Worth pursuing analog sound from digital?


Hi all,

I recently acquired a PS audio Nuwave dac which has eliminated most of the digital harshness compared with my old dac but it's still not as smooth and harsh-free like vinyl. I was wondering if it's worth pursuing that analog sound from digital without spending a fortune and if it's even possible. I know lots of digital lovers will say digital can be as good as vinyl but is it really?   
jaferd

Showing 2 responses by millercarbon

No need to get angry here. I think I have achieved parity with a modestly priced, and virtually unknown--hence no hype, very slightly modified Chinese DAC.


Who can be angry reading jokes like this? Is "you slay me" still a thing?

The gold standard for the best cost no object digital in the world is, was, and always will be that it sounds analog-"like" which "like" literally means "almost as good as" but your secret sauce digital is not merely "like" but equally as good as, and for cheap? Stop. You’re killing me. But oh, its also "virtually unknown" and "very slightly modified" AND (the punch line!) Chinese.

Right. Let me guess: Seinfeld? Chappelle? Kait? Who you write for?
Oh yeah, totally possible. Theoretically. If you want to believe the hype. Plenty do. They will tell you the latest $20k digital dac or whatever has done it. Better, even. Whatever. This works on people with no memory, or ability to use the search bar. Because they have been promising this since "Perfect Sound Forever" way back in the 1980's. Yeah that long.

Funny thing, for all that time, anyone with $200 in his pocket could buy a turntable and actually have what the digital dudes keep promising. Actually have it. Plus another funny thing, if you did buy that $200 turntable back then it would be worth today.... $300, $600, who knows? They aren't paying that for some collectible to sit in a display. They're paying that to actually listen to music. Because that is what analog just naturally does, play music. Which is why my Technics SL-1700 is worth today a couple times what I paid for it back in 1976.

Which is also why I have only had 3 turntables in my whole life. The most recent one happily spinning records for 20 years now. Meanwhile I have completely lost track of how many CD players I have gone through. Each one better than the last. Not a one of them even as good as my first Technics turntable.

But the one I have now I will have forever. Not because its that good. Because I will never buy another one. Took me a very long time to learn, but I did eventually learn: no, digital is NOT worth pursuing.