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

@goose 

After 1980 the music industry turned to digital. Most albums were recorded digitally and from a digital master pressed onto vinyl. Not all, though, I have a few exceptions from the early 80's. I go on adventures looking for good vinyl. It kind of takes a love of the hunt. I have a newer copy of "Graceland" that I'm pretty sure was pressed from an analogue tape. It sounds great. "Rhythm of the Saints," however, sounds terrible. i had to go looking for a well-pressed copy. I talk to Chatgpt a lot about recordings, often giving it record numbers. It helps steer me down the right path. But then there is always finding a truly mint- copy.

If you want to hear a really terribly pressed album, listen to Springsteen's "Born to Run." I listened to it through a new phono preamp and was sure something was wrong with my new piece of equipment. Earlier Springsteen stuff sounds good. "Born to Run" was just at the point where digital took over, plus it was pressed hot to be played on car radios not our mega-buck rigs. And now there are purist engineers and recording labels going back to analogue tapes to press AAA vinyl.

@audphile1 

I will end up using Mcontrol. Unfortunately, Jplay is flakey with my Meitner. It stops in the middle of cuts and played one cut silently. I think the Meitner is made to work with Mcontrol. I'll get used to it.

@audio-b-dog cool. You can email jplay. They might resolve the issue for you. It’s so much better than mconnect it would be a shame if you can’t use it. 
Also keep in mind there’s an ongoing Qobuz issue. Some tracks just won’t play. It’s been going on for weeks intermittently. Some tracks won’t play on roon and jplay. Roon mitigates it by just skipping to next track. Jplay looks like it plays it silently for few seconds then errors out. Not a fault of either, like I said it’s a Qobuz issue. 

@audphile1 

Thank you. Streaming local and Qobuz is much better than it ever has been for me. On a par with vinyl for many albums. It’s wonderful. Does make me wonder if vinyl is strictly necessary anymore. 
 

Long may it last. 

@newton_john that very same question pops in my head once in a while but then I put on a good analog pressing of some of my favorite albums and I don’t think about it anymore. 
Is one format better than the other? To me, they’re different and good enough to enjoy both. It’s a bit tougher to get digital right and bring it to the same level though but once there, you can just enjoy the music.