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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
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.
plato OP
1,543 posts
 
Hmmm, high-end MP3 -- I don't know Tom, in a car, it kind of makes sense because you can fit so many hours of music on just one MP3; and because of the noisy environment, quality isn't as big of an issue. But if they do come out with home "audiophile" MP3 players it would probably be relegated to a secondary source in any decent system; and maybe just a way to record your other media for playback in a car or portable player.

I think a large part of the appeal of MP3 is that it's cheap and you can download the music for free from the Internet. So once you make it "expensive" the market for such a product could evaporate. In any case, no one could force us to buy one...
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Plato,

My non-suspended TT is sitting on a large Salamander Synergy stand (Triple 20). Hardly the last word in audiophile vibration management, but with all the components it weighs nearly 400 pounds. I'm on a wood floor too, so I put heavy duty sorbothane hemispheres under the feet of the stand. $4 apiece from McMaster Carr. This handles all footfalls without damping too close to the TT and killing dynamics. I may try spikes under the rack someday, but that's a major project and I'm not sure I'll hear enough benefit to compensate for the increased vulnerability to pedestrians. My TT/arm/cart are inherently strong at bass, transients and transparency, so I don't think I lose much from the sorbothane beneath the rack. (Wishful thinking?) Cheap and maybe worth trying in your setup.

Albert, no fair scarfing up Plato's collection! You already have a big head start. Remember, if you own ALL the vinyl we'll all be hanging out at your place every night. Hey, do you need a secretary or something? :)
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Twl, You'd BUY a car? We kinda figured you'd make your own.

High end MP3 players! Ouch. Actually Phasecorrect sent me his test report on one last week. Let's see, "The Hitushi Whale Semen MP3-XXX offers 2,056x upsampling for only $25K. It closely matched many of the $75K, multiple chassis MP3's we've tested recently. Strongly recommended for true audiophiles on a budget."
newbee
4,093 posts
 
Plato, Everytime I had a a clean and undamaged disc skipping problem I utimately traced it to the CDP or transport I was using. It needed cleaning, repairs or replacements. Take those bad CD's some where and see if they skip on other players. I have a fairly large collection and even those disc's we were all warned about which have turned bronze haven't been a problem (yet).
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