Vinly to Digital

[DaveR]

I agree, it's not what it used to be - it's better.

[tomp]

The discussion should not be over which one is better. I have heard some outstanding digital and analog and I have also heard really horrible renditions from both technologies. Like everything else, the implementation is critical. The discussion should center on how much it costs to get the same level of quality. Here, digital has a huge advantage. With today's technology, electronics are hugely more cost effective than mechanical implementations. I'm not talking about the custom fringe products that you can find with either technology, but rather high quality products that will give you good sound reproduction. No doubt with both there are bargain, high value products but even in that area, a mechanical implementation will cost more.

To me the reason I still occasionally use vinyl is that the music has never been transferred to digital and I don't listen to the pieces often enough to spend the time to do the transfer myself. When I do it use vinyl it is perfectly satisfactory and other than pain of the cleaning and the lack of remote and random access it makes me very happy.

Probably the most annoying thing for me about this forum is the often proffered idea that only one technology, component, or implementation will give good results. That is heaping, steaming, gurgling piles of brown stuff. It all depends on the implementation. The differences are about the amount of work and money to achieve the desired results. And, the results are not always audible but also include intrinsic value and pride of ownership. There never is only one solution.

Tom