On the Fence with Analog Vs. Digital. Need Help

Thanks guys, this has all been great advice. I know I could count on the Audiogoners for some help.

I think it’s good advice to continue building the CD collection and just build the LP collection along side of it. I figure the worst case scenario could be that I end up not liking it and just sell all my vinyl gear and take a small loss. While I do have an NAD C 162 preamp that has a built-in phono stage (and a good one from what I’ve read), I didn’t realize that so many other important things are needed, as Calbrs has stated. I was thinking all I had to pick up was the Music Hall MMF-5, a needle cleaning brush, and one of those red record cleaning pads my dad used to have with the spray bottle of anti-static record cleaner. But I guess I have to realize I’m not playing beat up 45s on my Fisher Price turntable like I was when I was 7 years old.

Honest1: I have been searching around on various sites including Amazon.com to see what’s available. I was actually surprised at some of the things I can find, but also alarmed at how much some of them can cost, depending on whether it was out of print or not.

Kthomas: I’ve looked at a few of those products. Haven’t heard any of them yet. It would nice to have BOTH a vinyl playback system and a good DAC/computer system.

For everyone else that suggested isolating the problem in my system, that is also a very good suggestion. I’ve considered going with possibly a tube DAC, or a tube preamp, but since I don’t have the money to spend on both a tube preamp and a new DAC at once, it’s hard to decide which is more important. I would guess that the DAC is more important. But all I’m trying to do here is tone down the harshness in the system. I’ve also considered the tube buffer, but read that the results from those things are less than what most would expect from them. I am planning to incorporate some kind of room treatments, building my own sound panels from rigid fiberglass panels. That should really be my first step, because no system is going to sound good in a room that isn’t treated properly.

I guess in the end, the “journey” into vinyl is more interesting than just purchasing a better DAC and/or a tube preamp, but I need to evaluate this whole thing on a cost level too. Ideally I’d like to see if my local dealer could lend me a Music Hall MMF-5 to bring into my own home, and borrow some of my dad’s old LPs just to give it a whirl, and then make my decision based on that.

Restock: I live in the Pittsburgh area. I called the local Music Hall dealer and they do have a listening room, but do not allow in-home auditions of the equipment. I do know of a few record stores I could check out though.

Ablang: A Playstation One? Why choose this out of hundreds of other cheap cd players? What other players would have the same attributes as a PS One?

I'm actually planning to audition the MMF-5 or 5.1 (whichever he has) tomorrow afternoon. The more I think about vinyl and search the websites looking for albums, the more fun it seems. It's as though being an audio enthusiast becomes even more of a hobby with vinyl. I did think along those same lines as well. I know that individual parts of the analog setup can be upgraded by themselves. I'm pretty gung ho about it, so the final step will be listening to the 'table to see how it really sounds. I might try the PS1 as well just to experiment.

Very good advice. In fact I plan to eventually run some kind of home-made music server myself. So if I do chose to go vinyl here, I'll always keep my digital albums. The only format I can say that I safely ditched was the cassette tape. No regrets there.

Well everyone, thank you for the advice. After auditioning the Music Hall MMF-5 today, I've made the decision that once the funds are available I will purchase this 'table. I was very surprised at how much more musical vinyl can sound. Sure, it didn't have all the detail that a cd might have, but this is a table that can be had for around $500. I actually heard the MMF-5, which he offered to sell as a demo unit for $479. I'll opt for a brand new MMF-5.1 that he'll give to me for $550, including assembly. I've heard there are significant improvements over the MMF-5, so I'm anxious to get this unit into my home. I'm very excited about starting the journey into vinyl and I think it's going to be a very enjoyable one.

Plangco,

I will definitely have to check out that DAC. I actually took the pluge almost 2 months ago and bought a Music Hall MMF-5.1 turntable. Since then I've been doing various things to tweak my analog sound. It's definitely fun, and makes audio a true hobby, but it is nowhere near as convenient as CDs. But I am enjoying the sound very much; there is something about analog sound reproduction that I have never heard in a digital setup. Yes, it lacks that ultimate transparency, image stability, and acuracy, but it more than makes up for that with soundstage reproduction, harmonic detail, smoothness, and just an overall "musical" sound. I am drawn into the music more with analog as opposed to digital. There's just something more interesting about it.

With that said, there are certain albums that I just cannot get on vinyl due to how rare and expensive they are. And some of the newer stuff that I listen to was never even released on vinyl. For that reason, I still need to run a dual setup, but have not played a cd on my system in a while, just because I haven't had the money to purchase a DAC. But I will definitely look into this DAC, because it sounds very promising. I do think you need tubes somewhere in the chain with digital playback.