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.”
mkgus

Showing 1 response by worksbau

I prefer the inconvenience of analog... stereo and mono vinyl, 78 shellac, belt drive, idler drive, moving coil, moving iron, strain gauge, optical... dragging a rock through a ragged plastic groove, electrons dancing in glass tubes, and the magic of it all brings me joy. Am I going to listen to my German pressing of Timeless through my DS02 or Sgt Peppers mono through my Miyajima Zero or La Boheme 78 through my Miyajima Spirit as stand up every 10-25 minutes and flip through my favorites is all part of my experience that I wouldn’t want any other way. My passion for music involves more than just listening. Or... all the senses enhance my experience of listening.

I stream to audition music I might want to buy on vinyl and it is very useful for that. When I sit to listen to listen to digital,
with all its convenience, I find myself distracted, thinking about what I might want to listen to instead. When I select a record and sit to listen, i am engaged in the music, and nothing else. That alone is the biggest difference in my experience between the two, and I can only speak to and act on what moves me.