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I could not hear a difference between Analog and digital...... what gives ?

I always thought I could hear the difference between Analog and Digital.  I have been looking to add another DAC to my 11 year old McIntosh D150 DAC, and a recent post here about Jethro Tull inspired me to pull out the two best versions of the Jethro Tull Aqualung album - the Mid 90's DCC Vinyl version and the Mid 90's DCC Gold CD.  These were special Vinyl and CD from the same original master tape and mastering.  Ian Anderson kept the master tape hidden for over a few decades before providing them for these DCC versions.  Volume level is also almost exactly the same between the Vinyl and CD.  I played both versions at the same time through the same pre-amp, amps, speakers - switching back and forth through out the whole album and I could not hear a difference between the analog or digital.  They both sounded fantastic and exactly the same.   What does this mean ?  is this normal ? Has my hearing deteriorated ? Is it because both my Analog and Digital front ends are all McIntosh ?  Is it because the DCC version of this Album could be from a digital file on both the vinyl & CD ?   This whole episode has put a damper on my new DAC aquisition...  I mean if I cannot tell the difference between Analog and Digital, then, who am I kidding with R2R, Delta Sigma, etc....  My system is posted under my signature, and as you will see I have very resolving speakers, so, I am not sure what to think...   I would appreciate any feedback on this surprising experience.   Thanks so much.. 

hjdca
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,616 posts
 

Mcintosh dacs are not know to be that good 

Meaning you can upgrade your dac , USB cable Ethernet switch 

As well as a LPS from the router the $5  wall wart just adds

More noice and some quality power cords  .you can always do much better

If you are willing to upgrade the complete circuit .

I currently have the Swiss Top Merason dac and it is very 

Detailed and natural, and yes digital cable quality

Make a sonic difference  everything comes down 

To $$ .Being an Audiophile is always ongoing 

For most people.

rbstehno
1,631 posts
 

I had a nice $15k tt setup and sold it 5 or 6 years ago because my digital setup sounded better and a hell of less maintenance. I also had some nice 15ips r2r tape decks (Otari and Pioneer 900 series) and got rid of all of them. Hi res digital/dsd dac surpassed my analog gear. I sold all of my vinyl and tapes at the same time so no going back for me and have never regretted it.

I also agree that McIntosh dacs aren’t that good compared to others for the same money, and there have been some breakthroughs in dacs in the past 5 or 6 years. My dac is 6 years old and just bought a new 1 with added features the other didn’t have.

noromance's avatar
noromance
10,475 posts
 

@rbstehno  Did your (6 years?) newer DAC sound better, or did is it simply down to the features?

My dac is 6 years old and just bought a new 1 with added features the other didn’t have.

willy-t
207 posts
 

Hello

not sure how old you are or what your hearing has been exposed to over your lifetime but at 60 I got a really good hearing test done and my high frequencies were almost non existant.  I got fitted with a pair of Widex Moment 440 hearing aids and I can now to the smallest differences between cd and vinyl versions of the same album.  Sometimes it’s not a huge difference but I can hear it. 
Good luck Willy-T

larsman's avatar
larsman
3,148 posts
 

@willy-t - Indeed; I've been wearing various brands of hearing aids for over 20 years (I'm 74 now), and they make a HUGE difference to me when listening to music, television, conversations, and much else. I get new ones every 4 years or so.

Widex are made by WS Audiology, who also make Signia, Rexton (they sell these at Costco for about $1500/pair), and TruHearing. There are only a small number of companies that actually make hearing aids, and they're sold under different brand names. 

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