Tough call. To get streaming properly where the quality won't frustrate you. is fairly pricey, (At least that was my experience) Each format transition was for convenience, 8-tracks played endlessly. Auto-reverse cassettes kept dance going. LP in car? The stacking 45's in pile dropping and grinding into each other to keep the music running. PRO: Digital feed means I never have to leave my chair! That's why we made our own cassettes with "our" music recorded in sequence on continuous play, I even bought an early cassette player that manually flipped the cassette over with robot hand! But in the process I lost the sound of music. Now I'm back. The music is what I'm here for. My budget wouldn't get me to the quality I want in digital. For me its CD's and vinyl. I own my music. And yes, space is an issue with real things but as our internet is unreliable its nice to be able to just drop the needle and groove.
Upgrade path question. Upgrade analog or turn to digital?
I am running a full analog rig and my beloved cartridge needs service soon (6 months about) so I am wondering if I should sell the analog rig (tt+phono+lps) and rather buy digital source. I am planning to upgrade it later if I am not going digital.
I am satisfied playing lps, I do it when I can focus on music, but sometimes it`s tempting to have the same quality, just a button away. I can afford either the digital or the analog upgrade and I don`t have the space for both. I am thinking about two scenarios.
A,
Change the diamond in the Ikeda, rewire the tonearm, change the bearing, add a DS Audio ION-001, max out the VPI Classic 1. It`s sittin on a Shun Mook maple board and heavy sandbox right now, looking for a serious platform north 2000 dollars used or that money goes to the phono upgrade.
Upgrade the phono later, what I save on the digital goes here. I am hoping for a used Aries Cerat, but would be happy with other OTL solutions.
B,
I sell the analog rig and going digital. I was thinking about to buy a streamer north 5K used and either a ESOTERIC D-02X, Aries Cerat Kassandra II, or similar.
I am planning to upgrade the integrated amp either way, the room treatment almost done.
Or a C version,
Gryphon Diablo 120 with DAC and call it a day.