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

If custom power cords really sounded all that much better, wouldn’t high-end manufacturers put them on their equipment?
 

EMM Labs components are shipped with Kimber power cables. There are other high end manufacturers that include upgraded power cords. 
However, in general manufacturers supply a basic power cord so that you can be up and running in minutes, as well as to keep the overall cost down and leave s power cable choice to you. Same with tubes. All tube equipment comes with new production tubes. It’s up to the individual who buys this equipment to use stock or upgrade to pricey NOS tubes. 
 

Kimber runs specials on eBay, with 30 days return policy. Here’s a 2m PK14 Ascent for $319 https://ebay.us/m/UOJhwy

That’s the model power cable I use on the Meitner. 

@audio-b-dog 

I tried a full loom of Kimber cables their build quality is very good. They sent me the power cable for free to try, could not hear a difference with any of my gear so I sent all of it back including the free power cable. One great thing with Kimber their return policy is super great, no questions asked. A/B listening with my Blue Jean cables I still have my Blue Jeans cables. I am old too, 73, all those  expensive cables and tweaks make a lot of people very rich. Hooking the MA3i to the Pass preamp you cant hear what the MA3i can do, I noticed that when hooked up to my Pass Labs preamp…the Meitner needs to take control and fly to the heavens with its voice, more smooth sounding. I will never go back to a preamp with the MA3i.Get off you buns and crawl around and make it happen, your wife will love you when you sell that preamp and turntable…

@audphile1 i just wanted to say thanks for pointing out the Craft Original /kevin Gray version.  TIDAL (and  Qobuz, I think ) has this https://i.imgur.com/x8NgC8t.png (CD) With Kevin gray credited as the Mastering Engineer. the cymbals on My Foolish Heart are indeed spectacular and more shimmering  on that version than even the higher resolution (192 kHz) one: https://i.imgur.com/MSc6DYB.png, which also lists Kevin Gray as Mastering Engineer.  (Now maybe Roon is not being accurate on these credits; no way for me to tell.)

And then there is an 11 track one remastered in 2010: https://i.imgur.com/S69m7BU.png  where the cymbals sound better balanced than one the other 2 versions.  

 Not having an analog option, i gotta say they all sound very good on my both my digital set ups, but i think i prefer the 2010 remaster.

@charles007100 

If I plug the Meitner directly into my amp, there will be no way to run my analogue gear. So, even if the Meitner sounds better without the preamp, I'm not going to be able to un it that way.

@kirkwallace 

The cymbals and their decay are astounding on "My Foolish Heart." I found the best digital version on Qobuz that I could. Now, maybe I'm imagining things, but to me the digital version sounded taken apart and reassembled. I actually heard slight breaks in the cymbals, or if not breaks, places where the sound did not fit exactly right together. I will listen again, because I hadn't broken in the Meitner, and that might have been the problem.

@audio-b-dog I’ll be interested in your experiences, but i do think listening to all 3 of the versions i linked to will be worthwhile. I don’t think the higher resolution one is the best.