What gloves? What struggle? Oh, do mean the struggle with agonizing over the latest fIrmware streamer update and whether it improved or deteriorated sound quality? You forgot to mention paying $10 for a minty old record that plays with that nice analog sound.
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Not really. A top level digital is pretty expensive. Of course you can also get ridiculously priced analogue.
I think you get better sound from, say, an SME 20 with a decent cartridge/ phono stage than a top of the line dCS. The SME based system will come in about half the cost of the dCS rig. Iām only picking one example with which I am very familiar. There are many moreā¦
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This morning I run my rp10. Washed the lp, Al Jarreau live in Europe, put it on my fingers .
Then on the platter. Lifted delicately the arm, sit on my sofa, and enjoyed the entire 25 mn of the side, through my nos telefunken tubes on my ear pre.
A ceremony and always great pleasure. The sound is so real !
With my nds, I tend to click often on my iPad and choose another track. I rarely listen to a full album, very rarely.
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A couple of points relating to some of the issues raisedā¦My P10 Apheta 3 DV P75 IV is less than a third of the price of my KDS (Kat), butā¦I can read while listening to the streamer, but the vinyl is so engaging that I cannot concentrate on reading.
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Thatās the attraction of vinyl. It requires total commitment. No distractions,no interruptions,no phone calls just absorption in the music. Love cd and streaming but you can suddenly find that mid album you are scrolling for texts or doing the crossword.
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Not a problem I ever experience, often intending to get on with something while playing music and forgetting to do so, getting engrossed in the music instead. And I doubt that Iām the only one. it sounds as if there must be something amiss with your systems if they donāt engage (rather than an inherent limitation of digital)ā¦
This is something I find odd, and I certainly wouldnāt want firmware updates changing sound quality, or if for some inexplicable reason the manufacturer decides that some change is beneficial it should be fully reversible and independent of the feature updates that might be necessary if people want online streaming, as some people buy the unit for how it sounds. Fortunately my DAC is fixed forever, which is great as to me it sounds fantastic, The thing you forgot to add was agonising about switches and ethernet cables - and the answer to that is either not play music over the network, or use a DAC immune to the picked-up RFā¦ But indeed analogue doesnāt have these influences that afflict some.
Great post Innocent and I so get that trepidation thing, as I had it when I added vinyl to my system, having long been an advocate of CD is King too!
I havenāt regretted it though and now I listen to vinyl 90% of the time. Thereās a warmth there that digital canāt reproduce and despite what anyone says, I think it still sounds better on vinyl, even if it was taken from a digital masterā¦work that one out???..
Anyway, all I can say is this about vinyl; if you have pitch-perfect hearing go for Direct Drive. It is truly unassailable in this area. If youāre looking for what I would describe as āpipe and slippersā vinyl then get a belt drive. (There are belt drive decks with speed correction too though but at a premium over their fixed-speed counterparts).
Yes, DD is usually more expensive than belt but 2nd hand can be a great deal if you can be bothered with doing the researchā¦
As for MM or MC and phonostages etc etc, well, thatās the joy of vinylā¦there are soo many possibilitiesā¦lol
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Also a NDS owner and vinyl enthusiast. Lots been said by others about the tactile nature and the feeling of an āeventā that playing vinyl tends to generate. This is definitely part of the experience. For me, I play '70s albums that remind me of a past time in my life and the music makes me remember and (largely) feel good in a way that streaming canāt quite emulate; although I still enjoy the rendition. This may not be the case for younger generations.
Perverse as this may sound, Iāve tended to buy new music on vinyl where I think it is particularly special and I absolutely donāt want instant access to it. Not having it available on a whim helps create the event which I enjoy.
Subscription streaming screws this up somewhat but Iām pretty disciplined and Iām convinced that eventually Tidal et al will start rotating the less popular music out of their libraries and I donāt want to risk losing access to music I find emotionally special.
To the OP, donāt be afraid of dipping a toe in. Lots of good advice re affordable turntable rigs. You can give it a go and if you donāt like it there is always the auction sites to recoup much of the original outlay.
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Yes, That is one reason I have no interest in online streaming. But that is a subject for elsewhereā¦
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I donāt think something is wrong with my digital source. Itās just that there is something more real and alive with a good recorded lp on a good vinyl system. Something that is missing in digital domain, even if very expensive. But the gap tends to be more and more little , but still not enough.
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I could also put it this wayā¦
On any particular day, if I listen to vinyl first and then digital, I am disappointed by the digital. Consequently, I usually do not listen to both on the same day.
I am as certain as it is possible to be that this is not as a result of how my digital source is set up, itās as simple as Melco output to KDS through 0.75 m ethernet cable.
DS0 or 1, 2, 3 ?
All updatesā¦so a 3
J
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I am an NDS 555PS owner. Day to day digital music is easier to play than vinyl. But for me the sound of vinyl is more real and involved. I also enjoy the physicality of vinyl playing.
I have had a few turntables: RP3 to start with 30 years ago and more recently Linn Axis and now an LP12.
If I was new to vinyl then a RP3 or 6 would be a good place to start. An LP12 can be bought quite cheaply used for around Ā£1000 and can be upgraded as desired which I have done.
There are plenty of different fantastic turntables out there.
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Oh, @Innocent_Bystander do tell. Which top end digital source do you have in mind that will consistently match let alone better a decent vinyl front end?
Our Chord M Scaler and DAVE based system is one of the best digital sources that we have heard yet it doesnāt come close to our turntable system on 90% of our recordings. Note that the streamer is considerably more expensive than the vinyl rig.
Perhaps your digital absolutism is ever so slightly overplayed at the moment? Having said this, I really look forward to the day when designers of digital systems do work out what is holding streamers back so much, as 192/24 recordings should sound gloriously better in every way than vinyl with all its well documented limitations.
Best regards, BF
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To my ears, my Mac Mini- Audirvana -Dave beats any vinyl I have heard. Actually it did with Hugo. My brother-in-law, previously a die-hard vinyl fan, himself using LP12, admitted that Hugo Overcame all his previous doubts about digital - and now with Dave considers my system betters his.
But clearly as said before it is a matter of taste - and may depend on the music one plays. It certainly is affected by mastering - and that was brought home to me many years ago with CD, when two copies of the same album sounded completely different, the only discernible difference being the country of issue - indeed that very fact makes a monsense of any direct comparison of vinyl and digital, because very often they are not the same mastering (and as I said in an earlier post, some digital has deliberately been decimated). All that said, I do miss the tactility of vinyl and the shear pleasure of a good album sleeve can give, but that is something different.
In general terms, NDX2 with XPS on 252/300 (all DR) does not beat vinyl for sound quality, engagement with the music, and enjoyment I get listening. The digital is very good and closer than than itās ever been, but still doesnāt match what I get out listening to music on vinyl.
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Saying that Dave/ Mac Mini beats every vinyl set up is a non sense.
I have no words to comment that. When a non sense is so deep, you have even no reason to pursue.
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I donāt believe those are the words I used, however I also donāt think that getting into yet another protracted exchange with you will be beneficial to anyone. You are as entitled to your opinion as am I, so I will leave your opinion there.
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FR and IB, for the sake of the OP, please could you desist from your somewhat OT argument. You obviously both have an opinion - and after all, thatās all anyone can express here - so letās leave it at that.
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