Does Anyone Think CD is Better Than Vinyl/Analog?


I am curious to know if anyone thinks the CD format (and I suppose that could include digital altogether) sounds better than vinyl and other analog formats. Who here has gone really far down both paths and can make a valid comparison? So far, I have only gone very far down the CD path and I just keep getting blown away by what the medium is capable of! I haven’t hit a wall yet. It is extremely dependent on proper setup, synergy and source material. Once you start getting those things right, the equipment gets out of the way and it can sound more fantastic than you can imagine! It’s led me to start developing a philosophy that goes something like this: Digital IS “perfect sound forever”; it’s what we do to the signal between the surface of the CD and the speaker cone that compromises it.” 
So I suppose what I’m asking for is stories from people who have explored both mediums in depth and came to the conclusion that CD has the most potential (or vice versa - that’s helpful too). And I don’t simply mean you’ve spent a lot of money on a CD player. I mean you’ve tinkered and tweaked and done actual “research in the lab,” and came back with a deep understanding of the medium and can share those experiences with others.

In my experience, the three most important things to get right are to find a good CD player (and good rarely means most expensive in my experience) and then give it clean power. In my case, I have modified my CD player to run off battery power with DC-DC regulators. The last thing that must be done right is the preamp. It’s the difference between “sounds pretty good” and “sounds dynamic and realistic.”
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Showing 2 responses by psag

Regarding Manfred Eicher of ECM fame, here is how it happened:

Once CDs effectively killed off vinyl, Eicher was all-too-ready to terminate LP production, which is exactly what he did. He preferred the sound and convenience of CD to LP, which I recall him stating at the time in interviews. Years later when the production of CDs become a losing financial proposition, Eicher was forced to re-start LP production. But it is a limited affair, designed to deliver trophies to record collectors who refuse to listen to digital in any form. ECM’s core audience (the music lovers) continue to buy the CDs, although the necessity of opening the catalogue to streaming is certainly starting to hurt ECM’s core business.