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May 17, 2018
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The answer to your comparison question really just depends on what the listener is trying to get out of their music.
Lossless digital is far superior when it comes to accurate capture of audio signal. If you place a huge amount of importance in precise sound reproduction of recordings, digital lossless is the way to go albeit only possible with a competent DAC.
The thing about vinyl that’s attractive is its physical presence. There’s a ritual to go along with the listening experience from taking the record out of the sleeve and jacket, to once in a while cleaning it, and even the physical interaction of selecting tracks by moving the cartridge around. Although, less accurate when it comes to recording and reproduction, there is something to be said about how pleasant songs sound on vinyl. It’s coloured for sure, but so very nicely coloured. This comes with the understanding that you as a listener may not be getting exactly what the artist/mix engineer/producer intended for you to hear since there are limitations to recording on vinyl. For one, mixing engineers have to ‘remix’ songs when tracking on vinyl; this is specifically important when it comes to low frequencies which are usually summed into mono to prevent cartridges from skipping. It requires songs to be mixed differently and arranged differently so that it plays back properly. The sound quality is also very dependent on the speed at which songs are tracked into the record. An album with 5 minutes per side will have a higher sound fidelity than an album with 30 minutes per side. It’s the differences in how things are layed out that make listening to vinyl special. Add the fact that it deteriorates slightly every time you give it a listen, it makes each time you spend with the record valuable.
Since lossless surpasses in fidelity, there are just as much to appreciate when listening this type of audio considering you have a competent throughput signal flow from the source all the way to your listening device whether it’s a pair of speakers or headphones. Lossless can reproduce subtle reverberations that give sound liveliness and space. It’s great with maintaining dynamics of a mix. Stereo separation is easier to reproduce in lossless. There are far less limitations in mixing and mastering in digital specially when you’re working with very high sample rates upwards of 96khz and 192khz.
Personally, it‘s hard for me to pick one over the other. Both mediums offer a lot. As far as DAC recommendations, IMHO, there’s not much that can go wrong with DACs. Even cheap DACs have some form of buffering, reclocking, and jitter prevention. It’s a rabbit hole that’s as deep as you’re willing to go. You can spend thousands on a DAC with a dedicated quartz master clock and not hear a difference. As long as the DAC can accommodate the sample rate of your source audio or better, its good to go. Amplificaiton has a far greater effect on the overall sound signature than the DAC.
That said, I personally use the WA7 Gen 2 at home, and the SMSL AD18 when I’m at work. The Peach Tree DAC.iT might be a good fit for your CTH.
May 17, 2018
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