What sounds best: Vinyl or CDs

my opinion used to be different.

i'm listening to the Tilson Thomas-SF Symphony Mahler 5th right now, in 24-96 PCM off my hard drive through the MSB Select II/SGM server right now. on the 5th Movement. had the lights down and was kicking back for the first 4 movements. I'm no Mahler expert or even Classical expert (so no flames about the Tilson Thomas version sucking ).

it's been involving and a satisfying musical experience and kept my attention.

nothing flat or lacking nuance or micro-dynamics about this. lots of action and great separation, space, realism and authority. I listen to lots of classical on the Select II. the Select II and SGM server are both pretty top level kit.

Friday night I had a few serious analog focused guys over and we listened to quite a bit of digital; mostly string quartets, and classical piano. they were quite amazed at the natural, spacious and focused presentation. one of them is a classical composer and music professor. he was especially taken with a redbook Haydn String Quartet and the sound staging and natural tone.

can Lps still be better? sure they can but not by as much as you might think.......but don't blame the digital format for the apparent significant difference between cd and lp, it's the particular digital playback systems that are lacking. my vinyl playback is up there in the higher realm too......but still the digital gets closer.

at the top of the playback food chain, top level digital/redbook/CD's can get fairly close to top level vinyl.......but below that it's a crap shoot. I would say a more modest vinyl investment will generally take you quite a bit farther than a similar digital investment, but there are no real hard and fast rules for it. there are giant killer vinyl set-ups with perfect set up, and giant killer digital too......that flip things around. and then there is always the issue of personal preference.

with all due respect; generalizations about ’noise’.....pops, clicks, hiss’ from vinyl are not different than generalizations about digital sounding edgy or flat.

these are not inherent format characteristics, they are artifacts of less than stellar execution of the formats.

my digital is fully natural and analog sounding in a good way.

and except for the lead in and lead out grooves (where you want a bit of noise) and between tracks there are almost never pops, clicks, hiss or noise in my vinyl.

does it take some effort and investment to find great sounding digital and vinyl? of course, but don’t blame the formats for flaws of the gear or set-up.

Dear Raul,

thanks for the kind words. that recording I mentioned 2 years ago is now available as a Quad dsd download here;

http://store.acousticsounds.com/a/31898/Ilya_Itin_Debussy

it’s is an outstanding piano recording, no doubt, if you can play Quad dsd files.

as far as distortions and vinyl, I don’t think it’s much different than digital. neither is absolutely perfect. and anyway; numbers never really tell the whole story, maybe they point us to important things but are not the proof. it’s our ears and our feelings.

for the last few years I’ve done lots of investigations as to what is possible with digital playback (both dacs and servers), and I have found my digital answer which does get into the realm of top level vinyl in most aspects of the presentation. the MSB Select II dac combined with the SGM server has been revelatory to me. and it’s that way with every format and resolution. truly a break through type product.

the best vinyl is still better and does go farther down the same road. but not that much better.

best regards,

Mike

Shadorne said,

Oh and Mahler is amazing stuff....my favorite is the interpretation by Benjamin Zander - perhaps not he best recordings but I know Benjamin and he puts everything into his work and has amazing motivational skills in bringing out the best in the entire orchestra.,

I'm listening to Zander's Mahler 6th in dsd on the Select II tonight.

it's really superb. magnificent recording and very lively and sparkling presentation. thanks for the tip. spacious and great separation of all the fireworks.

another Mahler sighting.....

last night I was absolutely enjoying (under the spell of) the 2012 192khz/24 bit recording of a Chamber ensemble version of Mahler#4, Trevor Pinnock conducting the Royal Academy of Music Soloist’s Ensemble. I’m not a Mahler or Classical expert, but this one really hits the spot. all the little nuance things that vinyl does are here and it’s all so physically easy on my senses, natural and super intimate and involving. the tone and textures are intoxicating. the room is alive with realism and delight. reach out and touch it holographic presentation.....at least here in the barn.

along with the intimate and subtle are the big macro moments. overall a Chamber Music scale, but moments of shock and awe too.

is this digital? vinyl? it’s certainly something.

http://www.linnrecords.com/recording...onie-no-4.aspx

the Select II/SGM delivers again.....and again. it seems this combo is made for my system. it transcends the concept of formats and just does music.