Bigblog - The Revolving Door of HiFi Auditioning

[Bigman80]

Not sure if it's hi rez or not tbh. Some are done are 16/44*.
Wiuld have to check.
They all sound good to me tho. The live ones do come across better, maybe the audience interaction

Yes I agree, but the vinyl was a special moment. Really something special. If I can recreate that with digital, it would be an achievement

[struth]

A rip off a vinyl maybe. I've had a lot of success with doing this

[Jimbo]

Great bit of vinyl there Oli

[Bigman80]

Great bit of vinyl there Oli

It's the CD Jim. I wanted to see how a digital copy would compare with your LP.

It didn't.

[Bigman80]

For the last few weeks, I have been struggling with Vinyl. There. I've said it out loud.

The trouble all started when i put the new system together. When i added the PecanPi, the Digital jeapt forward at a rate I hadn't even considered. It outdoes the vinyl in some areas and quite often I find myself not using the SP10 for days at a time.

Instead, I am using, and get frequently blown away by the PecanPi regularly. It is a horrible feeling and I hate it.

I’ve done endless comparisons and i just can’t escape the fact that for 90% of material, the digital is flawless. Yes, it isn’t as rich as the vinyl but when you get past that caveat, there isn’t really anything the Pecan can't do, that the vinyl can, except for that rather larger soundstage the Analogue provides.

I can’t escape the feeling that had i invested the same amount of cash (say £4k) in a digital front end, the results would be even better than I have from other of my existing front ends.

Suffice to say, im torn. Should i sell the whole vinyl front end and go for it with digital? I couldn’t decide.

I decided that I needed to do something, anything really, to see whether I could rekindle the love for vinyl. If not, I will sell the lot.

I remembered the vinyl Jimbo brought round with him on a recent visit, and how when we listened to Rodrigo y Gabriel the world changed. It was an epic moment and one I felt in my guts. There was also another track, St James Infirmary on Satchmo Plays King Oliver.

I decided to go for the Satchmo. I searched around the internet and bagged an original pressing. However, when it arrived it certainly wasn’t as described (as per usual) and a refund ensued. The seller didn't want it back surprisingly.

I’ve cleaned it 4 times and managed to make it playable to a degree, but it still sounds like it’s on fire. However, between the crackles and pops, the SQ is quite superb.

Anyway, listening to the tracks on there, even with the crackles, is filling my mind with joy and whilst it hasn’t rekindled my devotion to the format, I am remembering its merits and why i enjoy vinyl so much. One of those aspects is the history of the vinyl. The cover is full of interesting facts and bits about how they recorded the album. It’s got the history about how Louis Armstrong was involved. Loads of stuff.

That's when it hit me. Browsing for the same album in HiRes digital, the cover notes are not included. This highlighted something that I had not considered. Had I not bought the vinyl, i would never have seen all this great info!

Just like that, it was back. The LP hasn't left the turntable for 2 days and i havet stopped playing it at every opportunity.
It was then that i thought that I may always need a vinyl replay system. I think I’d miss it and no matter how good the digital can be, it wouldn't fill the void entirely.

I’m sure this matter isn’t finished because whenever my brain gets a notion like this, I tend to only fend it off for so long. But for now, I’m just going to enjoy this LP

[Firebottle]