Dac/streamer - not as involving as vinyl
- Thread starter The Bish
- Start date
fegs
pfm Member
Very true, and this is why I'm careful in just expressing this as my opinion and not trying to pass it off as fact, to be fair it's what works in my system but being honest my system is very much vinyl biased, I'm sure if I bought a decent CD player the digital sound would be just as good with the right recordings
That was always a problem I had, getting vinyl and CD to both sound right as the players sound so different. The Saturn-R removed that issue as it has a very similar sonic signature to a good turntable.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
My FIL has an original Saturn. Really nice player.
Timcat
pfm Member
There are instances where the vinyl version of an album can turn out to be a lot worse than the digital.
I recently bought a copy of Suzanne Vega's New York Songs and Stories on vinyl. On on one of the LPs (it's a double album) there is a background roar, a bit like rumble from a poor TT, which is very noticeable in the quiet passages. The vinyl itself has a noticeable orange peel appearance, which I have seen before and recall is the result of the disc being ejected from the press when too hot. I also recall that this type of defect can be the result of a poorly cut original. The other LP isn't as bad. The digital file streamed from Qobuz, however, exhibits no such issue and, as a result, is far more enjoyable.
The recording was of a live show at the Carlisle Hotel in New York and has not been brick walled (She is not the type to request this type of nonsense!).
I recently bought a copy of Suzanne Vega's New York Songs and Stories on vinyl. On on one of the LPs (it's a double album) there is a background roar, a bit like rumble from a poor TT, which is very noticeable in the quiet passages. The vinyl itself has a noticeable orange peel appearance, which I have seen before and recall is the result of the disc being ejected from the press when too hot. I also recall that this type of defect can be the result of a poorly cut original. The other LP isn't as bad. The digital file streamed from Qobuz, however, exhibits no such issue and, as a result, is far more enjoyable.
The recording was of a live show at the Carlisle Hotel in New York and has not been brick walled (She is not the type to request this type of nonsense!).
Subito
pfm Member
My greatest reservation about streaming services is that you own nothing. Stop paying for the streaming service and you are left with...zero music. With vinyl and CDs you own that music forever, and you at least know the artist got more royalty money (though hardly a generous amount) than the pittance streaming companies pay. I find it troubling how easily people have adapted to the idea of everything as a perpetually-billable service. It’s a great business model (steady revenue stream for the service providers), but I prefer to decide when I want to spend money on something or simply sit tight with what I already own.
This of course is utterly unlikely.
SteveG
pfm Member
Not necessarily true. Much of my streaming is done from lossless rips of my own CD's stored on my NAS.
Subito
pfm Member
That’s what I do as well, my reference was to streaming services. I’ll edit that first sentence to make that more clear.
SteveG
pfm Member
The streaming set-up I'm listening to at the moment is pretty basic but is certainly involving enough. It's using lossless rips stored on my local DAC via a Squeezebox touch using it's optical output into a Musical Fidelity M1 DAC. If I played the original CD via the Music Fidelity M1CDT transport in that system into the same DAC I'd be struggling to tell the difference.
Whether it's as involving as the vinyl set-up is open to question, but it's not an issue as all the sources are enjoyable.
Whether it's as involving as the vinyl set-up is open to question, but it's not an issue as all the sources are enjoyable.
Do you have a point?
Heckyman
pfm Member
Excellent point, but in my book a tenner a month for access to 50 million songs is just one of 21st century life's essential utilities. Plus there's still internet radio.
I do buy CDs occasionally and store them, but it's hard to stay motivated. The CD is usually only marginally better than Spotify. And for a lot of new releases that come out in 24 bit, the CD itself is now the "compressed" version. I should really start buying hi-res downloads, but then it's back to the faff of managing files on computers and all the associations of work rather than relaxation. Hi-res streaming I can take or leave, enjoy for a few months and then unsubscribe and resubscribe if/when I miss it.
Likewise with an Innuos Zen. Now that I have ripped my own collection to the hard drive, I am beginning to rip the most desirable CD's that belong to friends and family. Great fun. I get the notion that there are risks attached to depending on streaming services for ones music and if they go bust, one is left with nothing, but that is a risk many are happy to take, which is down to the convenience of streaming.
Subito
pfm Member
I actually use Qobuz (there was a free trial included when I bought Audirvana for my iMac), and find it quite useful for auditioning albums to see if I want to then purchase the CD. It’s been very helpful when I think I really need to buy some old album from decades ago, only to realize it’s pretty weak and not worth getting.
cctaylor
pfm Member
I am getting into streaming through Qobuz. I am finding it a good way to explore music. In the past I've bought CDs and played them and wonder if they were worth the money, or even if I'll ever listen to them again. Probably about 30% of my CDs are unlikely to be played any time soon.
Any thing I like I mark up as a favourite in Qobuz.
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
I stream to find new stuff, which I'll then then either buy on vinyl if it comes with lossless digital, or if its one of the bands I'm a completevist for, and if not ill just buy the digital. Streaming pays musicians feck all, I like to buy what I like and make sure they get paid for it, fairly.
fegs
pfm Member
exactly what I do
S-Man
StrivingON
If you want the "involving" sound of vinyl it can be captured very effectively using digital recording techniques (16/48 is plenty). WIth a bit of de-popping, it can be better than the original, and you can skip the crap bits of music easily.
I'm surprised there is not a "vinyl app" to make CD etc sound like LP. Roll off and mono the bass, add a peak at hf to emulate cartridge resonance, add some modest random resonances, add some end of side distortion etc.
I'm surprised there is not a "vinyl app" to make CD etc sound like LP. Roll off and mono the bass, add a peak at hf to emulate cartridge resonance, add some modest random resonances, add some end of side distortion etc.
clivem2
pfm Member
Yes but....a good record deck and digital front end can sound remarkably similar. Also not all decks produce end of side distortion.If you want the "involving" sound of vinyl it can be captured very effectively using digital recording techniques (16/48 is plenty). WIth a bit of de-popping, it can be better than the original, and you can skip the crap bits of music easily.
I'm surprised there is not a "vinyl app" to make CD etc sound like LP. Roll off and mono the bass, add a peak at hf to emulate cartridge resonance, add some modest random resonances, add some end of side distortion etc.