Digital with same soundstage as analog

@dogberry I answered in response to a post here.  Where else would you suggest I answer it?  Get over yourself and just deal with it.

I have a modest setup, but the analog sounds good to me. Question, can I get the same soundstage with digital by adding a DAC or Streamer?

The short answer is yes.  At present you’re comparing a >$4000 vinyl rig to an old $900 CD/SACD player so not very surprising you’re hearing what you do — apples and oranges. If you spend anywhere near that on a good DAC and streamer and get a Qobuz subscription your digital and overall listening experience will improve exponentially to the point that you’ll likely find yourself listening far less to vinyl and CDs/SACDs. It’s a crying shame some SACDs are holding you hostage from the excitement of discovering worlds of new music through streaming, much of which is available in hi res. Your only regret about streaming will be that you didn’t start way, way sooner — that was definitely my experience about five years ago. The ability to find and embrace worlds of new music along with playing virtually anything I want in any order from my listening chair has been the biggest revelation in audio in my 40+ years of being an audiophile, and I don’t make that statement lightly. It’s time. Just my $0.02 FWIW.

Goodonya and Gongrats! If you’re using the analog outs from the Node a separate DAC should definitely be your next move. And just to maybe spark the chain reaction a little further for down the road, adding a separate linear power supply to the Node from the likes of Teddy Pardo, etc. for $200-$400 should give you another significant and relatively cost-effective performance boost to where you may be able to live happily with the Node for a long time. Many people here have done this and have been very happy with the results. FWIW.

The outcome of such experiences for myself and as a result of only experiencing a very limited range of dedicated streaming devices, is that Streaming is not a contender for a CD or Vinyl Source.

@pindac I’m sure you heard what you heard, but the key to your strong statement that  “streaming is not a contender for CD or vinyl source”  is that as you stated your experience is “very limited.”  There are many here with very accomplished/expensive systems who have found this to not be the case at all and that streaming is very much “a contender” to the other formats sonically along with all its other significant advantages/benefits.  “Streaming is not a contender” is a bold and definitive statement to make for someone with admittedly relatively little experience with various streaming setups and has not been born out by me and many others here.  But obviously you’re entitled to your opinion.

I'm sure everything you say is true. But surely it does not belong in the analog forum?

@dogberry  The OP was asking if a DAC/streamer can soundstage on the level of vinyl, so where better to ask?  This was an off shoot of that original question — it happens in discussion forums.

Streaming is fine for background music and shopping for new music.

Not my experience at all.