Wadia 381 vs. dcs Puccini vs. EmmLabs CDSA SE

Mike, if analog and digital were comparable, would you ever choose analog? Now I don't think digital is there, but I suspect it is going to get mighty close, with zero ticks, zero wow and flutter, now tweaking, alingnment, and the rest of the "rituals". When that happens, I think the reasons to go digital will overweigh the reasons for sticking to vinyl, even the very best of it. Bit, and an important but, we are not there yet.

first; i apologize for the thread detour my reaction (to the 'shot' at vinyl) has caused.

if analog and digital were comparable, would you ever choose analog?

that is a very very big 'if'.....and not one i rekon i'll need to consider in my lifetime. but sure; if my music server could deliver 'master tape' quality sonics on music 'I CARED ABOUT'......that would be enough to switch.

but......almost all the music i do care about has been recorded to analog tape (thank the Lord!). and i know what master tape sounds like. i know what good vinyl sounds like......and digital does not sound like that.

the very best digital i have heard, which is 5.6mhz single bit (2xDSD), is not a consumer format, there are no plans for it to be a consumer format, and it still falls short of analog tape. it is quite good; but i prefer my vinyl to it and certainly my master tapes.

there is no 'push' commercially for 5.6 mhz single bit to be a consumer product or anything else like it. but no matter; most current music is mastered in PCM, which at any resolution is a pale comparison to analog. and as long as PCM is the digital mastering media of choice there is zero chance for digital to even come close to analog.

basically follow the money; there is no 'demand' for a better digital format. so a format that would equal analog is as remote as a real life Holodeck.

Mike,
Please lighten up. Audio is a hobby and as all hobbies go, to each his own. I wasn't criticising vinyl per se. Maybe pubul said it better - if analog and digital were comparable, would anyone choose analog? And I was talking about the future, not today. So, one day in the future, IF digital sounds as good as analog, most vinyl guys would switch unless they are into the rituals of playing LPs as a hobby in itself. And talking about PCM, that's today. Who knows what the future might bring in terms of mastering media? So, let us please make peace and go about our own hobby as we so desire. Thanks in advance.

Jon,

no problem.

i composed a long response which further defended my turf.....and then thought better of it and deleted it.

if you are ever in the Seattle area come over and hear what i mean.

cheers!

Sure thing, Mike. Cheers!