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Vinyl VS Digital

After 20+ years I broke out my turn table from the 70's again.  I have been mostly listening to CD and streaming music for the last 15 years on higher end gear in a dedicated and treated home theater room.  I also have a dedicated two channel system in the same room.  

All the hype surrounding analog has prompted to me to purchase a dedicated preamp so that I could once again hook up my TT.  I also purchased an Aurlic Aries to compare.  I'm ready to upgrade my old Technics SL 1600 MK2 running a Grace Cartridge.  But I have concerns.  

I could care less about the additional hiss, crackle and Pop thats not in digital.  I think its cool to put on an album and just listen to my 30 year old small collection from when I was a teenager.    

I started doing A/B comparisons by switching between the TT and the Aries (FLAC).  I even bought new vinyl to do so.  The thing keeping me from going "All In" is the imaging.  No matter what I do with (aligning the cartridge), I cannot get the imaging to match that of digital.  Specifically, voice and instrument that stems from center stage with digital cannot be reproduced with the TT as source.  One might say the stage is wider but its too wide to point where definition is lost.  Don't get me wrong it still sounds good but is it right?  Is it my TT or is it in the recording.  Or is this the difference I am suppose to be hearing?


  
ap_wannabe
chayro
2,925 posts
 
One pitfall of analog is that some people just cannot sit back and listen to it without constantly thinking about cartridge alignment, record cleaning, VTA, VTF and whatever else can be fooled with.  In that case, you're much better off with digital.  IMO, if you buy something like a $2000 Music Hall 7.3 with a pre-installed cartridge and a $300  Pro-ject phono preamp, you will be getting a good taste of analog sound.  If you don't like it then, I would give it up and not waste 6k.  6k is not a lot to spend on analog, but it's too much money to waste on something you won't like. 
Also pick up a few brand new or mint used records because playing old damaged ones won't help your experience any.  IMO.  
Ag insider logo xs@2x
cleeds
5,645 posts
 
chayro
One pitfall of analog is that some people just cannot sit back and listen to it without constantly thinking about cartridge alignment, record cleaning, VTA, VTF and whatever else can be fooled with.
That's true. Those listeners usually don't have their systems set up properly, and their trial-and-error approach using sloppy tools never gets them there.
daverz
487 posts
 
The 1600 seems to be highly regarded on VinylEngine:

https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_reviews.php?make=Technics&model=SL-1600
tutetibiimperes
202 posts
 
I’d always imagined vinyl devotees were a bit deluded, after all, on paper CDs absolutely destroy the specs of vinyl in terms of channel separation, dynamic range, and frequency response, how good could be a format that traced its origins back to the 19tn century?

I had a wake-up call after hearing some of the set-ups at AXPONA.  While most rooms had moved to streaming or servers, and some had ridiculous turntables that looked to be over four feet tall and probably cost as much as a house, the Focal room had a Clearaudio Innovation with their Virtuoso V2 cartridge and it sounded amazing through the Focal Sopra 3s.  

I don’t know if I’d say it was better than a well mastered CD or lossless digital file, but it was at least as good.  

Still, I don’t think I’ll be getting into vinyl, though I can see the appeal.  For me the startup cost is too high, and then there’s the cost of the actual records.  A Bluesound Node 2 and a Tidal Hifi subscription gives me all of the music I could want for a low cost, though I suppose it could be cool to drop the needle and sit back and watch the record spin while I listen.  

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