--Some comments on my analog vs. CD playback
I thought I would gratuitously post some observations I've made on my Modwright Sony 999, now that it is broken in, compared against my analog rig. This is unscientific in every way and includes only one recording that I did a direct synchronized A/B test upon.
The comments I've made on the Modwright player earlier in the thread are still valid.
My analog setup is a Linn LP12 with all the known current mods. It additionally sports a Goldmund platter rather than the standard Linn platter. The arm is a Linn Ittok and the cartridge is a relatively recent Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood MK II. The preamp is an Audio Research SP16 with phono stage. It has about 400 hours on a new set of Electroharmonics "Elite" 12AX7 type tubes.
Interconnects are Audioquest Jaguar for the CD player and Cardas arm wires. Between amp and preamp I'm using Kimber Hero and the speakers, Nautilus 803s are connected to the Musical Fidelity A3CR amp via Nordost Solar Wind cables.
Regarding phono playback, I would identify the built-in phono section of the SP16 as the weakest link in the chain. I think it is generally pretty good, but compared with a true high-end phono stage it may lack some of the dynamics and openness of the best.
Throughout my critical listening to compare, I was constantly surprised at how close the two sources were. I mean, really close. The Linn, with a properly cleaned LP has a very black noise floor. The album I was able to A/B test was Linda Ronstadt's Lush Life on Elektra. I have an original standard LP pressing from circa the time of its release in 1984. My Redbook CD copy is relatively new, but it was apparently produced for CD in 1986. So, not only is it a Redbook CD, but it's apparently produced on first generation equipment for that medium. My comparisons were all with Redbook, not SACD.
Both front ends produced marvelous detail, dynamics and soundstage. There was a consistent difference across almost every type of music having to do with soundstage depth. With the LP12, the lead vocals were focused solidly between the speakers at about the plane of the speaker fronts. All vocals and instruments had plenty of air and bloom. The Ronstadt album was produced with the use of an Aphex Aural Exciter so that room acoustics could apparently be synthesized where acceptable ones did not otherwise exist during the recording. Actually, I know next to nothing about the Aphex unit, but I'm assuming this is the purpose. With the LP, insttruments remained tightly organized around the leads and extended back in space nicely. Microdynamics were good and did not lend themselves to any subjective critisism. Notes in the upper midrange had a slight tendency to sound a bit blunted on their leading edges as though not able to fully open up as they attacked. The upside of this is that the effect was one of mellow richness. Overall, the impression of listening through the LP12 was one of intamacy: As though I were hearing the music in a smaller venue such as a nightclub.
I was able to play both sources separately and synchronized within a second or two and could switch back and forth relatively quickly between the Linn and the Modwright. As I said, the two sources had many more similarities than differences. The most noteable difference was in the perspective. The Modwright gave me the sense of listening in a much larger theater with the lead singer out in front and spotlighted. The vocals had uncanny clarity. The soundstage extended a bit further back with each instrument existing in its own space. The roundness of attacks, especially with piano and brass instruments was replaced by a laserlike clarity. This is not to say it was clinical. To the contrary, each note carried warmth and bloom but still held its own identity even as the overtones blended and expanded. What one would hear as the characteristic glare associated with Redbook sound was handled by the Modwright in a very euphonic way. It emerged as a brilliant shine without a headache-producing glare. This effect worked decidedly to the Modwright's advantage when reproducing the sound of brass. I especially noticed it on trombone parts.
The other thing handled decidedly better by the Modwright were the dynamics of Linda's voice. As her volume would build and peak, the LP would begin to exhibit some thinness. This could be due, in part, to the fact that it is a twenty-year-old LP which has been played several dozen times. Still, while the tone of the note remained clear, it would lose body. Maybe this has to do with arm resonance. My knowledge of the physics associated with analog playback is limited. This is where the contrast and, I'm afraid, superiority of the Modwright was really illustrated. On the CD version, as the notes would build, so would their body. They would get tangibly more powerful as she expelled more air. In contrast, the notes would weaken slightly when played through the phono equipment.
On this album, side 2, the cut "Falling in Love Again" begins with a melody produced, I assume, with vibes. It's a glowing bell-like solo which sets the mood for the song. On the LP version, it is intriguing, musical, and engrossing. From the Modwright, it is absolutely stunning! It reaches out and grabs me as each note rings out solidly. Each note decays while its overtones are marvelously experienced. Again, one has the impression of a lead performer being spotlighted on a large stage.
So which is better? If I could choose only one, it would have to be the CD player. Fortunately, I don't have to choose only one. The analog experience is still special and to me, more intimate. What it lacks in fireworks, it compensates for in rich melodic, relaxed sound reproduction. I have to say that for me, the Modwright gives a more involving sound. I'm a more active listener, hearing elements of music reproduction that I am not accustomed to. Let me restate and emphasize that the two sources were quite similar. During the Ronstadt playback, I would sometimes lose track of which source I had selected and have to wait for a telling bit of acoustics to get it straight. I have to admit that prior to this player, I'd never taken digital sources all that seriously so some of my enthusiasm is undoubtedly due to novelty. I'm still very amused/gratified that I can repeat tracks, restart the disk or change the volume without getting off my butt. I'm finally really enjoying the convenience of CD now that I can get them to sound like music!
