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Digital is far better than vinyl

I have invested a decent sum of money into my digital setup, including a decent streamer (Innuos Zenith MK3), a very good dac (Denafrips Terminator 2), Eno filter, and good cabling. But after being told by many here that vinyl is vastly superior to digital, I thought let’s build an analog system and see what all the fuss is about. So this is what I did ...

I picked up an Audio Technica TT from Amazon for around $299. I then used one of the older integrated amps with a built-in phono, which I believe I paid around $500 a few years ago. And, finally, just to even out the playing field I bought the cheapest possible cables from alibaba. Since I didn’t have extra rack space to put the TT on, I got a couple of bricks and built a DIY platform for it.

So after listening to the analog setup for a few days, I can proclaim without a shadow of doubt that digital is far, far superior than vinyl on any given day, and twice a day on Sunday.

What has been your experience? And please, don’t mention your gear or any special. cartridges, isolation, etc. Not interested in your system details. I just want to make sure you guys understand that digital is far, far superior than vinyl.

128x128arafiq

Showing 2 responses by cleeds

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cleeds
5,682 posts
 
arafiq

I wish we could stop seeing it as an either/or proposition and realize that both formats can perform at the same level in 2022.

Exactly and, in fact, it is not an either/or proposition. And it's the same with most of audio's other false-choice debates, such as tubes vs. ss or copper vs silver cabling.

emrofsemanon

... digital is as far superior to analog, as analog tape was to edison cylinders.

That's absurd - it's trivially easy to distinguish between tape and an Edison cylinder.  Edison's machine was entirely acoustic - it needed a horn for amplification.

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cleeds
5,682 posts
 
david1964

Over the years there has been a fundamental misconception regarding the quality of digital recordings over analog recordings. ... 90% of the LPs published in the early 1980s where produced from a digital master, so they cannot sound any better than a CD.

You are mistaken. A CD is limited to 20 kHz FR, and the circuit and filters used to ensure that are not necessarily transparent. On the other hand, an LP can easily sail above 20 kHz. So yes, a digital recording can sometimes sound better on LP that CD, and I've explained only one reason why that can be so.

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