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Is Digital actually better than Analog?

I just purchased an Esoteric DV-50s. The unit is fantastic in the sense that you can hear every detail very clearly in most recordings. Here is the thing, does it make for an enjoyable musical expereince? With this type of equipment, you can actually tell who can actually sing and who can really play. Some artist who I have really enjoyed in the past come across as, how shall I put it, not as talented. This causes almost a loss of enjoyment in the music.
Which comes to my Vinyl curiousity. I dont own a single record, but I have been curious why so many have kept the LP's (and tubes for that matter) alive for so long after the digital revolution and now I am thinking it is probably has to do with LP's being more laid back and maybe even more musical. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Would someone recommend going back to Analog. I was thinking of getting a entry level player like a Scout Master.
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dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Is anyone else getting mental images of Audiofeil physically giving a rat's ass? "Here, Joe. Have a rat's ass." And Joe says, "No thanks. I'm trying to cut back on rat's asses."
newbee
4,751 posts
 
ROTFLMAO. What a great sense of humor. Love it!
d_edwards
204 posts
 
If you only use two channels it really doesn't matter.

so why worry about it?
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,911 posts
 
Vinyl wins here. I have no ceedees that sound better than vinyl. I have some that sound as good. It has been this way since I stepped up to a good turntable. When I first got back into vinyl, I had a Dual TT. There were ceedees that sounded better then, but there were some titles on vinyl that blew the ceedee away. This is what got me back into vinyl. I moved on to an MMF-7 and since then have never heard a ceedee outperform its vinyl counterpart. I now have a ScoutMaster which is a very good table.
FWIW, my cdp is a Theta Miles. It is a good player which I enjoy. The differences in vinyl (analog) and digital are subtle in my system. There is a sense of smoothness in the vinyl that the digital lacks. This is not a glaring thing though. I discovered it when I put the vinyl down for a week and played ceedees only. They sounded good and anyone would have been happy with their performance. However when I put a record on after a week of no vinyl, it took about 20 seconds to realize the difference. The word smooth came to mind. That was with the MMF-7. I haven't tried a/b ing the ScoutMaster. No need to IMO
queg
55 posts
 
Funny,
Highend equipment's ability to expose faulty or "not as talented" musicianship is the primary reason why I spend the bucks for the equipment in the first place.

I'm referring to the minute "human" element in a performance. Variations in delivery, such as a voice slightly cracking.. held notes drifting off-key.. retarded or rushed tempo's.. these qualities are often responsible for more emotional content then the composition itself.

Granted, these qualities are usually undesirable in classical music. But in that case, good equipment helps expose more of the conductor's interpretation (via tempo, dynamics, etc) as well as the dimensional, vibrant and colorful (why is "color" a bad word to audiophiles?) presention of a well orchestrated composition.

Vinyl to my ears delivers all of the above.
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