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?
My vinyl setup is no slouch. I am able to do just that in my system with this DAC @audio-b-dog And as I mentioned earlier…the difference will be in the source material where vinyl will sound better on some albums, and digital will come out on top when the master/source on Qobuz is of better quality. When is the new DAC landing in your system? |
He sent me a tracking number a few hours ago. I imagine it will come next week. I don't have to send mine back until I receive an upgraded one. It's not a bad deal because there is no waiting and all postage is paid for $4250. I imagine postage to and from Canada might be pricey. I am streaming Daniel Harding conducting Beehtoven 6th, a piece I know well and have many copies of. Harding will be our new music director at the L.A. Phil, so i want to get used to his sound. Just using the old Meitner, the sound is quite lovely at 24/96. It is involving, which was the question I started this forum with. |
My favorite interpretation is by Bruno Walter when he was 80. It's probably the most popular version. Karl Bohm does not take Walter's liberties with tempo, but he is excellent and I could listen to either. I tried Simon Rattle's version and it was also quite good. Harden doesn't do an emotional version like Walter, but he is true to the piece and pays exceptional attention to details that Walter misses in his quite Romantic version. |
How about something like this for ethernet isolation? I could order it from Amazon and send it back if it doesn't made a difference: iFi LAN iPurifier Pro – Ethernet Noise Filter with Optical Galvanic Isolation, Jitter and Error Elimination – Plug-and-Play for Enhanced Audio & Video Streaming Quality – USB-C Powered |
