2. analog
  3. 140184-113812

Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD

Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort

Showing 1 response by simao

simao's avatar
simao
1,855 posts
 
I'm going to offer this for comparison:

The MoFi 45lp release of Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" against both a Tidal streaming and a reissued cd version. 

Analog: VPI HW-19 Mk 4 with a Hana SH through a basic Lehmann Black Cube phono. 

Digital: Tidal lossless FLAC through an Oppo 105 and AcousticZen XLR's through the Pathos Classic One. 

That 45 pressing completely outsized any digital version. 

Some digital Versions are better than their analog counterparts, especially with a poorly pressed vinyl version. But I tend to research the best pressed vinyl version of a release and they almost always sound more complete and the digital version. 

And, then again, some inferior pressed versions of LPs can sound absolutely horrible. Like, I played REM's LP of Life's Rich Pageant, and that just sounded awful through the system. but the streaming version through TIDAL sounded incredible.
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