Can digital get to vinyl sound and at what price?

[bonzo75]

Of your own account you have very limited experience of combining vinyl and digital. Get back to us when you do.

I thought you were asking me of playing a TT through a digital correction. If you were asking about rips, I have 1 hard drive full of rips, had them for over 5 years, professionally done of many original pressings that can be played through digital. I don't like them.

 

[hopkins]

... I have 1 hard drive full of rips professionally done of many original pressings that can be played through digital. I don't like them.

What a compelling argument!

 

[Gregm]

...I am saying the best digital systems will never beat the best vinyl systems. The top 5, or top 10, systems if you go around will always be the good analog ones

However, digital can easily sound better than the vinyl if compared next to each other in the same system, and the vinyl either hasn't been set up correctly, has some bad component in the chain not to your liking, or is using bad to meh records

So, your experience is that, given the same recording (for example), a well set-up analogue sourced system will sound better than a well set-up digital-based system -- assuming both systems are optimised for their respective source. Is that your point?

 

[bonzo75]

So, your experience is that, given the same recording (for example), a well set-up analogue sourced system will sound better than a well set-up digital-based system -- assuming both systems are optimised for their respective source. Is that your point?

yes exactly, and I am not restricting the analog system only to the analog components. People seem to think if they heard an expensive TT they probably heard a good representation of an analog system, or because some set up guy visited them to adjust the cartridge.

I wouldn't use the phrase "same recording", but same piece, e,g. same beethoven symphony or sonata

To start with, comparing the same recording on vinyl to digital, level matched and all that, is NL.

Why would you compare a recording made in the analog era to one made from that oldmaster tape to digital in the digital era - or, why would you take a digitally sourced LP and compare it to a digital file? If you do either, you are compromising one of the formats.

Second, if you do take a good recording from the analog era and compare it to its digital file, and you need to level match it or listen very closely to find out which is better, then the system is crap.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think a lot of generalizations are being attempted. Then people rebut the generalization with a specific instance which refutes the generalization. I think these topics are too recording specific or source specific to generalize about.

I personally have a general rule that I prefer to playback a recording in its native format. I like to playback an AAA on vinyl or tape. I like to play back a DDD or DAD on digital.

Is anyone arguing that playing back a digital file recording of an analog recording playback on a record player sounds better than the analog playback on the record player?

 

[hopkins]

Why would you compare a recording made in the analog era to one made from that oldmaster tape to digital in the digital era

Given the cost and rarity of mint versions of some LPs, I think the comparison makes sense, especially for someone who already has a good digital setup.

Mosaic Records, for example, just came out with a CD box set of Bobby Hutcherson's Blue Note recordings, and they state the following:

"The sonic clarity is thrilling. Mastered from hi-res files of the original analog masters by Andreas Meyer. Thanks to current 24 bit/192 hKz technology and dramatic improvement in analog to digital converters, the sound on this set is far superior to any previous CD issues and is astonishingly close to that of audiophile vinyl."

I have the box set, but I don't have the original LPs to compare to. I can say however that the sound quality is high enough that it does not make me want for more. Perhaps I am missing out.

 

[bonzo75]

Given the cost and rarity of mint versions of some LPs, I think the comparison makes sense, especially for someone who already has a good digital setup.

We are not discussing costs here, just sonics, this is WBF. I have often said till you hit a certain cost, streaming and digital is justified. There is a certain cost to get to analog, which includes the equipment and the accessories and then the records start.

 

[hopkins]

We are not discussing costs here, just sonics, this is WBF. I have often said till you hit a certain cost, streaming and digital is justified. There is a certain cost to get to analog, which includes the equipment and the accessories and then the records start.

Fair enough.

Going forward, I hope we will see more quality digital re-issues that will bridge the gap between analog and digital, because there is no doubt that many past digital re-issues were "botched".

As for LP playback through ADCs, I believe it is too system dependant to make any generalizations (as Ron correctly hinted to). I would certainly be curious to hear from others who have given it a try.