Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

[billeames]

To summarize I want cd player to be close to ch precision d1.5 c1.2 at a much lower price. Getting is long way from wanting.

 

[DasguteOhr]

To summarize I want cd player to be close to ch precision d1.5 c1.2 at a much lower price. Getting is long way from wanting.

Listen to that you definitely have to spend more money on analog to be better than the metronome player. the comparison refers to new devices, not used devices

METRONOME AQWO - CD-SACD Player

Der Metronome AQWO ist ein von oben ladbarer SACD/CD-Player. Der Transport AQWO basiert auf einem professionellen Laufwerk mit proprietären…

www.loftsound.de

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I am in the HiFi thinking camp of 'System Synergy' and the overall HiFi System placing as a whole i.e. as one with each hifi component synergistically matching the other hifi components as one synergistic whole.

I would say most of the hifi systems I have listened to (both short term and long term) and some systems I have owned, the best sounding ones (to my ears) were either components from the same manufacturer or a hifi system with different manufacturers that has been carefully tried and tested over a long period of time by a well respected hifi dealer / hifi consultant etc.

Therefore on that note (pardon the pun ), if you were to buy the CH C1.2 you would for sure need to buy the CH D1.5 connected together by the special CH Precision interconnecting cable (tried and tested by CH for the connection of these two components plus being able to obtain the CH Precision maximum sampling rate from the CD/ SACD Transporter and DAC).
If you can't afford both the C1.2 and D1.5 at the same time, you could initially just buy second hand the C1 which can be upgraded by CH or a CH Dealer to the C1.2 (at not too high cost) and buy for now a second hand the D1 (seen one online a month or so ago going for approx. US$12k) Then after say 6months to a year upgrade the C1 to the C1.2 and in a few years sell the D1 and buy a second hand D1.5 !

 

[MarkusBarkus]

I would say most of the hifi systems I have listened to (both short term and long term) and some systems I have owned, the best sounding ones (to my ears) were either components from the same manufacturer or a hifi system with different manufacturers that has been carefully tried and tested over a long period of time by a well respected hifi dealer / hifi consultant etc.

+ 10^ 23rd.

 

[Al M.]

Agreed on synergy. Yet when it comes to components from the same manufacturer, I am not so sure. The most promising item in that regard can be a preamp/amp combo.

 

[adrianywu]

Blanket statements -- or speculations -- about what digital playback hardware combo can match whichever analogue hardware combo (and vice versa), ignore the critical element of source material.
No matter how "good" your digital setup is, if the track / CD / SACD you're playing is FR restricted and flattened dynamically, it will sound pathetically worse than its (healthy) analogue counterpart played on a well setup Technics.
The converse applies as well, but it's rarer in my experience.

I.e., IMO expecting to draw reliable conclusions by comparing & contrasting the purported performance of digital & analogue reproduction hardware is tricky...

What I do is to record the LP or tape onto digital (DSD128 in my case), and then playback the digital file to compare with the source. Of course, the recorder is also in the equation, but in my experience, with the Tascam DA-3000, the result in DSD format is excellent. This will give you a fair comparison, because you will be comparing the different DACs with one single reference, which is the analogue source.

 

[bonzo75]

i an in the “system synergy” camp…

…Therefore on that note (pardon the pun ), if you were to buy the CH C1.2 you would for sure need to buy the CH D1.5 connected together by the special CH Precision interconnecting cable (tried and tested by CH for the connection of these two components plus being able to obtain the CH Precision maximum sampling rate from the CD/ SACD Transporter and DAC).
If you can't afford both the C1.2 and D1.5 at the same time, you could initially just buy second hand the C1 which can be upgraded by CH or a CH Dealer to the C1.2 (at not too high cost) and buy for now a second hand the D1 (seen one online a month or so ago going for approx. US$12k) Then after say 6months to a year upgrade the C1 to the C1.2 and in a few years sell the D1 and buy a second hand D1.5 !

There is a very good CH 10 system here, but the owner while a CH fan preferred the Lampi Atlantic to the CH digital. While the Atlantic (a lower Lampi model) is synergistic, on paper someone would have made the decision that obviously CH digital is more synergistic. No different from when the Soulution preamp is a fantastic match to the Allnic 300b power amp and we wouldn’t have guessed it till we tried it. So while there is system synergy, there is “assumed synergy” and “actually better synergy”

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...yes, not to say the same manufacturer for pre/amp is the only synergy, or perhaps even the best synergy. But not a bad place to go, barring specific known sweet combinations such as noted above.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

There is a very good CH 10 system here, but the owner while a CH fan preferred the Lampi Atlantic to the CH digital. While the Atlantic (a lower Lampi model) is synergistic, on paper someone would have made the decision that obviously CH digital is more synergistic. No different from when the Soulution preamp is a fantastic match to the Allnic 300n power amp and we wouldn’t have guessed it till we tried it. So while there is system synergy, there is “assumed synergy” and “actually better synergy”

I think though 'bonzo75' with me referencing to my last post on the synergistic manufacturer's equipment pairings subject, in the case of the CH D1.5 and the C1.2 they were designed and built to be operated together as one in order for the user / listener to get the ultimate performance from them both especially when playing SACD.

Of course many people have many hifi equipement from different manufacturers coupled together in a system that sounds great although maybe some have found music nirvana (to their ears) my chance. Where I was coming from is reducing the risk of have a hifi system that is not ideally synergistically matched and hence not sounding at it's best or at worse sounding terrible which then leads to people selling off items of their equipment and replacing with other equipment again hoping or by chance improving their system !

 

[ssfas]

I got this issue out of my headspace on 13 February 2014. I went to see Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo at Kings Place (a studio quality venue), they played the album Dear River, then went home and listened to the album on both digital and vinyl, a superb recording by Linn. I enjoyed them all, obviously I prefer live, and I’ve never made a comparison since. I enjoy digital and vinyl for what they are. You might as well discuss Pizza v Fish & Chips, Rioja v Sangiovese, Buddhism v Christianity …

Anyway, the argument is often based on prejudice (someone brought up on digital will premise that vinyl can’t come close, but someone brought up on vinyl will premise that digital can’t come close) so is often dependent on age.

Consequently, I spent the years 2016 to 2022, listening to vinyl going through analogue to digital and digital to analog conversion, which in some circles is considered heresy. It has the great advantage of being able to apply DSP in the digital domain.

 

[Audiohertz2]

Well Bonzo was brought up on Digital, looked what happened to him ..!

 

[jtcfdog]

A bit late to the party and I haven't read the entire thread,but has anyone mentioned that those that rely on streaming are at the mercy of the streaming service? No way to control the source.Someone did mention making a recording from vinyl to compare.(As I'm typing ssfas above ^^ brings it up again).
Systems that are optimized to extract the best from an extensive record collection may not be optimal to extract the best from a transport and dac and vice versa. Different equipment,room treatment,and cables would be chosen.

 

[Al M.]

Well Bonzo was brought up on Digital, looked what happened to him ..!

Hehe. I grew up on vinyl in my youth, but after adopting CD I never looked back. I still am exposed to vinyl in friends' systems, I very much enjoy it, but it's not for me.

Everyone is different.

 

[Al M.]

Systems that are optimized to extract the best from an extensive record collection may not be optimal to extract the best from a transport and dac and vice versa. Different equipment,room treatment,and cables would be chosen.

One of the many reasons why I don’t want vinyl in my system. It's hard to optimize a single system for two sources.

 

[PeterA]

Hehe. I grew up on vinyl in my youth, but after adopting CD I never looked back. I still am exposed to vinyl in friends' systems, I very much enjoy it, but it's not for me.

Everyone is different.

Yes everyone is different. Bonzo grew up on digital and switched to vinyl. You grew up on vinyl and switched to digital.

I grew up on vinyl, switched to digital for a while and then re entered the hobby with both formats. I played both and enjoyed both. As I got more serious I dropped digital to pursue vinyl at higher levels. We all make our choices based on our own criteria.

 

[Al M.]

We all make our choices based on our own criteria.

Agreed.

 

[ssfas]

Yes everyone is different. Bonzo grew up on digital and switched to vinyl. You grew up on vinyl and switched to digital.

I grew up on vinyl, switched to digital for a while and then re entered the hobby with both formats. I played both and enjoyed both. As I got more serious I dropped digital to pursue vinyl at higher levels. We all make our choices based on our own criteria.

Likewise. I started off borrowing records from the public library. Then CDs and back to vinyl at the same time as I started streaming (2010) as I got some space for it.

My elder son is a digital kid aged 26, but has a large vinyl collection. His girlfriend is the same, her father is a serious vinylista. They annoy each other by wearing wireless headphones in their flat and can't hear each other.

 

[ssfas]

One of the many reasons why I don’t want vinyl in my system. It's hard to optimize a single system for two sources.

Both generate an analogue line level signal to my integrated amplifier. What's the problem?

 

[ssfas]

Agreed.

first you need a record collection ....

I still am exposed to vinyl in friends' systems, I very much enjoy it, but it's not for me.

You make is sound like the lurgy ...

 

[Al M.]

first you need a record collection ....

What for?