Will Analog be better than my high end digital?

Atmasphere

Industry Expert
May 4, 2010
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www.atma-sphere.com
Only if you can live with surface noise i can't, for that reason i have been 100% pro digital since 1983, yes the first year was rough but then came Meridian ( 1984 ) and i have never looked back.:)

Its likely that the surface noise you experienced was not so much the problem of the LP surface as it was your playback rig years ago. Improper design can cause the circuitry to excessively exacerbate surface noise that you might not otherwise hear.

I am not dissing vinyl i am simply saying that it is NOISY and that is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth even if you don't like it.:)

The actual noise floor of the LP can easily rival Redbook. In fact the noise floor limit has more to do with the noise in the electronics. When we get a high quality LP made from our masters, the noise floor is so low that no matter what electronics we use, they describe the noise floor. That's pretty quiet- so much so that you would never hear the LP even in silent grooves.

But if your electronics are - (let's just call if for what they must be to have an opinion like this)- terrible, then surface ticks and pops that would otherwise be inaudible will be suddenly quite prominent (I design phono sections as well as master LPs so I am on both sides of the process on this one). So your statement above is actually just outright false despite what personal experience you may have had.

I do very little to clean LP surfaces other than a dust brush, but I am very unused to hearing surface noise. This is simply because I made sure that the playback electronics does not exacerbate ticks and pops.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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I wonder if Bebop (The OP) actually hooked up his KAB 1200.
 

bobauch

New Member
Apr 30, 2015
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After years of Digital based audio, I very recently took the plunge back into vinyl. I have just over 100 lps of varying quality,from audiophile pressings to what was essentially thrift store wall hangers.
Both my CD and turntable rigs are around 1200.00 US.,so it's a fair fight. I was prepared to be disappointed with vinyl,having been burned by audiophile snake oil in the past.
After working out most of the various bugs inherent in analogue,the most prevalent being hum, I can say my future investment will be in LPs. In my rig the sound is richer,fuller and warmer, but the big diffence is in soundstage and imaging. I frankly am shocked at the difference.My Soundstage subjectively doubled in size, more lifelike,holographic,etc.All the essentials are there in spades by comparison. Sacd fares better, to the point that if that if that format wasn't all but dead,I could do without vinyl.
I have not gotten into Hi res or any computer based audio thus far. Based on what I have read I will give that a bit more time to mature.
These are my findings on my system in my room with my ears. The Lp format works for me,but everyone has to find what works for them in their listening environment.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
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After years of Digital based audio, I very recently took the plunge back into vinyl. I have just over 100 lps of varying quality,from audiophile pressings to what was essentially thrift store wall hangers.
Both my CD and turntable rigs are around 1200.00 US.,so it's a fair fight. I was prepared to be disappointed with vinyl,having been burned by audiophile snake oil in the past.
After working out most of the various bugs inherent in analogue,the most prevalent being hum, I can say my future investment will be in LPs. In my rig the sound is richer,fuller and warmer, but the big diffence is in soundstage and imaging. I frankly am shocked at the difference.My Soundstage subjectively doubled in size, more lifelike,holographic,etc.All the essentials are there in spades by comparison. Sacd fares better, to the point that if that if that format wasn't all but dead,I could do without vinyl.
I have not gotten into Hi res or any computer based audio thus far. Based on what I have read I will give that a bit more time to mature.
These are my findings on my system in my room with my ears. The Lp format works for me,but everyone has to find what works for them in their listening environment.

first off; welcome to What's Best Forum.

thank you for the nice explanation of your take on the advantages that you are enjoying about vinyl. and good for you to work thru the initial challenges of optimizing your vinyl. there is a learning curve but then the nice payoff. please come back and tell us about your further experiences as you go along.

enjoy the ride.

Mike
 

rockitman

Member Sponsor
Sep 20, 2011
7,097
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Northern NY
After years of Digital based audio, I very recently took the plunge back into vinyl. I have just over 100 lps of varying quality,from audiophile pressings to what was essentially thrift store wall hangers.
Both my CD and turntable rigs are around 1200.00 US.,so it's a fair fight. I was prepared to be disappointed with vinyl,having been burned by audiophile snake oil in the past.
After working out most of the various bugs inherent in analogue,the most prevalent being hum, I can say my future investment will be in LPs. In my rig the sound is richer,fuller and warmer, but the big diffence is in soundstage and imaging. I frankly am shocked at the difference.My Soundstage subjectively doubled in size, more lifelike,holographic,etc.All the essentials are there in spades by comparison. Sacd fares better, to the point that if that if that format wasn't all but dead,I could do without vinyl.
I have not gotten into Hi res or any computer based audio thus far. Based on what I have read I will give that a bit more time to mature.
These are my findings on my system in my room with my ears. The Lp format works for me,but everyone has to find what works for them in their listening environment.

Welcome to the club...I had a similar experience when I went back to analog in 2010. My cd collection now collects dust. If I have both formats of the same title, analog wins every time in my experience. I do have stuff that was recorded digital and that is the only time I listen to my D/A...so happy I don't need to spend $50k or more for state of the art digital playback.
 

Bachtoven

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2015
997
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I too have a Technics SL 1200 MKII, and I just started listening to my LPs again fairly recently. Aside from surface noise, I find that the instruments (I listen only to classical) sound richer and have more body on vinyl than on most CDs, and I have a very high end Esoteric CD/SACD player. Now, a few of my pure SACDs sound as good as vinyl (ironically, it is one of DSD's goals to sound more analog!), but very few companies use DSD from start to finish. I have over 3000 CDs/SACDs and only about 200 LPs, so digital will dominate until I can find my favorite pieces on LP. One downside to new LP releases is that they are much more expensive than CDs. However, since I do enjoy LPs again, I plan to upgrade my Technics, probably to a Pro-Ject Xtension 10 TT with a suitably good cartridge, and I'll just have to bite the bullet when it comes to cost!

 

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