Does Anyone Think CD is Better Than Vinyl/Analog?


I am curious to know if anyone thinks the CD format (and I suppose that could include digital altogether) sounds better than vinyl and other analog formats. Who here has gone really far down both paths and can make a valid comparison? So far, I have only gone very far down the CD path and I just keep getting blown away by what the medium is capable of! I haven’t hit a wall yet. It is extremely dependent on proper setup, synergy and source material. Once you start getting those things right, the equipment gets out of the way and it can sound more fantastic than you can imagine! It’s led me to start developing a philosophy that goes something like this: Digital IS “perfect sound forever”; it’s what we do to the signal between the surface of the CD and the speaker cone that compromises it.” 
So I suppose what I’m asking for is stories from people who have explored both mediums in depth and came to the conclusion that CD has the most potential (or vice versa - that’s helpful too). And I don’t simply mean you’ve spent a lot of money on a CD player. I mean you’ve tinkered and tweaked and done actual “research in the lab,” and came back with a deep understanding of the medium and can share those experiences with others.

In my experience, the three most important things to get right are to find a good CD player (and good rarely means most expensive in my experience) and then give it clean power. In my case, I have modified my CD player to run off battery power with DC-DC regulators. The last thing that must be done right is the preamp. It’s the difference between “sounds pretty good” and “sounds dynamic and realistic.”
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Showing 1 response by teo_audio

The thing about digital is you have to look at source issues for converting to digital formats.

once turned to digital the information is brick walled, nothing more can be retrieved from it.

The next point is that there is a fundamental flaw in all Analog to Digital converters. You’ll have to dig around to really get into it, but the flaw is a real problem and no one has been able to deal with..or correct it, so far. When I say all, I really mean all A/D in existence.

Words are cheap, as in "First...we’ll convert the signal to digital".

And then, more sentences connected to the first are uttered.

But..but..the following sentences are meaningless if the fundamental flaw in the original simplistic pronouncement is unknown and unrealized by most. The technical challenges of fixing the mostly unknown fundamental flaw that remains deep inside the equation... is not swayed or altered by a bunch of grouped letters.

But it is glossed over fairly efficiently.