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How does good analog differ from good digital

I was at Music Direct yesterday buying some CDs. I heard Heart's Dreamboat Annie playing on their main system. It sounded really alive, punchy, and engaging. I walked over to hear it better. It turned out that I saw a rather warped record playing on a cool looking turntable called an Avid. They were using a Creek integrated and their new floor standing speakers. I was surprised that I did not hear any background hiss. I have heard their system before with digital but it never sounded this good. I wonder if it was the turntable. The speakers sounded very good but I know from experience that the characteristics listed above were probably were from somewhere else up the chain. It this what good analog offers? How much would one have to spend to get sound at least as good as my Audio Logic 24mxl and Accustic Arts Drive I? Thanks a lot, Brooks
brooksl
mejames
986 posts
 
it's an excellent recording for popular music first have you heard the CD?
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,111 posts
 
You're going to catch it for that question!

Good vinyl sounds more 'live' than good digital. There are all kinds of superlatives that could be used to describe lots of different improvements over digital, but it all gets rather absurd. You heard how good vinyl sounds in comparison, you need to decide if it's worth the cost.

For under $2000 you can get a lot of very good TT/Arm/Cartridge options. Everyone will have their favorites, you will have to make the choice ultimately but I would suggest buying the one that is easiest to set up.

Good luck.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
Not a lot. Getting an old Thorens turntable and a decent $300 MC cartridge would probably get you there. You would need a phono stage too, and I highly recommend a decent record cleaning product like Disk Doctor brushes & fluid. Figure $500 or so without the phono stage.

If you are not afraid of putting down more than $1000 you could get a rig that you would not have the urge to upgrade again for quite some time.

Phono stages come in all price ranges and can be the weak link in an inexpensive analogue chain. I would recommend spending the money on both the phono stage and the cartridge unless you're willing to spend upwards of $1000.

Enjoy,
Bob
dlwask
270 posts
 
Like yourself I never knew analog could sound as good as it does. Because of that I jumped right into vinyl. I listened to a lot of turntable set ups before making a decision on which one to purchase and in turn compared them to many digital sources to make sure I was doing the right thing. In my experience, a turntable/arm/cartridge combo typically performs way above its pricepoint in digital front ends. I prefer the sound of a Rega P25/RB600/Exact over a Sony '777ES (in CD) and also think a Scout/JMW9/Benz Micro smokes an ARC CD3. Granted phono stages play a part in this too but in the case of the Rega vs Sony it was through an Arcam integrated and in the VPI vs ARC it was through an ARC SP16 preamp...so things could get even better. Drawbacks? Analog is more fussy to set up and requires cleaning/upkeep to sounds its best.

Good luck
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