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

My main is SS targeting engagement, neutrality, and low noise floor.

2 other DAC companies I find interesting and tempting:

  • Lampizator - tubes with sound described as holographic. TOL competes with the best DACs. Maybe try a Baltic someday.
  • Lejonklou HiFi - opposite of ASR measurements, the designer deeply obsessively listens ALL components when designing components. Stereophile Alex Halberstadt is a die hard tube guy who greatly dislikes the sound of SS and greatly dislikes lossy audio files “And lossy, sub-CD-resolution files are to be avoided like a case of shingles.” He was gobsmacked on how great and involving Kalla+Spotify sounded. Also just recently, AH tested an assortment of Lejonklou components in an audio chain (integrate, streamer-DAC, phono) and it was maybe the first SS that he liked. 

 

@audio-b-dog I’m afraid you’d need to use your mesh to change DNS settings. It doesn’t seem possible to do it in the AT&T router. Unless the info I read when I googled it is incorrect. 

@audphile1 

I can't thank you enough for all of your help. I won't be able to workk on the Meitner problem today, but I'll dig into it tomorrow. Thanks again.

At its best, my digital setup is extraordinary and the music can be as involving as analog. Not necessarily identical, but easily just as satisfying. 

@audphile1 

I had a chance to look into my Meitner problem. I began with the simplest solution first and found that the conrtol to replay the same track over and over was turned on. I turned it off and so far everything seems to work. Even Klaus Mikela playing Stravinsky. I will definitely do an upgrade probably at the beginning of next year and networking will be easier. Thanks again for all your help.