Vinyl - One Word - WOW!!

It's a classic debate, nature vs nurture, vinyl vs cd? I own a decent cd player (Naim 5XS) and digital is essential for accessing contemporary recordings. All my favorite music was originally released on vinyl.

I mostly listen to jazz music recorded in the 1950s - music that is simply not on cd or not easy to find anywhere. Often, owning the record is the only way to hear the music. Also, I prefer to listen to the format in which the music was recorded. Exile on Main Street or Revolver has to be on vinyl for my maximum enjoyment - I don't care how good the digital source is. State of the art vinyl playback - turntable, arm, cartridge & phonostage starts at 30K but truly good performance can be had for under 2K.

$35,000?!!! Really, Mijo?

There are certain things that vinyl will never do that digital does, both good and bad, and whether one prefers one or the other depends on how the individual listens and what the individual listens for, so I find such cost generalizations to be worthless when offered as advice. For me, $10K (phono stage, TT, tonearm, cartridge) in vinyl can get me up to the very best digital, but we listen differently. Neither of us is wrong.

tubeguy76

29 posts

01-01-2023 at 11:56pm 

Vinyl is pure nostalgia, don't get too wrapped up into it.  If you want true analog, you need to go R2R but bring deep pockets.

The irony is strong with this one.

I'm about to jump on this vinyl thing after I swore I wasn't. Have a phono preamp on order, and will probably pick up a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon or Pro. Right now I own one record, but I have friends who own a bunch and I can invite them over to bring their LP's.

The first 2023 suggestion for a 10's of $1000's Purchase to experience a high quality replay is out there. "Ding Dong" .

I just got a Project Debut Carbon Evo for the holidays. This is my first turntable since the 70's, and it does indeed sound stunning with a good vinyl pressing.  (If you like Phish, try the LP on LP releases for great sounding vinyl).  Even more remarkable, many of my LPs from the 70s, which were boxed up and stored in the early 80s, sound great after a run in the Record Doctor V that someone recommended to me. 

While vinyl will never replace the many terabytes of great live music that I enjoy, it will have a permanent place in my system once again.

WOW

I stopped listening to vinyl because it didn't sound too good, I got tired of changing the steel needle and cranking the arm to wind the motor after every song LOL!

The OP, according to previous and current posts, is using a basic, 15 year old, Marantz CD player and  1980's Denon 50 Watt per channel Receiver into B & W speakers and prefers the vinyl playback of Project Debut Carbon Evo turntable. I'm not surprised!

JJbeason14, any discussion regarding vinyl playback is better served when we know the rest of the vinyl playback chain, ie cartridge and phono preamp.

Not trying to be critical,  but this forum is a wealth of user knowledge and experience with much to learn. 

And now a  few ramblings on my digital experiences.

I feel the  vinyl vs digital debate, it is less relevant as digital has matured. They both can sound fantastic when done right and rather much less so when done wrong,. This forum is full with members extolling the virtues of their recent purchases, " I just bought/heard the  blah blah blah, its' a gamechanger". It makes us audiophiles feel good after we see the visa bill!. 

My personal experiences  streaming music on Tidal with a Lumin U1 mini and Musician R2R DAC is that many older releases have been remastered for the better ....guess what?....not too Shabby sounding at all. 

 I can now populate my musical choices almost exclusively to releases that have both great music and  great sound .

At my age, life's too short to listen to badly recorded music no matter how good the  content. With digital streaming, there is more well recorded and brilliant music than one could listen to in 10 lifetimes.... all with  subscription that costs pennies a day. I like that! These are in some ways good times for music lovers.

They are both capable of fine performance but digital sources are far more cost effective. Vinyl playback is a REALLY deep rabbit hole. You can't match the best digital performance until you spend at least $35,000 in total on a record playing set up. You still have to contend with bad pressings, warped records and a host of other issues. 

Us old guys with huge record collections have no choice but younger people without records are better off staying digital and spending the money on music. 

Vinyl is pure nostalgia, don't get too wrapped up into it.  If you want true analog, you need to go R2R but bring deep pockets.

When you have a basic  digital setup then I can understand why you 

dislike digital ,you have to spend $$ with no shortcuts to have a very good digital setup, cables alone are at least a few $$ thousand .

most good  analog setups are over $10 k , the same applies to digital .

When you have a basic  digital setup then I can understand why you 

dislike digital ,you have to spend $$ with no shortcuts to have a very good digital setup, cables alone are at least a few $$ thousand .

most good  analog setups are over $10 k , the same applies to digital .

I generally prefer CD and mainly buy vinyl when it's the only format where I can find something, but a good vinyl recording can indeed be stunning. I think the main reason to make vinyl your primary source is a distaste for the digital sound. The thing is, even if you were to elect an analog system because it's fashionable or because you have swallowed "hype" rather than a personal informed judgment, you're still getting something good. Most cases where something is hyped it's meretricious, but this isn't one of them. You can get a good analog system and feel for the rest of your life you made the right choice.

Pick up one of the UHQR releases from Analogue Productions, and you'll be even more amazed. Welcome to the party!

Ran me away from digi years ago lol.  

Either way prepare to say goodbye to your money.  It is so worth it though.  Also yes try a CD Transport with a decent DAC and you will be amazed.  

My guess is you're using a CD player with onboard DAC.  Unless you go very expensive you'll be disappointed.  Get a CD transport and use your high end stand alone dac...until then, keep enjoying your vinyl.  Just don't want you to give up digital on one bad experience.

Jerry

A New Musical Encounter can be a real stimulus and motivation to discover how to have the encounter available at hand.

Looks like a new journey is to be embarked on.