In my world, “Digital is far better than vinyl” because I don’t have physical vinyl records that need to be stored, found, cleaned, and placed/removed from a turntable.
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.
Showing 2 responses by mitch2
During my first 15 years with an audio system, vinyl was my main source. My first "audiophile" turntable was a mid-1970’s Phillips GA-212, and it sounded just fine for the time. Eventually moved up to Thorens with a Shure cartridge, which sounded even better. It didn’t cost a lot to have good sound from vinyl, and to the point made by @wlutke, it still doesn’t. Back then, cassette was our way to take music on the road. Those sounded fine too. Car noise and warm sounding Jensen 6x9 speakers made highly detailed playback unnecessary. CD came along and sounded like CRAP for years, but it was novel and convenient. That convenience is what drove buyers to keep purchasing CDs and manufacturers to keep improving playback options. I am amazed at how good 16/44.1k streamed music can sound when played through a high quality server and DAC. In my case, it is good enough that the convenience of streaming (or playback of ripped CDs) outweighs the possible preference for the sound of vinyl in some cases. Of course, they have improved vinyl playback with better tables, cartridges, and phono stages, and better isolation platforms to greatly reduce the detrimental effects of vibration on vinyl playback. Vinyl has its own issues such as the outer tracks sounding better than the inner tracks, the choice to use 33rpm as the default playback speed when the higher speeds can provide better sound, and of course the physical wearing out of records and styluses. I suspect it is also harder to find new music on vinyl compared to digital. One last observation on sound quality is that with higher resolution systems, little sonic deficiencies have become a bigger deal. My original system with that Phillips turntable consisted of a cool Sansui 5000 receiver and Jensen 12-inch, three-way, speakers mounted in a big, solid birch plywood box. That system didn’t need the level of detail available today to sound musical and fun to listen to. Fortunately, in today’s world, a buyer can set up a pretty good sounding vinyl or digital system without breaking the bank. |