a better source High Rez or Vinyl?

For many of us who really enjoy classical music, for me it is Baroque and opera, what is the better and more consistent for source high fidelity listening?

I am a mid hifi guy and have a Pro-ject Classic SB turntable with a high output MC Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 cartridge.. I am using a Jolida JD 9II Tube phone stage, with a vintage Telefunkin tube upgrade.

I have a Rogue Sphinx 3 integrated amplifier, with a vintage Mozada tube upgrade. My digital source DAC/SACD/CD is a Yamaha CD-2100 player.

I have refurbished Ohm H's loud speakers.

I have been picking up many vintage classical albums recently, mainly 1980’s releases in excellent condition too, at my local transfer station, and it has been mixed bag in comparison to my high resolution music files and SACD collection.

I was expecting much more when it came to vinyl and classical but I have not been as won over, as I have been with rock and jazz on vinyl.

My experience with SACD and high resolution, 96/24 or higher, has been very rewarding with a wide variety of classical music. Opera really shines in digital IMHO. Strong and full on classical piece are quite stunning on many a SACD releases I own. Rachel Podger’s Vivaldi: L’estro armonico - 12 concerti, Op. 3 on SACD is an excellent example of the audio quality I demand, as this recording is exceptional! Plus there are are very few new remastered vinyl releases for classical, particularly for opera, these days. A perfect example of this is Shubert’s Winterreise featuring Joyce DiDanato and pianist Yannick Nezet-Sequin, which I saw performed at Carnegie Hall for this recording and which sounds phenomenal in 96/24, and was release recently.

That would seem counter intuitive but that is clearly what the market is showing.

On one of these threads I recall someone posting how strings of violins, and the intensity that they are played at, can lead to degraded sound quality depending on the type of cartridge used.

I want to hear back from the classical music posse here to help me get to that higher level of listening with classical vinyl.

Is it the cartridge?

Or should I just stay with my digital sources?


idigmusic64

Showing 5 responses by rvpiano

rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,467 posts
 
I listen to classical 90%-95% of the time.
I own about 3000 records and 5000 CDs.
‘But lately, I’m listening almost exclusively to streaming. Why? Because of the limitless variety of titles available. I always had the SQ priority of sound sources: LP, followed by SACD, followed by CD, followed by streaming.
‘However, I’ve tweaked my system to the point that there is now not a lot of difference. It requires a lot of time and effort to do this.
It may be true that the best records sound better than anything else, but I don’t believe anymore that digital is inherently inferior to analog. Until recently I firmly believed that to be the truth.

In any case, the music comes through to me very acceptably now in all formats.
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,467 posts
 
I must make one point, however.
When listening to music on any source, if the musical message comes through with an acceptably high degree of sonic quality, I don’t think we should agonize over: Will it sound a little better in another format?  

Enjoy the music, for heaven’s  sake!
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,467 posts
 
After writing the above post, I decided to give records another spin, as I hadn’t listened to them in a while.  I did some A-B comparisons with the same title: streaming vs. LP.
Well, I hate to admit it,  There is a quantifiable difference between the two.  Just listening to the streaming by itself sounded great until I compared it to the LP.  The latter opened up the sound to a much wider spectrum.  Lifting the proverbial veil.
Okay,  but I’m not giving up streaming because of this.
The benefits are still significant to me.
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,467 posts
 
bkeske,

‘’That Barbirolli Mahler 9th LP set is great in every way, sonically gorgeous.




rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,467 posts
 
“If you want to keep up to any degree with what is happening NOW, you need a good digital source.”

Well put!
More to discover