How do I smooth out violins?

I think massed strings are the single hardest thing for digital to do right. Digital has come a loooong way in the past few decades, but I've always noticed that massed strings seem to be the most difficult task for that medium, and though it sounds better than years ago, it's still apparent to me.

Tubes and warmer cables may help to take the edge off, but IMHO, you probably need to try vinyl to get it right, especially if you listen to a lot of orchestral music.

Zd542, while I don't disagree with you in theory regarding cables, in reality, I think everyone uses cables somewhat to 'tune in' a collection of equipment to suit their personal musical tastes. Many times I will see folks who swear by cables that many others will call 'bright' sounding, inevitably, these folks usually are running gear that many view as 'dark' sounding. Then there are others who swear by 'dark' sounding cables as the truth, when I look at their list of gear I see many 'bright' sounding pieces listed.

In the end, I feel that many of us generally arrive at the same destination, though we take many different paths to get there. Since there is no one single cable that everyone agrees is perfectly neutral, I feel that such an animal, a "perfectly neutral cable", does not exist. Therefore we are all tuning to some extent.

01-05-13: Rok2id
I will assume you gentlemen know how to 'READ' equipment reviews.

I know how to read equipment reviews, as do most others here. It's like reading the funny pages in the newspaper. Why do you feel the need to have someone else tell you how something sounds? I realize that reviews are merely ads, I've read many in the last few decades....some are right, some are wrong, some are right AND wrong. So what's your point?

To make it easier for others who read these threads, here is a link to the precious Marantz CD5004 review.

I'm certainly not bashing Marantz, my modified Marantz SA-11S1 is still the best digital source that I have owned. That being said, it still can't reproduce massed strings like my turntable. It's not the CDP's fault, it's the limitations of the digital format. Many do get by buying tubes and cables to attempt to smooth this problem out though.

Hey Jeff, how are you doing my friend? It looks like there are better days ahead for your beloved Dodgers. I wish I could say the same for my Phillies. LOL. :)

How about Hamels for Kemp?? ;)

Zd542, I think you have made things clear enough, and I agree. I look at it as preparing a meal. Yes, you will want to pick out the best main ingredients that you can afford and locate to cook with. These represent the system components. Then you will want to use spices (cables) to season to personal taste. In this analogy, all meals are seasoned as far as I know, since there are no systems out there that do NOT use cables.