Re the OP:
In my experience, a $700 turntable, if well sorted, or well set up, will equal or out perform, the best that digital can do or has done so far.
Until they get a better control of the LSB considerations of digital audio, this will always be true.
In order to do that, they’ll have to get their digital thinking in order and redesign the ADC and DAC from the ground up, again, for the umpteenth time.
To do this in conjunction with deep knowledge of how the ear and brain hears (a constantly growing knowledge base, btw...) and make the engineering so it is controlled wholly by such thinking, rather than the other way around.
The latter being how we arrived at this mess that we have today, one where engineering prettiness (i’s dotted, t’s crossed...) is more important that the reality of human hearing, human hearing --which is not looked at by the specialized people doing the ADC/DAC engineering.
We need hugely talented multidisciplinarians in the field of ADC/DAC design, plain and simple. Discovery oriented people, scientists in a multidiciplinarian mode and capacity.
As it all stands today.. (sigh)...a today, where a +$100k digital DAC unit combined with a +$100k ADC on the input end, can’t outperform a few thousand dollars worth of well sorted pure analog record and playback.
In engineering thinking and efforts, the digital system clearly does outperform...but.. with regard to the best in human hearing - it clearly doesn’t.
Major disconnect.
In my experience, a $700 turntable, if well sorted, or well set up, will equal or out perform, the best that digital can do or has done so far.
Until they get a better control of the LSB considerations of digital audio, this will always be true.
In order to do that, they’ll have to get their digital thinking in order and redesign the ADC and DAC from the ground up, again, for the umpteenth time.
To do this in conjunction with deep knowledge of how the ear and brain hears (a constantly growing knowledge base, btw...) and make the engineering so it is controlled wholly by such thinking, rather than the other way around.
The latter being how we arrived at this mess that we have today, one where engineering prettiness (i’s dotted, t’s crossed...) is more important that the reality of human hearing, human hearing --which is not looked at by the specialized people doing the ADC/DAC engineering.
We need hugely talented multidisciplinarians in the field of ADC/DAC design, plain and simple. Discovery oriented people, scientists in a multidiciplinarian mode and capacity.
As it all stands today.. (sigh)...a today, where a +$100k digital DAC unit combined with a +$100k ADC on the input end, can’t outperform a few thousand dollars worth of well sorted pure analog record and playback.
In engineering thinking and efforts, the digital system clearly does outperform...but.. with regard to the best in human hearing - it clearly doesn’t.
Major disconnect.