How many of you are digital only systems?

Are you missing something truly special by going all digital?

Depends on who you ask!

Everyone hears differently.

There are obviously those who fervently believe analogue sounds superior, period. 

I'm willing to grant that's true. . . when its processed by their ears and brains!  I don't hear it that way, though. 

The bottom line is that the only way you can truly answer the question is by using your own ears. 

"In between all that however is this.... noise. How do you all handle it? Is there a meditation or something? Hypnosis? What is the secret?"

Don't think there's any "secret". 

You hear noise. Others of us don't.

Perhaps it has something to do with differences in individual physiological structures and/or auditory processing capacities?

If you don't enjoy digital, don't listen to it! 

If you prefer vanilla ice cream to chocolate ice cream, enjoy your preference. Asserting vanilla is inherently superior isn't likely to convert those who prefer chocolate, though. 

@td_dayton:

Thanks for your refreshingly open-minded comments!

Best,

Stuart 

... these, in particular::

"  i personally would not hang my hat on one type of source being inherently superior to another - just too many exceptions, too many variables"

... especially given that the ears/brains taking in what the source is putting out vary in terms of how they perceive sound and what they judge to be pleasurable/"good"...

@yermajesty:

"@stuartk, You wrote {You hear noise. Others of us don’t.
Perhaps it has something to do with differences in individual physiological structures and/or auditory
processing capacities?}

All sensory data is filtered through the brain. In sound, the filtering process is

known as “psychoacoustics”. This process allows a participant in a conversation taking place in a noisy environment—ie: a busy restaurant—to filter everything but their own conversation out of their perceptions. The same is true of our perceptions of the audible clicks and pops that SOMETIMES plague vinyl recordings".

I wasn't thinking about clicks and pops but of what I often hear vinyl fans say: that vinyl sounds more "organic" and digital sounds "harsh". 

As for your comment: 

"Here’s to great music, regardless of your choice of playback technologies!"

I can't argue with that !!!!!!!!!

@mozartfan:

"I am tube cd player for life"

Although I now use a Moon transport coupled with an r2r Aqua DAC, I had a Jolida JD100 for many years and very much enjoyed it

@yermajesty:

"In my experience, digital did sound harsh . . . in the early days of CDs." 

Yeah; my first Sony CDP in the early 90's sounded terribly metallic and shrill. I  switched to a Denon, which was definitely better but nothing like my current Moon transport + Aqua DAC combo.

"And to me, vinyl has always sounded more natural than digital does."

Well, OK.  Each to his/her own. You're certainly not alone in this regard. Vinyl does indeed sound different to me than CD but on good systems, I have no preference. I hear nothing that impels me to seize upon vinyl as a "benchmark". Perhaps I simply haven'y yet heard a sufficiently costly  vinyl system but I have friends with systems costing at least 50K and to my ears their vinyl systems are not superior to my 25K digital system. Others would no doubt reach a different conclusion.    

I'd agree that it's far easier to assemble a fatiguing-sounding digital system. When I decided to move from a CDP to a separate DAC and transport and began demo'ing DACs, I was astonished by the differences.
Some were so resolving that to me, all sense of the "forest" was lost, due to the severe overaccentuation of focus upon the "trees". I could not imagine how anyone could possibly enjoy such an "unnatural" presentation. Nevertheless, I found it helpful in my selection process to hear DACs on both ends of the spectrum.

This process led me to conclude that it's more important to know what one's preferences are as a listener, when going digital, as opposed to   vinyl.  And such knowledge can only come from experience, so perhaps it makes sense for beginners ought to start out with vinyl. 

@yermajesty:

I'm sorry-- I'm afraid I'm no help in that regard as I'm firmly wedded to the physical medium of CDs. Having to interact with yet another electronic screen holds little appeal for me. Plus, I'm old-fashioned (and old) -- I like being able to hold a CD case, read liner notes, etc. 

Sounds like you have a local dealer whom you trust and who knows your system. -- if he'll allow you to bring gear home to try out, I'd certainly start there. 

"As hard as it might be for some to accept, I don’t think analog is for everyone".

Judging from the number of digital-only responders to this thread, it's clearly not!  

@lalitk2: 

"I believe neither analog nor digital are plug n play, they both require fair amount of attention to detail".

+1