Hi, Iam alfredo i have the directstream sr dac about 2 weeks on constantly play on 336 hours and everyday is sound better I am very happy with the sound , the directstream give to my legacy signature se , I think I never be back to vinyl , my next step will be m700 monoblock, i am very happy ps audio customer ,thanks all best sounding experience , alfredo
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Welcome to the club!
I never understood vinyl. I do understand digital. I think you’re on the right path to musical happiness.
Maybe you’re too young!
It’s just that I haven’t heard vinyl ever sound better than digital.
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You’ve never understood vinyl ? You haven’t heard vinyl ever sound better than digital ? Well, my Antipodean friend, you have missed out on so much. My vinyl albums are irreplaceable to me…
I was raised on LP vinyl, there wasn’t ‘any other’ format for playback… There was Reel-to-Reel tape but it wasn’t practical - then came cassette tape: - LP albums for the masses. Just going by what you listen to, what you pass off as music,…I’d put you at 12 – 13 years old… 
Combined, I have roughly 5000 CDs / SACDs…’only a few hundred SACDs’ – but there must be around 8000 / 9000 vinyl albums… 50 years of collecting and enjoying music on vinyl! How could I not like vinyl when it’s my lifetime… There is a quality to the MUSIC on vinyl that digital can’t compete with. And, I am not some luddite stuck in time - still living in the past. I embraced digital, owned the best CD players on the planet; for digital I now own/use the wonderful DS - DAC and I also use the DMP, toyed with streaming, etc… They all have their worth both good and bad.
I’ve never had any software problems with record decks and the record decks never let me down unlike the DMP fiasco!!
There are many albums - but just picking a few I listened to yesterday - if you were here listening to Natty Dread, Beyond the Missouri Sky, Deguello, Monk’s Dream, etc. on vinyl then you would get vinyl, and hear it comfortably outperform the digital format…
Just noting two properties - propulsive drive and purity of tone - digital versions just doesn’t get remotely close to said vinyl albums and many more albums besides …! Other side of this, I can put a disc in the DMP and enjoy what it has to offer and accept its shortfalls and limitations same as I do with vinyl albums… Even through the DS-DAC ( best DAC I’ve ever heard ) & DMP - it is far from perfect and that will be the same with your Esoteric box of tricks… Much is lost in digital processing.
BUT: I accept the fact that they are totally different formats: and/or could I ever understand the bitter rivalry between both vinyl and digital camps. I know the strengths and weaknesses of both formats. I own a very expensive system, but, it’s only a means to an end - because first and foremost I am a music lover… Much of the HiFi talk does nothing for me!
I’d prefer owning a cheap, basic HiFi ‘for life’ with my 5000 digital discs and 8000 / 9000 LP records than I would living with a mega system but be stuck with 300CDs for life…
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I might take an interest in vinyl if somebody plays their vinyl system to me and it sounds better than my digital system. To date nobody has been able to do that. Not even close.
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In response to OP, mine is one month old and with about 500 burn-in hours. It had good detail and clarity from early on and now the sound stage is beginning to open and warm up. I’ve read it can take 800 - 1000 hours so I’m going to be patient.
Somebody on youtube recently said: Digital is the imperfect perfection; while on the other hand Analog is the perfect imperfection
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Obviously vinyl isn’t going to be superior to digital in some very obvious ways, but vinyl is most competitive when you are listening to a true analog mastered recording. IMO there is way less value to digitally recorded or mastered music pressed to vinyl, because essentially you have standard digital quality with surface noise and distortion. Also, even before digitally mastered LPs, a lot of records in the 80s were mastered with low resolution digital delays which gave them a really thin and ugly sound.
If you have a high quality 180 gram pressing of a true all analog recording, on a high quality playback system, then the contrast with digital is more clear and value of analog is more apparent.
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Even if vinyl does sound better I have two issues with it. For starters, it seems like for it to sound better than the Directstream you need to spend more more on the hardware. I would need to purchase a turntable, cartridge, phono preamp and a preamp (and associated cables). With my Directstream, it is an all-in-one solution (as long as you have the Bridge) that can be had on a good day brand new for less than $5000 street. If not, connecting a PC or other relatively cheap device (Raspberry Pi for example) is cheap and easy. What vinyl solution that has all of the above needed to get sound to your amp can beat the Directstream for less money?
Secondly, the way I consume my music puts me off of vinyl. It’s a nonstarter for me due to the inconvenience of it all. Sure, there’s lot of listening sessions where I listen to a whole album start to finish, but that’s not usually how I do it. Being able to listen to a single track or playlist is important to me. I also listen to a lot of music on Youtube (or other streaming service) that’s not available anywhere in a physical format.
So, again, even if it does sound a little better, these two things are just too bothersome for me to even give vinyl a try.
Since I got my DSD Jr. a month ago I have been focused on Digital. I added the Matrix to it and Fidelizer and it’s just so amazing. So last night I dropped the needle on my turntable and there it was: Vinyl sounds better, but my digital side has really caught up. My digital side now sounds very close to the Vinyl.
So today I am trying to purchase a DSD SR. I’m ruined. ROO-END!
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Hi algnr,
congrats on the purchase. I too am still on the break in cycle. Approaching 500 hours by tomorrow with non stop play. It continues to open up nicely. Yesterday I put on Norah Jones on 200 gram lp and AB’ed with 24 bit Norah on my DSD Sr. and it was awash. Both my Dad and I thought it was so close it was a tie.(Pro-ject Xtension10 with Ortofon Cadenza Red MC and Zesto Audio Andros Phonostage…so no slouch on the analog gear). I love running both sources. Digital for convenience and playlists and vinyl for tactile involvement/engagement/nostalgia and of course sound quality.
Also of note, my Analog gear would sonically beat my Bryston player and DAC on a regular basis, so that’s how great the DSD Sr. really is!
So when I see Passenger on the YouTube video sitting on Venice beach in-front of 2 microphones that seem to be plugged into a laptop computer, chances are that is a direct to digital recording and thus the vinyl pressing of the resultant album would have no advantage over the CD? What I do know is when I spin that CD in my Esoteric it’s teleporting me to Venice beach with him. The snap, crackle and pop of the vinyl pressing is likely to teleport me somewhere else. Or nowhere.
When someone does decide to show you how Vinyl is better you will be sad. Until then, be happy, be you.
Thats is interesting, I read to have totaly open the directstream sr will take around 800 hours to1,000 hrs. , I liked vinyl too. I have turntable and is sound good is great to have the two world analog and digital 
After 1am here so powering down.
You make me laugh you won’t hear any benefit until you get better speakers… AN3 for you.?
Away to bed now.
Doesn’t cost enough.
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From the limited information I’ve seen, the starting point for AN3 - at least for the cabinet - is about 20 years behind current state-of-the-art loudspeaker technology. Whilst I do like my 20+ year old Def Tech speakers made from MDF and other low tech materials, my current speakers made from carbon fiber and graphene and other hi-tech materials are much much better.
You certainly have an endless supply of cold wet blankets.
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