I completely agree. Having been doing the streaming thing for a while now, I have a feeling that a lot of the high-resolution formats and even many of the redbook recordings are not as bad as shown in that graphic.
Just the other day I read someone commenting that dynamic range is too large in some cases. To have the quiet passages loud enough to enjoy, the loud passages are simply too loud and they had to constantly reach for the remote to turn down the volume.
You’d think we’d have figured this all out by now…
I found a great combo… Qobuz to Rose w/9938PRO to Fezz Audio SET amp to Heritage speakers. Very happy at the moment. I was stuck on Amazon and Laptop. Ditched the Laptop and Amazon and grabbed a streamer and Qobuz. Definitely worth the learning curve.
OCD Mikey admits he prefers Jays vinyl sound to Jays MQA stream. This from a guy who has maintained that if you’re serious about your music you should listen to digital.
My rule on streaming SQ vs. CD/SACD SQ is that you need to spend at least double on streaming to have a chance. In fact, you probably will spend three times or more. There are simply too many pitfalls that need to be addressed in streaming chain.
When we think about an 8 bit dac. Would the calculated value be the same as the measured value?
I think with a perfect signal it would be, but it’s not about 1’s and 0’s but about analog build bits in a data container. When the shape of the bit is not perfect it still represents the digital value, but would it measure correct as well? I guess high frequencies will be lost first and low frequencies will gain body. See the attached scheme.
Think about what less shaped bits will do in a R2R dac. Every bit will find its resistor and all bits combined will output a voltage.
With the above theory you can see that higher values will drop the most. Lower values can’t drop that much. I think a percentage of each value must be combined to get the value that will be measured. Logically you can see the lines will be less steep and this means high frequencies will be decreased more than low frequencies. In fact there will be more low frequencies, because the higher frequencies will come on top of the low frequencies.
My friend with the Holo May KTE DAC came by yesterday to check out my new vinyl and digital setup. He helped me with carrying the Wilson Alexia 2 speakers to my room. We actually couldn’t do it ourselves even with the addition of my brother’s help. I had to called for 2 strong construction workers that I know very well to help get the job done. This is the first chance my friend has since then to listen to the new setup. He was very busy until now. First I played some music with the turntable and his jaws literally dropped to the floor! Way different than he has heard my system before. He has forsaken vinyl some time ago and had sold his John Carl Vendetta Research phono preamp. He says vinyl is too much trouble and he rather just sit on the couch and push buttons and swipe the Ipad instead. He ask me to play the same recording in digital and I complied. The recording was Nina Simone’s “Little Girl Blue”. With the vinyl, Nina was so human, so lifelike, her voice so engrossing that you can swear she’s real in the room! So was all the other instruments in the recording. When I played the SACD version, a lot of the life was sucked out and sounded more Hi-Fi than real, but it sounded fine if you don’t play the vinyl. OK, you might say I have a better vinyl system than digital, but I have yet to hear from anywhere a digital system that can give me the same feelings of live and naturalness that I can get from high quality vinyl system. After I played the Santana one step recording “Abraxas”, my friend was looking for where he can get this album, but he don’t have a turntable anymore. It was the best he has ever heard from this album. Maybe I can convert him again to vinyl? Anyway, my friend says the performance of the changes I made is so much better than before, he is very impressed. If you want to get the most emotions you can from a recording, don’t give up on vinyl.
If that’s true, then this first pressing would even be more impressive over the MF SACD than the one step. I don’t have the first pressings, but all the others I have, including the half speed masters don’t come close to the air. separation, and clarity of the one step version.
The reason I use the one step for comparison is because it’s from MF and the SACD version is also the best MF has to offer.
Your experience on your superior system parallels mine with respect to vinyl playback. Digital has its place, but vinyl reigns supreme in mi casa. I shudder to think one gave up a John Curl Vendetta phono stage.
Darren Myers has join John Curl in helping designing the new phono premps at Parasound. The new JC 3+ might be the one to beat for a only a few grands.
My brother had the Audible Illusion Modulus 3A preamp with the $500 option John Curl designed gold board, an outstanding tubed preamp for it’s days. Good stuff!
I’m crying, thanks for sharing this. The truth must be told!
The last time I posted the same conclusion was the night I played Miles Davis’ KOB 45RPM. I will never get rid of my vinyl collection.
What the hell, 4 records, 2 songs per side… it was so uncomfortable, it was so magical, it was… the last time I played an album on my TT.
I’m too lazy, that’s my first conclusion. Daily listening is digital, in my last two years. The SQ I got makes me happy and I don’t miss analog playback at all.
Every now and then, the other conclusion I have to admit is that listening to vinyl can take me to the moon. It’s superior in terms of engagement, period!
Having the possibility to choose is a privilege, I consider myself lucky to have it!
Donald needs to put a turntable on top of his rack, it’s my third and last conclusion!
