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Going from analogue to digital

I had thought that my rather ‘homemade’ RPi set up, might be inferior to an expensive off the shelf streamer. I take it from what you say that that ‘ain’t necessarily so!?

It doesn't require much money to get audibly neutral digital (assuming that is what you are seeking) but some of the cheap stuff fails for cost cutting reasons and some of the expensive boutique stuff fails but for other reasons. Much of the Raspberry Pi hardware is designed and built down to a price and by semi-hobbyists rather than experienced engineers (e.g. kickstarter projects and similar). This tends to show up in the quality of the design and possibly manufacture making it unwise to assume competent technical performance equivalent to that from hardware bought from the larger reputable pro audio companies. The performance of your current hardware may or may not be fine but since there is no longer any reliable way to look it up given the state of home audio press and forums such as this you will probably have to faff about working it out for yourself by measurement and/or listening tests against a reliable bit of pro audio hardware.

Cartridges, tonearms and to a lesser extent turntables are not audibly neutral and so wisely spent money will be reflected in a more audibly neutral sound (assuming this is what you are seeking). Unfortunately the home audio press and most forums can be very misleading about what is important to technical performance, what is not and, in some cases, what is detrimental. Your current setup looks to have reasonable performance but at an inflated price because of the strength of the brands in the eyes of some audiophiles.

In your position I would look to sell the turntable and replace it with a cheaper one with roughly the same performance using hardware from brands with less "audiophile appeal" but around the same technical performance. Even if you intend to mainly listen to digital sources it makes little sense not to have a turntable if you have a record collection. Like most I switched over to the improved sound quality and convenience of digital as the main source 30-40 years ago but I still have a record player which I use now and then for the odd record that I have not yet digitised or if borrowing a record. I haven't played any of my cassettes in over 20 years and suspect they may be unusable, DAT and reel-to-reel are long gone and not missed but records are still around.

Unless interested in the Raspberry Pi as a project I would look to replace it with decent mainstream pro hardware. It is likely to be a hundred pounds or so more expensive but reliability and build quality will almost certainly be improved and sound quality might be. It won't get worse (in the audibly neutral sense).
 
........ Like most I switched over to the improved sound quality and convenience of digital as the main source 30-40 years ago ......

So did I, and it's taken about the same number of years to realise that while digital is more convenient, it just doesn't have an improved sound quality, it really doesn't.

I know all the arguments about less distortion, no clicks and pops, and all that stuff, and I've no doubt they are true, up to a point, but digital media just sounds sterile to me. It's the same with digital photography versus wet film .
 
You could take a slightly different approach.

Borrow a Simplex for a while (if you know someone close by who could help you out) to see if you really could live without your LP12. Then, once you have decided, think about the digital side.

regards

Kevin
 
I really wouldn’t ditch vinyl either and would most definitely want to compare a Well Tempered before I switched over as you have a deck with a superb spec which I imagine sounds pretty amazing.

There are worthwhile differences to be had with digital hardware. I’d look at something like an Auralic streamer and then maybe a Chord DAC at a later date.
 
If I was in your shoes I'd be selling my LP12 and buying something cheaper, the Technics 1500 does look a bargain, or alternatively give Ant at BTE BTE DESIGNS - Home! (weebly.com) a call to see what he could do for you. I've recommended the Magna Mano streamer on a couple of occasions, but there are many more as there are dac's. As you are now well aware, streaming music is so convenient, but those treasured albums need to be played from time to time.
 
My current system is, working from back to front, Shahinian Elfs and Rel 7 into Dynavector HX1.2 and mk2 L300/P300. From there we go one way into Armageddon, LP12 with Karma and Plateau top plate/arm board, Aro and DV XX2. On the digital side is Benchmark Dac, Raspberry Pi running PiCorePlayer with allo digi one signature and shanti PS.My question is this, if I were to spend half the proceeds of selling the LP12, what should I spend the money on on the digital side to get best improvement in SQ?

I was where you were, using Shahinian Arcs, then Obelisks, Naim and pretty much the same LP12. I flogged the lot after some demos of what is around now.
IMHO, your weakness is the speakers: I replaced my Obelisks with Kii3 actives, and the result stopped upgraditis in its tracks.
Your pi/digione/shanti is a fabulous front end - that I what I am using now. Don't be fooled by the fact it's "cheap". It's not cheap-sounding.
So, I would flog the LP12, but also flog the amps and speakers, and get some Kiis or D&D8c. You move from passive to active (a big upgrade in itself), take care of your room problems via cardioid, and keep your digital front end. Would prob be cost-neutral if ex-dem etc.
At least get a demo of what it sounds like in your room - plenty around who will do that for you.
 
I gave up CD and vinyl with all it's inconvenience, clutter (and cost) a few years ago and went streaming only.

Haven't missed it yet.
Same here.
The convenience of streaming is fantastic as is the sound quality.
I use Roon and love it. Time flies discovering new music, it’s very enjoyable.
There’s a blog on Audiophilestyle about optimising Pi based streaming which you may find interesting.
 
As I find myself listening to music digitally more and more, I am seriously thinking about selling my TurnTable and using some of the money to upgrade the digital side

My current system is, working from back to front, Shahinian Elfs and Rel 7 into Dynavector HX1.2 and mk2 L300/P300. From there we go one way into Armageddon, LP12 with Karma and Plateau top plate/arm board, Aro and DV XX2. On the digital side is Benchmark Dac, Raspberry Pi running PiCorePlayer with allo digi one signature and shanti PS.

My question is this, if I were to spend half the proceeds of selling the LP12, what should I spend the money on on the digital side to get best improvement in SQ?
In reality you will be heard pressed to get a significantly better (in physical terms) output from the digital side than what you have except via dsp. You can of course choose to spend as much as you like on something slightly more accurate than an old benchmark, or on something more euphonic. Or some audiophile ethernet cable, a grounding box and some cable lifters. Given the mechanism of operation it is impossible to predict what might work for you.

Perhaps a better idea would be to invest in some digital room correction. You can if you want replace the benchmark, pi digione and shanti with a minidsp shd. It would also help make the turntable sound better.
 
I also wonder whether replacing the Dynavector amps with something like a Hegel, which offers inbuilt dac and streaming support, would reduce the box count and also free up funds. I agree with those who say try to replace the Linn with a cheaper, but similarly musically satisfying deck. The WT is probably a good shout (not much experience of them here so I can't say for sure) or the new Vertere DG-1 is also pretty excellent and I prefer it to a well-fettled LP12.
 
In reality you will be heard pressed to get a significantly better (in physical terms) output from the digital side than what you have except via dsp. You can of course choose to spend as much as you like on something slightly more accurate than an old benchmark, or on something more euphonic. Or some audiophile ethernet cable, a grounding box and some cable lifters. Given the mechanism of operation it is impossible to predict what might work for you.

Perhaps a better idea would be to invest in some digital room correction. You can if you want replace the benchmark, pi digione and shanti with a minidsp shd. It would also help make the turntable sound better.
Can you say a bit more about the minidsp shd?
 
It doesn't cost much to get digital sounding good. I've had some poncy digital kit in the house and now use a Pi and a Topping E30 DAC in both the record room and the family room. If it sounds worse than a Linn Akurate, I haven't noticed.
 
...If you must spend money, room correction is the way to go.
An alternative preamp/DAC/DSP unit to the miniDSP SHD (of which I have no experience) is the DSPeaker X4.

I have its little brother, the DSPeaker Anti-mode 2.0, and consider it an essential part of my Duevel Venus-based system.
 


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