I have 25,000 LPs, 7,000 78s and 7,000 CDs. Sure, I love playing analog. As of yesterday, I now have more than an analog-like sounding CD front end (EAR Acute). I purchased a COS Engineering DAC (D2). I have entered to realm of great digital playback. As mentioned, digital can be sonically uncolored unlike most analog gear. My new DAC is not 100% perfect but it allows me to hear music with a unfettered/untethered frequency response, dynamic contrast, soundstage, tonality, resolution and imaging. I wonder if it's pacing could be bettered. There is so much music I was missing, the subtle sounds that my best LPs have. Moreover, this is the first time that I can enjoy music from very soft to very loud sound pressure levels (my system should have been able to play quietly did not until now). My friend Grover Huffman has the H1 and last week showed me how fabulous my system could sound. I got pant flapping bass without distortion, wild dynamic contrasts and an ability to listen for 4 or 5 hours without listener fatigue (his demonstration led to a very long listening session). I should mention that I have Grover to thank for his all silver RCA 75 ohm SPIF cable, his Pharoah A/C and RCA ICs which I own. I enjoyed the EAR from 2006 with it's rich, lively sound but it has been eclipsed by the DAC. Warning-this DAC is not forward sounding to bright. The plane of the sound is between the speakers. Digital playback cannot make a mediocre or poorly mastered CD sound great, but I have so many great CDs that it is as difficulty to choose music to hear as it is in the analog realm.
How much do you need to spend to get digital to rival analog?
I have heard some very high end digital front ends and although they do sound very good, I never get the satisfaction that I do when i listen to analog regardless if its a"coloration" or whatever. I will listen to high end digital, and then I soon get bored, as if it just does not have the magic That I experience with a well set up analog system. So how much do I need to spend to say, " get a sound that at least equals or betters a 3K Turntable?
Showing 6 responses by fleschler
rluciano - Similar to my system. Phono-VPI TNT6 super platter, SDS speed control, tricked-out SME IV arm, Benz Ruby 3, Townsend Seismic Sink, Audio Interface SUT and custom made subminiature tube phono stage. Cost over $22K plus cabling. Digital = half that now that I purchased a separate DAC. Still, great LPs sound great despite the 12 bit resolution asserted to by the other poster. |
I used a Tandberg 320? and a Nakamichi zx7 for recording live choirs in the 80s along with a Tandberg 9000 R2R. The DAT deck was superior. However, the cassettes I made were of superior quality to nearly all prerecorded tapes. There lies the probable cause for the previous posts. Prerecorded tapes generally were awful compared to LPs and R2R 2 track or 7.5 ips 4 track. Premium cassettes recorded at home or live sounded good. I got rid of about 500 cassettes and kept only my live recorded tapes. Mijostyn-good for you, another audiophile interested in the music first although 78s can be very dynamic if frequency rangebound. They are direct discs with perfect non-edited take credentials. My 78s go back to 1900 so stylus size, speed and equalization make it more cumbersome to listen to. It's an active hobby to listen to acoustic 78s (pre-1925). |
My experience with live recordings using a Tandberg 310 back in the early 1980s with chrome? Sony and TDK top cassettes had really low noise/hiss levels without Dolby. I have transferred my recordings to CD using a Alesis Masterlink and they play back similar to a well mastered LP to CD. Unfortunately, the deck was problematic and I switched to a Nakamichi ZX-7 which wasn't as low noise without Dolby. I really don't like Dolby B cassette sound. I think I'd rather hear a highest res 320 khz MP3. |
You are correct. The room acoustics and power quality are paramount to maximizing the abilities of the electronics/speakers. That's why I spent more on my room construction than on my audio equipment and it paid off. See near the bottom of Page 2 of
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/the-5-stages-of-making-a-bad-audio-purchase?lastpage=true&page=3 my post for my detailed room construction details |
I have a half dozen Denon digital recorded LPs. They have good sound. Denon made 2,039 digital LPs/CDs (visit Discogs.com to view) with many original recordings. Denon 1300, 1500 and 1600 CD players were very good for their time. Today, a cheap Sony Bluray player beats the pants off of them. I have a 1300 and 1500 (as well as about 30 other 1980s/1990s) CD players for sale, cheap! |