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Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?

I have a good analogue front end. Not stratuspherically good but good enough for this comparison. VPI Prime Signature 21 turntable, Pass Labs XP-25 pono preamp, Pass Labs XP-30 preamp and Hovland Radia amp. It has a lovely, very involving sound. On the right recording, I just drop everythng and am drawn in to listen.

My streamer, on the other hand, is decent but not spectacular. It is better than my CD player, but it is not jaw-dropping like my analogue front-end. My question is this: does anyone have a high-end, tier-one streamer (dCS Bartok Apex, Lumin X2, or something like them) that can rival a good analogue system?

audio-b-dog
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,876 posts
 

Yes Qobuz connect is great with MA3i. The Mconnect apps are crap as far as UI goes. 

charles007100
236 posts
 

@audphile1 I go to the MConnect app to do the updates, other then that I don’t.

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
792 posts
 

@wswright20 

So, I'm an old guy with a 1,000 albums of some of my favorite music. Albums I've gone around the world to buy. Russian albums I can't even read. I have also bought several copies of certain albums to find the one that is right. I must admit, it's a kind of religion to me now. Getting up out of my chair to turn over the record. (You're not supposed to sit for more than a half hour without getting up.) 

I don't doubt that at some level a quality $$$$ digital front end might rival analogue. Rival in the sense that it would sound as good on its own terms. Maybe I am hanging onto the old Dodger Dog (the new ones are dreck) sitting in the bleachers in the days of Sandy Kofax. At my age, do I really want to give up my few nostalgias?

chillydog's avatar
chillydog
20 posts
 

I am using an Innuos ZENith Mk3 streamer/server into a Border Patrol DAC. I think it rivals my Rega P10 and Aura phono stage. I still love my vinyl, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything when I'm streaming Qobuz.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,876 posts
 

@charles007100 

I’ve been having trouble with the updates using mcontrol on my MA3i dor about two months. Spoke with Amadeus about it. We went thru all the troubleshooting steps no luck. He has a ticket with mconnect folks. The app doesn’t recognize the dac. Mconnect, jplay, roon, qobuz and tidal connect - no issues. Only the mcontrol is blind and can’t see it. I’ll call EMM this week to see of there is any progress. 

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