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Where is my digital problem: taste, vinyl v. digital, DAC, realities, etc?

I want my digital to sound better.  While I have about 500 vinyl records, I really like being able to sample music first before buying what I know that I will listen to in the future.  I tend, though, to not want to listen as much to poorly recorded music or digital in general.  I'd like to get my digital sounding better to make it more engaging so I can listen longer and test out albums before purchasing.  

Here's what's going on with my digital end versus vinyl.  

Vinyl is holographic--spooky and romantic at times.  The sound fills the space better.  Digital emanates sound more directionally from the loudspeakers.
Vinyl makes certain instruments sound more realistic--i.e. horns, drum sticks, brushes, acoustic guitar/bass.
Vocals on vinyl (in particular when I play jazz vocals from 50s/60s) sound sublime. Digital is not bad, but the vocals sound less in the room and more like a picture of the recording session. 
Digital has more harshness, fatigue, and I cannot play things as loud or as long.  

My DAC is an NAD M51 (fed by Tidal to Bluesound Node 2 to DAC)
My phono pre is a Manley Chinook, taking its signal from a Technics 1200 GAE table and ART9 cartridge.
I seem to get this sound, as described above, regardless of speakers.  

On some level, I haven't spent as much money on the digital end as the analog end.  

Should I try another DAC?  Should I just conclude I'm a vinyl person and live with it?   I'd prefer not to go down the road of getting back into CDs because the beauty of Tidal high resolution is the ability to try out tons of stuff before purchasing the album.

If I try another DAC, what do folks recommend if my priorities are increasing holography, realism of individual instrument sounds, making vocals sound more in the room, and decreasing bite/harshness/glare, etc.   I'd really prefer not to spend Lampizator money.  Can I reasonably achieve an improvement in these objectives by going the route of Border Patrol, a tube DAC, or something in the $2k range?  

BTW, If I didn't love my vinyl sound so much I'd say the NAD M51 is a really great DAC.  



128x128jbhiller

Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,846 posts
 
JB, good to hear that!

I have Chord Mojo and mhdt NOS Constantine DAC. I use both in my setup depending on mood. Both very good but very different sound! For one who finds digital too edgy in general I’d go with the NOS Constantine. NOS DACs in general have a good rap for being very musical and easy on the ears. The Constantine sounds more like my vinyl. I’ve had the Constantine for a good 10 years now, the Mojo about a year. I enjoy the Mojo a lot but it has not retired the NOS Constantine.

I used to also have an mhdt Paradisea tube DAC. Tube rolling with that had big effect on the sound. I liked it best with the Tung Sol tube which made it sound less warm and more neutral and dynamic than the stock GE tube, more like the SS Constantine, so I sold it here a few years back and kept the SS Constantine. I’d buy another mhdt tube DAC in a heartbeat though if I had a need.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,846 posts
 
Try a non oversampling DAC like an mhdt.  I still like my older SS Constantine but you can roll tubes in their tube dacs to further tweak the sound if desired.  
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