[Rafal]

Hi All,

I have many CDs and almost no LPs. I thought about getting into the vinyl playback but it can quickly become a very expensive proposition. i then thought of maybe getting a better CD player or a DAC that would give me a vinyl-like sound quality. DAC would allow me to use my PC stored music, but a new CD player would allow me to upgrade the transport as well.

Currently I'm using Musical Fidelity CDPre24.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Rafal

[JLM]

You mean with all those surface noises and loss of dynamic range?  Do you also want to have to deal with vibrational feedback on a monster level compared to CD (or even exposed tubes)?

I for one have zero tolerance for those pops and clicks.  As much as CDs get trashed, I'll never want to "go back".  But your want for the best of both worlds is admirable.

Some have tried tubed DACs, but it a different animal.  Same story with non-oversampling or battery power.

Underwoodwally does mods of your piece.

[martyo]

Rafal -

I think you might mean that you want the richness of sound that you remember from vinyl. Many of us use AVA DACs. ALL you need is a digital out on your present player and you're in business. It had to be proved to me and was when I borrowed my brothers AVA Transcendence DAC for a month. There are many threads on the AVA circle on this topic and if you post your question over there I'm sure you will get a lot of feedback from others that were looking for what you are. I never believed that all that was there on vinyl was on the Cd in addition to the dynamic range and low end that is possible with digital. Come on over, Frank introduced a new tube DAC yesterday. There is a 30 day money back guarantee. Come on over. 

[lcrim]

Rafal:
Since you are posting on a circle concerned with personal computers, why not get into hard drive based playback.  I know that many people have misgivings about this but many also have found that PC based playback of digital files is both cost effective and provides quite quite pleasing sound quality.  The technical learning curve involved is not that daunting.  I doubt that anything can sound like vinyl except vinyl. I personally have both sources and prefer vinyl but the convenience factor of having all your ripped Red Book CD's in a single easily searched volume shouldn't be discounted either.
A modded Squeeze Box for a fraction of the cost of a comparable playback quality CD player is very compelling.

[TheChairGuy]

Rafal,

It's going to be a different experience, no matter how you try. The past couple years have been a boon to CD-playback quality.....I think the advent of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have forced CD/DVD makers to seriously step up their game.  I haven't heard a truly awful CD player for 5 years now.

Tubes, somewhere or throughout the chain, have a nice mellowing effect on any of the remaining stridency that Redbook imparts, but it's not a must as it once was as Redbook playback has improved a lot.

I think the long held roles that an X-priced turntable can give a better performance than a 3X CD set-up has been turned recently.  I think it takes far more money to produce hi-quality analog/vinyl playback now comparable to under-$500 players out there (the Oppo's and new Pioneer DV-58AV's come to mind as budget standouts according to many).

Getting into or back into vinyl now, without the benefit of LP's already in your collection, really will be an expensive foray 

John

[Rafal]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I sometimes wonder if my Musical Fidelity CDPre24 is so far behind compared to current offerings. In it's day, it was supposed to be a quiet nice unit. I did give some thought to modifying it, but I wonder if I would not be further ahead if I just sold it and bought Linn Unidisc SC.
Thanks for the AVA suggestion. I'll explore it further. I did have a feeling that a nice DAC may be the ticket (which is why I posted in this forum).  I also considered the new Monarchy DAC or the Benchmark DAC1. Again, I'd want to make sure that it is a significant step up from what I have now.
When it comes to the PC based playback, I have a set up like that right now (Macbook with an optical connection to my CDPre) and it sounds nice but honestly, the freedom of choosing any song prevents me from just sitting back and listening to one album at a time (I know that it sounds silly). On another hand, I worried that if I went with vinyl, I would be frustrated by having to turn over the LP every couple of songs.
Ideally, since I have a DIY nature, I'd love something with some tweak-ability to it (akin to what vinyl offers).

Please keep suggestions coming

Cheers,

Rafal

[mfsoa]

Tubes, somewhere or throughout the chain, have a nice mellowing effect

Lately, after adding my first tubed piece (apart from phono preamp), I've been viewing the above quote in a slightly different manner.

The "mellowing", to me, implies that something is missing, or being removed/reduced by the tubes.

Another way to see it is that the tubes are adding something positive that SS doesn't contribute, and that this positive addition  leads to the commonly-used "mellow tube" perception.

I don't know for the life of me how the little vacuum tubes know what my little brain wants to hear, but this is what is happening. Put simply, it's music vs. sound. It's to the point that I'm seriously considering replacing my beloved Superphon preamp so I can get another shot of whatever it is that the tubes are doing to my brain.

TCG- I don't disagree with your statement - I've just been viewing it from this perspective lately (and enjoying my system much more lately) and wanted to share this other way of reaching the same conclusion.

-Mike

[Rafal]

I do have a tubed piece in my playback chain. It's a McAlister PP150 amp. Since I've added it, I haven't looked back.
The sound is very "musical", smooth and non-fatiguing (which is something I'm very sensitive to). All this is coming out of a pair of Von Schweikert VR2s which I'm quiet pleased with. This should put my search into a better perspective.

Rafal
   

[SET Man]

Hi All,

...i then thought of maybe getting a better CD player or a DAC that would give me a vinyl-like sound quality....

Rafal

Hey!

    Well, making CD to sound vinyl-like is possible, to a certain level But making CD to sound the same as vinyl is impossible

    Anyway, I don't have much exprience with a lot of equipment like some people here. But I've head some both at the NY Rave gatherings and some in my own system... of course it was easier to hear the difference in my own system

    There is one type of DAC that usually make me feel at ease and enjoy the music from CD almost like vinyl. The NOS DAC type (Non-oversampling) And this is what I'm currently have running in my system. And the one that I have it is likely the cheapest NOS DAC around too.

    But of course not all NOS DAC are the same and not everyone will agreed with me on this. So, if you can you might want to try a few different type of DAC in your own system first if possible.

   Good luck and keep us posted on your search.

Take care,
Buddy

[giantsteps]

 Check out the modified Lite Audio Dac from Pacific Valves.

Frank

[csero]

This way:   

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/

"The ultimate lo-fi weapon, iZotope Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic "vinyl" simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.

Mechanical Noise     The amount of turntable motor rumble and noise
Electrical Noise    Internally generated electrical noise, such as 60 Hz grounding hum
Wear    Control how worn out the record is, from brand new to played a few thousand times
Dust    The amount of dust on the record
Scratch    The number and depth of scratches on the record
Warp    The amount of warping and the warp shape for the record - from no warp to the edges totally melted and warped"

[Hank]

Tequila or rum.  That's it.  Not nearly as much hand-wringing, tweaking, wondering if you've got the best, or shelling out more money next year for the latest SS.   aa

[denjo]

Altmann Attraction DAC with a decent PSU like Paul Hyne's! 

[Rafal]

Has anyone tried the Audiosector DAC or the DIY Paradise Monica 3 dac?

Rafal

[Russell Dawkins]

This way:   

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/

"The ultimate lo-fi weapon, iZotope Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic "vinyl" simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.

Mechanical Noise     The amount of turntable motor rumble and noise
Electrical Noise    Internally generated electrical noise, such as 60 Hz grounding hum
Wear    Control how worn out the record is, from brand new to played a few thousand times
Dust    The amount of dust on the record
Scratch    The number and depth of scratches on the record
Warp    The amount of warping and the warp shape for the record - from no warp to the edges totally melted and warped"

  the perfect solution!

Now if there was a way to make CDs sound just like a master analog tape - we'd be talkin'.

[SET Man]

This way:   

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/vinyl/

"The ultimate lo-fi weapon, iZotope Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic "vinyl" simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.

Mechanical Noise     The amount of turntable motor rumble and noise
Electrical Noise    Internally generated electrical noise, such as 60 Hz grounding hum
Wear    Control how worn out the record is, from brand new to played a few thousand times
Dust    The amount of dust on the record
Scratch    The number and depth of scratches on the record
Warp    The amount of warping and the warp shape for the record - from no warp to the edges totally melted and warped"

Hey!

   That's funny

   I think Rafal wants to make the digital CDs to sound more analog-like the real analog disc. Not to make CDs sound like a defected, scratched up, warped or worn out vinyl LP.

  I love it when I saw the page name on top of the web browser page says "iZotope Vinyl - Authentic Lo-Fi Vinyl Simulation..." Well, there's nothing Lo-fi at all with analog vinyl if you take good care of it and play it back correctly

  But I've heard this before on some album on CD that actually put the sound of stylus drop and wear noise on the song... interesting

  BTW... csero, I will take a wild guess that you don't spin any vinyl LP and have CD only system right?

Take care,
Buddy



 

[GHM]

Has anyone tried the Audiosector DAC or the DIY Paradise Monica 3 dac?

Rafal

I've owned the Audio Sector Dac. What would you like to know?

[Rafal]

GMH,

What is your impression? How does it compare to other dacs? I'm mainly looking for an improvement and more organic sound (kind of like vinyl) over my Musical Fidelity CDPre24 imbedded dac.

What did you change the audiosector to and why?

Thanks,

Rafal

[csero]

  BTW... csero, I will take a wild guess that you don't spin any vinyl LP and have CD only system right?

Actually I have much more LPs than CDs and listen to both format a lot.

[csero]

  the perfect solution!

Now if there was a way to make CDs sound just like a master analog tape - we'd be talkin'.

There are tape hiss, saturation etc simulator tools too 

Check this out, especially the testimonials:
http://recordingschool.biz/homerecording/extreme-punch-p-55.html

"this plugin actually makes the track warmer without distortion(unless u push the drive much too far). while making it warmer, the mid and high freqs are very clear and present while adding punch and presence to the entire track. and EQ CAN NOT do that."