So I have skin in the game as I have owned the same Linn LP12 turntable for more years than I care to recall. It has evolved and been improved so much over that time to a point where it can go toe to toe with most any turntable. I will never sell it and I am glad that I was able to keep and selectively add to my vinyl collection over the years.
I have also been enjoying digitally delivered music from my Lumin X1 streamer. I have taken care of most all the added housekeeping issues by connecting it to the world via High Quality optical isolation etc.
My turntable in cost terms is near enough on par with the streamer.
I enjoy both formats but for me it is not possible to say one is better or worse than the other. It is a different experience. Of course, the streamer is Uber convenient and invites you to follow a winding river bank you’ve not travelled before (excuse the metaphor) In doing so I have found brilliant artists and music I would probably never have been exposed too. It is also capable of extraordinary sound quality, which really can startle you, even when casually listening.
I would say of my turntable that although it can offer spontaneity of selection, is a completely different listening experience. I find myself flicking through albums in an analogue way and comparable to the way we swipe and scroll digitally. The experience diverges somewhat once an album is selected.
The mechanics of getting to the point of “needle drop” is a more considered process and does have a psychologically involving effect. For very obvious reasons, it makes little sense to listen to a track then take off the album for another. So, it compels you to relax and really listen to the full album as the artist often intended. Sometimes you realise the track or tracks you weren’t that fond of, now appeal and others you were drawn to, not so much. And sometimes listening to a complete album is a special, almost a religious experience.
Now to the meat of it, which sounds best?
Sorry to disappoint and I’m not trying to “cop out” but each can sound sublime and conversely both can sound pretty damn awful.
Again, we come back to mastering, engineering and the massive influence of these studio skills which can elevate your experience or leave you utterly bereft.
I don’t often do comparisons but I have done a few lately, more because I happen to have great copies on vinyl and Hi Quality streams of the same music.
A couple of recent examples to illustrate. I have the recent One-Step Capital AAA vinyl pressing of “Lionel Ritchie – Can’t Slow Down”. The stream when compared, did and doesn’t sound bad until I then played the vinyl, not only can it not compete in any way with this vinyl release, it is a totally different experience. Its not close, the vinyl is vastly superior sonically and far more engaging to listen to. Incidentally even if Lionel Ritchie is not your bag and you have a good vinyl playback system, you may well find this is one of the best sounding records you will have in your collection.
I could say the same for most but not all UHQR vinyl recordings I think of Steely Dan, Gaucho, Aja and The Royal Scam, the streams of which sound ok until you compare with the vinyl.
Its not by any stretch all one way, I have many 100’s of tracks in my collection on Tidal, which make me believe my hearing just returned to a time when I was teenager. It can really be astonishing and breathtakingly great.
I think there is also another curved ball to consider. I like many, use Tidal often and Qobuz less so. Both platforms profess to make no changes to the files they upload although tidal do apply a normalization if required. Qobuz is always bit perfect up to 24/192.
However, it is clear to me that many CD quality Flac’s where you were hoping they would sound great, can and often do sound pretty awful. This I believe has more to do with the label who may send “upsampled” or “brick-walled” masters and so the end user, especially on the systems of probably most, if not all of this forum members, hear just that, a flawed substandard copy.
Many masters which were subjected to the CD loudness wars would also have been uploaded to both platforms and you cannot expect a silk purse from a sows ear. In addition, at least on tidal would have inevitably piqued the interest of the tidal “Luff policing” algorithm, resulting in the same experience as many disappointing compressed wall of sound listening experiences.
So, I am happy I didn’t throw the baby out with the bath water, as my much-evolved Lin LP12 is as relevant and vital to my music enjoyment as it has ever been. My streamer has added almost infinite choice but even more variable sound quality. This is not the fault of the streamer or even the platforms especially Qobuz and Tidal who can only upload what is provided by the labels. It is a consequence of the wrecking ball that record company accountants swung through dynamic recordings in favour of ours is louder on radio etc.. Consequently, the Labels ruined more than a decade and probably the heyday of CD recordings with super compression and loudness.
Vinyl hasn’t escaped this music adulteration at source and of course I know Vinyl has often been polluted by what amounts to CD to vinyl fakery and is often far worse than poor streams. This along with poor first-time buyers’ turntables, which are a nightmare to navigate even as an experienced vinyl user such as myself when giving advice to vinyl curious friends and acquaintances who ask.
So I must conclude by saying, there is no one winner here, but at least for me, having a really great streamer properly connected and isolated from RF / EMI etc.. has been an eyeopener in so many ways but it has also re-affirmed my love of vinyl playback and now I have two different but complementary ways of enjoying Music, which in my opinion the greatest most positive invention of human Kind......
OK if I absolutely had to, I would say the most enjoyable listen has been on vinyl and the most astonishing listen has been the streamer, especially with things like Sea wall off the Hans Zimmer soundtrack of blade runner 2049 and also because I don’t have them on vinyl, Saint-Saëns- Danse Macabre and Fink Trouble’s what your in (Live). Wowser!
