Maybe vinyl isn't for me

I have an Ayre C5xemp and yes it is terrific for digital playback but a very good LP on my Rega P9 w/Benz Glider S and ARC Ph5 and it is no contest. Neil Young Live at Massey Hall for example beats any digital playback I've ever heard including the BluRay of the same album.

PS the bluray is really really good. Its fun to watch the bluray and listen to the record, not so easy to synch though.

 

No offense, but your vinyl sounds bad because you bought that cruddy Technics turntable against almost everyone's advice here. To make matters worse, when you finally got the turntable, it was broken.

Cheap equipment is going to sound bad through your Maggies. They are very revealing of the source components. A million people told you this. I'm sorry if I am coming off like a jerk, but you ignored everyone's advice. Caveat emptor.

 

All true. When I sold my Rega P3 I had to wait awhile before my P25 arrived. In the meantime I used my Technics SL22 with a cheap Ortofon p-mount. After a few albums I didn't even bother until the P25 arrived.

My other find of the day was a MINT German pressing of Rush's 1st s/t. If that sort of thing doesn't get you off then again, don't bother with vinyl. I've never looked at a CD the way I do this nice piece of wax.

 

Want to add one point, which is my recent experience. Even after investing on reasonably good gears, it still takes a lot of time and patience to learn to set up the turntable/cartridge and maintain them. It takes quite some efforts to experiment and master the required skills. I just encountered problem in setting up, and with the help of some guys here, I am slowly getting there. It may take a much longer time to reach the optimal setting!

So, CDs is more or less plug-and-play, much less effort is required for at least a reasonable sound quality. The same cannot be said about spinning vinyl. If you can't convince yourself to go through the process, then vinyl is probably not for you.

 

Listen to what this man is saying. He has more exposure to more gear than nearly anybody on this forum right now. Even if the Technics SL-BD22 was a mint example in perfect working order it would still sound worse than the digital gear that you've become accustomed to. I'd say that if you were lucky and managed to get a used Linn LP-12 in decent shape your odds of getting good sound out of LPs may only set you back 1.5 k, 1 k if you're really lucky. But a Technics SL-BD22 is not going to cut it, even under the best of circumstances, not with the kind of digital gear that you're used to.

 

This is the type of thing I was wondering about. I think you might be right.

I thought the Ayre QB-9 was the only one running in asynchronous mode. Are you sure your DAC runs in that mode? They licensed it from Wavelength.

That is the real truth here. I just plugged my Sony turntable into my old speakers (powered Audioengine 2A's) and it was listenable. The Maggies are revealing all the crap in the signal. They sound amazing with that DAC. I don't want to spend $3-5K on an analog front end. I should buy a power amp, plug my DAC straight to it, and be done.

 

Assuming that your DAC has variable output, that may be the best solution.

 

It is such a FREAKING fine piece of equipment. It interfaces with the computer to create a hardware mixer that can be controlled on the computer like any other hardware mixer, and it changes the output level of the DAC in the analog realm based on the setting of the hardware mixer. It's just awesome.

 

I don't know if that is always the case.

I bought my cartridge online, took it to my Rega dealer, bought a P3-24 and he installed the cart, spacer, fixed the anti-skate etc. 18 months down the track I've had no need for any maintenance. it was as 'plug & play' as anything else I own.

 

This sounds reasonable. I don't think you should want to get into vinyl to make it sound 'as good' as your digital system. The reason I got into LPs is because some material just isn't available digitally in anything less than a compromised version, compared to vinyl. If you haven't run into this situation, then vinyl is not worth the trouble, IMO.

 

You’re rushing this way too fast. Take your time. As previously suggested, take some vinyl that your familiar with (and maybe with a CD from a similar mastering) and visit your local dealer. I’m sure they will be happy to let you audition various analog rigs.

Also, you just may not have the time or patience for vinyl. It is much higher maintenance.

 

That may be true if your originals are true hi-rez files. But sounds like his are "ripped (16/44) CDs upsampled to 24/88.2." That's still not going to beat decent vinyl IMO.

My 24/96 needledrops, with playback via masterlink and lucid converters, still don't sound quite as good as the source (SL1200 TT w AT150mxl Cart.)

 

And Maybe Even More Expensive

. . . like having another girlfriend.

 

Or a Singer.

 

Been There, Recorded That

 

It's really ok if you don't even get a turntable. You don't have to listen to vinyl to enjoy music.....

Especially if you don't have a huge investment in software at this point.

Personally, I think too many people in the hifi press want to brainwash you to think that if you aren't spinning records, you "aren't a music lover" or you "aren't an audiophile"...

Do whatever is the easiest for you to enjoy music and if you don't want to screw around with records, that's ok. Sure, there's some music you can't get on CD or other digital media, but there's still plenty of music you can enjoy.

 

Hard to believe isn't it? Before I found the right way to upsample Redbook, I got really into buying and ripping DVD-A's because of their true 24/96 content. I've got a decent collection. Once I found the right way to upsample and I was using the right DAC, the difference between DVD-A's and CD's disappeared. The clincher is that this remains to be true even on my very revealing Magnepans. I'm totally convinced that Redbook is all we need for anything but the highest high of equipment, and maybe even up there. It's a lot of information, we just need to learn to reconstruct it properly, and we are. I use libsamplerate (Secret Rabbit Code) on the "best" setting:

http://www.mega-nerd.com/SRC/

I'm sure it will get even better.

Along with good D->A reconstruction, the digital signal path has to remain untouched.

 

This man speaketh the truth!

 

Yeah all of that. I'm not versed with the specifics you mentioned but simply maybe your table isn't for you because you aren't satisfied with the sound. It happens. I'm mostly a mid-level guy but I've found if you simply get other equipment, it might be better. It doesn't have to take thousands of dollars either.

 

One thing I'll miss about LPs was buying that nice big art and packaging and holding the music in my hands in a way you can't do with CDs, and maybe not with any digital format. Is holding a laserdisc fun too?

I think I'll display some LPs on the walls though.

Do some companies make CDs with really nice packaging? The best I've ever held were the Bob Dylan SACD's.

 

The main reason I spin vinyl is the ritual of it all. Albums are sometimes a lot different experience with a side swap and a few tics and pops.

 

And I bet it sounds great with the Maggies. Look at it this way--you got a great deal on awesome speakers with your Maggies. Your digital files are going to sound flawless. You tried to do vinyl on the cheap and found out it was not to your liking. All is not lost, though--you have the beginnings of a great hi-res digital playback system.

 

I've seen that to a certain degree and think that it is ridiculous, too.

 

Once I get the Outlaw monoblocks, what would you improve next? I could upgrade the Maggies, but they sound so sweet now! The DAC sounds amazing too and I'm gonna feel like an idiot changing it out. It seems like the Ayre QB-9 is the next one to get there.