Worth pursuing analog sound from digital?

The orchid is a very good dac for the money ,but this  4 tubed tube rectified Lampizator Amber -3 dac  I have heard  both in my brothers system  the Orchid good but not  in the same league
 . At under $3k $2950; with shipping from Poland 
even st $6 k I know of None as musically engaging. I just ordered one  myself.

I think glennewdick has a lot of truth in what he says. I am just getting back into records having used mainly CD's for years.
I don't have thousand's to shell out for a DAC so I use an old (1990) Parasound D/AC-1000 DAC that uses two Burr Brown PCM63P chips, probably the best R2R chip ever made with a older Sony 5 disc carousel feeding it. Preamp is an older Audio Research SP8 feeding a set of restored Mac MC40's. Speakers are basically Altec Valencias with mods.
Early on I would listen to a few CD's before this DAC, using whatever CDP I had on hand and some CDP would having me turning the system off after the first CD. I figured I wasn't in the mood for music but it eventually dawned on me that I didn't like the edginess of the sound. Change out the CDP  to a different one and found out I was listening longer. With the Parasound I can listen all day.

Decided to setup my CL score, a Yamaha PX-3 linear tracker. Cart is a new AT120 and I'm using the phono stage on my ARC. Most of my records are older rock and country and I love the way they sound on this rig.
It's better than my digital but I can go either way. With my digital setup I can listen for 5 hours of music after I load it. With my vinyl setup I'm stopping what ever I'm doing and flipping sides or loading a new record every 20 minutes or so.
Now I'm interested in picking up a new release that was recorded and mastered in the all digital realm. It would be interesting to hear it on my all tube system. I'm thinking there should be a difference, after all the early master tapes were an analog media and tape done well always sounds great.
BillWojo

Yes absolutely Lampizator new Amber3 dac has a lot of trickle down technologies from their top Pacific dac for under $3k a Steal 
it beats most dacs at 2 x the monies in many areas  and very very engaging and very natural sounding .

@jaferd
My Nuwave sounded pretty good as well. Large soundstage, good dynamics. But there was no mistaking that I was listening to digital.

@lowrider57, I use a pioneer pd-65 as transport sending data via coaxial to the nuwave and it does sound pretty good. The nuwave was much improved than my old dacmagic but maybe the R2R is the solution.

@draumatictenor, I think it's edginess of digital that causes fatigue which is what I'm trying to see if it can be eliminated. 

Pick up a MHDT Orchid R2R Dac for $1100 from LTA. It sounds great and is better than my previous PS Audio Direct Stream Dac which lists for $5k. It comes with 4 different digital inputs plus it has a tube stage. Buy a NOS WE2C51 or WE296A tube for less than $100 and you’ll have a great sounding system.

I convinced Grannyring to buy one and he absolutely loves it. 

Here’s the thing I cant figure out. Listening to the same track (same mastering, spl, etc) on my digital or analog is extremely close to my ear. Yet I don’t ever listen as long to the digital stream. Maybe an hour max versus hours on vinyl. So is there something that my ears can’t detect that my brain can? Or does the digital interface itself tire me in a way that getting up from my chair doesn’t?

@jaferd.
I owned the Nuwave DSD DAC and was never able to remove the harshness or "edge" from my digital sources. I played mostly CD and some files from my Mac.
It would help if you told us what your digital source is.

I tried different CD players and finally upgraded to a transport. I still wasn’t satisfied with the sound; it always had a digital edge. In my case, it could have been that my components lacked synergy, but I knew the dac was part of the problem.

I’ve learned how important the digital cable between source and dac is. I could hear the difference in SQ with the various cables I auditioned.

I started to read about all the R2R multibit DACS that were coming to market. I picked one up and I finally had a non-digital sounding system.
And after some upgrades I believe I have a digital rig that rivals analogue.

I must mention that clean power plays a vital role for digital to sound its best.

big_greg hit the nail on the head. 

I love both and listen to both. 

In the end when was the last time, in quantity, recordings were made all analogue? maybe 25 years ago? so when was the music you listen to made? 

I have a new production Mark Knopfler album (Tracker) on both Vinyl and streaming "master files" via Tidal and both sound excellent but to my ears and system the master files on Tidal take it for sound quality. Not by a huge amount but enough in detail and frequency extremes to be noticeable. (Schiit Grungnir Multi Bit DAC). oh fyi Joni Mitchel has some excellent Master files now on Tidal as well that are worth a listen, and better then the records IMO. 

Now streamed hifi quality on Tidal (CD quality stream) of let say Santana's Abraxas and its no contest the vinyl is much better, fuller more liquid sounding . 

So is it the Digital - analogue  or is it the recording era that's the make or break for Digital sounding as good or better then vinyl?  

I'm thinking modern digital recordings have it over older recordings either digital or analogue. 

I really think its about the quality of recording apposed to the format. Both can and do sound great and not so great. 

I’m a confirmed vinyl guy. Two turntables, three tonearms, more cartridges than I can remember. I’m also in my 60s and been collecting records since the early ’70s. But I’m here to tell you, vinyl takes a lot of commitment, with a pretty steep learning curve, before it sounds truly great. Don;t get me wrong: I love every aspect of spinning LPs. But still.

I also have two systems that are digital only, with one dedicated to streaming Tidal. If I were starting over today, I might just go with Tidal. Sounds pretty fantastic, and you can put together a dynamite system for very little outlay, relatively speaking. Neat, clean, small footprint with no media taking up space. Constant churn of new music to explore. It’s a game changer.

Thanks for replies. I wanted the perspective of an analog lover which is why I posted here. It sounds like I have plenty of room for improvements but maybe it's unrealistic to get digital to sound just like analog. Each has it's own merits and I will just have to accept it. Will try various tweaks and see what I can achieve without going overboard. Happy listening!

@big_greg,

Great post, the world needs open minded people like you. At the end of day, music matters the most not the source.

Can digital "be as good as analog?"

I think that's in the ears of the beholder. I love vinyl. I love digital. For me it's not an either or proposition. 

In many ways, my MHDT Labs r2r Orchid DAC streaming Qobuz sounds better than my turntable, a Clearaudio Emotion with a Hana SL and Parks Puffin phono stage. That's over $2K of analog gear vs $1200 of digital gear. I bought the Orchid used, so paid less.

No clicks, no pops, no background noise, no fatigue, no glare, more detail, greater ease of use, and an almost infinite selection of music. 

Does the Orchid sound as "analog" as analog? Uh, no. Better? Decidedly so. 

I still like spinning records and with a good pressing, those sound great also. 

I don't feel a need to choose one over the other. 

jperry,

Not everyone likes to hear ticks and pops that have long plagued the vinyl playback. Not to mention, complicated setup and care required to play a darn LP.

Can you replay that song you just heard without getting up from your throne 😉

As someone with way more CDs than vinyl of course it's worth it.It's not necessary to spend a fortune,there's so many inexpensive and free ways to tweak the sound.Keeps the hobby interesting:-)

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?

The struggle for analog sound from CDs is at an end. But you must have the means to correct some serious issues now available. These serious flaws that have always been there include butvare not limited to, scattered background light getting into the photodetector, the inherent vibration of the CD itself whilst spinning and the influence of seismic type vibration on CD player performance. You can achieve an analog sound that is more analog than analog. Much higher dynamic range, much better resolution and sweetness and warmth.

An ordinary man man has no means of deliverance. 

@jaferd,

Harshness can be due to equipment being new or from digital cable linking to your DAC. Did you buy PS Audio new or used? Just like your analog gear, digital gear will also require bit of tweaking and patience.

What are you using as a source with the DAC? If you can list your system, it will be easy for members to make ‘solid’ recommendations.

You could look into Denafrips Ares II DAC that will get you very close to the analog sound. 

Multi-bit or R2R or ladder dacs (all the same type, different names for it) are the way to go, when trying to achieve that analog sound from digital.

There are some from the far east that come in at about the $2k mark, even as low as $1k used (but they disappear fast).

@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.  I love my analog gear: old and highly modified VPI TNT with a three stage all tube phono preamp.

Pursuing analog is perfectly ok. I have good examples of both digital and analog. BUT, as I have said in the past if you purchase a $300 turntable, $80 cartridge, and $120 phono stage, you are going to be sorely disappointed with analog. And I don't give a damn how well you set this combination up, it ain't gonna deliver.

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.

Yes, and it need not cost a fortune. Read everything you can here and elsewhere and stay away from the big, expensive, heavily advertised, brands.  But this discussion should be moved out of "analog."