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Rediscovering the Joy of Digital?

Guys,

I've been into analog for a long time, and it's always been a royal pain in the neck to perform all the necessary adjustments to keep my tt at its best; not to mention the record cleaning rituals and the inflated prices they're charging for high-end analog gear these days.

I bought an early generation CD player back in the mid 80's, a modified Magnavox CDB-650, which was considered good at the time, but is not so good by today's standards. I also invested in some of Audio Alchemy's early DDE's, but they had some problems as well. So I went back to analog and bought a VPI Aries/JMW 10 and more recently, I have moved to a Michell Orbe SE with a Wilson Benesch arm and a Shelter 501 II cartridge.

It took a lot of work to get the Orbe/WB combo to sound its best and in reality, it's not a whole lot better than my much less expensive digital gear, but it sure is a lot more work. It's been my experience that you have to spend a lot more money on analog to get it to sound as good as today's respectable digital gear. I own a Parasound transport, a Bolder Cable modified ART DIO, and a Perpetual Technologies P-1A and it kills most of the Linns, Regas, and all but the highest priced VPI's that I've heard.

With my digital, there's no futzing with VTA, no worries about an expensive and delicate stylus assembly, and I have instant track access. Plus, it sounds virtually as transparent and liquid as analog and eschews those annoying ticks and pops.

My records and gear are sure taking up a lot of space. Perhaps I should dump my whole lot of LPs at the local Salvation Army and be done with it. Then I could sell that expensive analog front end that is a constant source of angst and buy something really cool with the money like a lot more CDs. Whadaya tink?
plato
rcprince
2,830 posts
 
Plato, you should try the Sink with the BDR as you mentioned--if it works, see if you can trade Vinh for a new dustcover. Heck, there's no dust out there, anyway...

Offer still stands on your vinyl, but I don't think you'll be able to pull the trigger! You really need the rituals (I guess Elizabeth, in her new calling, would call them "habits") to feel like a bona fide audiophile.
plato OP
1,543 posts
 
Yeah Russ, you're right, I do need the rituals for self-affirmation. Now you guys got me going on the suspension kick again, and today I swapped back to the rigid suspension. I tentatively have the Source shelf sitting on some AQ Sorbothane pucks and a small mahogany wood block in the front which sounds marginally better than the BDR cones. The bass is just killer now (deep with great articulation), and the treble seems more detailed and extended; transients are very fast and clear and the dynamic contrasts are impressive. I think I'm going to live with it like this for a while and play through some more recordings before deciding what to change or not to change next. And the installation of the rigid suspension components on the Orbe looks really cool. :)

On the CD front, I should mention that I have recently discovered a couple of CDs in my collection that are less than 10 yrs old, that contain areas in songs which now skip and are unreadable by the laser pickup. These CDs look perfect and have undergone no apparent trauma (unless the ride across the country in the moving van somehow caused this). So this is a disturbing finding. Have any other CD collectors out there seen this yet?
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Ha...the nostalgic sound of wax...hiss,pop,crack...then hiss some more...and this is on a brand new record just cleaned with imported Jap Whale semen!...my next trip down memory lane...shortwave radio...I long for more distortion!
kthomas
911 posts
 
On the CD front, nope, I've never had the problem you describe. I have 1300 CDs collected over 20 years and I've never had one that wouldn't read correctly except ones that had been seriously abused. In fact, it's just the opposite - I have many CDs I can't believe can be read that have no problem.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Frank, I always recommend a rigid turntable support whenever it is possible. I have always gotten best results in my system that way.

I haven't "rediscovered" the joy of digital yet, but I am always on the lookout for something better. Unfortunately, the industry seems to be going in the opposite direction. I was out looking at new cars and some of them are coming with MP3 players in them now. I'm wondering who the first "audiophile" company will be to come out with a "high-end" home MP3 player? You know it is going to happen.
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