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As my moniker would suggest I'm a vinyl guy to the core. I do however still have some 3000+ Cds left over from the 80s and 90s when, like most of us, I bit on the CD as the "perfect Format". I was fortunate as one of my best friends was the manager of a large hi volume CD store in Seattle. I really did build a great collection with over 250 MoFi Master Recordings and DCC gold disks and quite a few other collectors items in the mix.
A few months back I decided that I needed to get a DAC and finally take advantage of all of that great material. I purchased the Benchmark DAC Pre and when I hooked it into my system something very unusual happened. I expected an improvement but I REALLY started digging my CD collection again! Now with this short step back into digital I realize that the sky is the limit when you start talking about DACs. For a modest investment however I'm pretty happy with the results.
So, the question. What piece of gear have you added that had you falling in love with your collection all over again?
As a side note I'm starting to appreciate recordings that I didn't give much thought to back in their day. It's interesting how higher quality gear will bring out such a LARGE level of previously unrecognized detail...
Life's A Long Song...
Follow Ups:
I've posted many time at various sites that the addition of my McIntosh MCD500 to my system has made my CD collection relevant again.
As far as enjoyment of my system with CD's. following equipment really improved system. The Simaudio Eclipse (somewhat) and Andromeda (more fully). Running Springs Audio Dimitri (evern more fully mated with my sytem incl Andromeda). I realize there is better equipment but there is only so much money.
I hope future brings more improvement in DAC so I can download if I have enough lifetime in me.
Bill
as i have said a few times before--my CDs got more valuable to me since i got the sacd player that upsamples. what a revelation. its not that i couldnt stand rbcd like teresa, i just preferred vinyl but the sony ns500v made a great difference.
i am still buying LPs mind you and i really dont need more except the music at that price and sound quality is hard to resist.
...regards...tr
I started out with the Duet and recently added a Touch. Took about 6 months to rip my entire CD collection. I was never very good about organizing my CDs, so it's great to have everything at my fingertips now.
I use the Custom Browse plugin to make it easy to browse my mostly classical collection, but this requires re-tagging all the flacs with my custom tags, which can be a PITA. I can't imagine anyone with a life going to all the trouble.
Dacs and CDP's have come a long way since 1983. I have a dac that cost $8000 some time ago and was a reference piece in it's time. It still out performs a bunch of newer and more expensive gear. I also have a $3500 CDP from 2 years ago that is more musical and easier to listen to than the $8K dac. You would be well advised to audition some current reference digital gear to hear what is burned in those pits on all that polycarbonate.
"E pur si muove...And yet it moves"
Made two supports out of one butcher block, one for the CD player and one for the integrated amplifier.Also, got a hold of some recent CDs made over the last seven years -- that's recent to me!
Don't know if it is the butcher blocks or the newer CDs. But, I like the sound. I had almost given up on the highend completely.
[Edit: All my other equipment are approx. 15 years old and I am looking forward to getting a new DAC. I just don't want a 'so what' response, so I am carefully evaluating cost/performance here. I really need a new computer DAC as I know that is deficient. Main system is using an old SONY player that I really didn't like much for a long time. Yeah, it took 10-15 years to break in, not likely though ;-) ]
Edits: 06/16/10
Actually, I did this several years ago, not recently. I bought two mega cd changers from Sony. One holds two hundred cd's, the other holds three hundred. (Pretty much my entire cd collection.) Now, by using the shuffle play feature on these changers, I am regularly re-introduced to my entire collection one track at a time. I find this a wonderful way to enjoy my cd music collection.
What piece of gear have you added ...I would say that my Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player (vacuum tube output stage) that I added about 3 years ago, made the biggest difference in my digital listening. I just recently changed the tubes I was using from Philips stock (came with the player) to Amperex 7308s...this gave me a warmer mid and top range...nice for Jazz Redbook CD(s).As far as vinyl...recently added a separate phono preamp (TC-760) which also improved my systems analog performance.
Analog & Digital sources are balanced quite well now...until my next upgrade.
"The crowd which follows me with admiration, would run with the same eagerness were I marching to the Guillotine"
Napoleon Bonaparte
Edits: 06/16/10
My MC275 and C22 sat idle for well over two years. My time was being spent with several basement systems and working on my tubes inventory. Now that I'm separated (yeehaa), the upstairs systems get way more airplay than they ever did. Now I'm really into the upstairs systems....especially on the weekend nights.
Byrdshit
LOL :-)and a usb DAC
Flac files are close to LP (close)
Frank
....
Kind of Blue
Edits: 06/16/10
nt
marc g. - audiophile by day, music lover by night
I'm a record guy as well, but have to admit, with good sounding (to my ears) digital, I can stave off the need to spin some vinyl- for a while...
I LOVE my vinyl collection, and without, probably wouldn't own a good (decent?) system, or even bother with audio. In my "past life" (+5 years ago), I was a musician, so I had access to a LOT of life playing and listening. This usually supplanted my home audio listening, to the point that I actually sold my system once and concentrated strictly on music (practicing 3 to 5 hours a day, gigging, sleep, etc...).
I've recently downloaded more than my share of music (from mp3 to FLAC and High Res,), and have paid more attention to the audio performance of my compy as well. I can't say where things will go, but at the moment, my compy is sporting an M-audio 24/96 sound card. Good to a point, but missing something (IMHO, PRAT could be better, that's really it!). The audio system is decent (again, good?), so I know the compy is the culprit here.
Anyway, as I've been prone to saying of late- HAPPY LISTENING!!!
"When a musician believes that music is a commodity, music dies in them." - Robert Fripp
I have been adding Rock CDs at a fast clip since I noticed local places have CD junk bins full of great stuff at $1 to $3. THe junk bins have all the same stuff the $6 to $9 used stuff. I have added nearly a thousand CDs in the past year. All highly rated stuff.
I have a small mountain of stuff backlogged next to the storage unit. Lucky I also have a source of $0.10 new cases. So I can recase the clean Cds.
Exploring this is a lot of fun. Better than cruising aroung the web looking for music.
I still buy LPs too.
I have the Benchmark Dac1 USB. I was loving the DAC1 until my tube amp went down(defective capacitor). I have not been able to find a solid state amp that can properly convey the fine details that the DAC1 brings out.
So for me I would have to say the amplifier makes the biggest difference. The DAC1 makes really great sound, but you'll never hear it through dirty sand amplification.
"Idiocracy" had it all wrong. We'll be there way sooner then 500 years!
You should try your Benchmark in the context of a properly configured pc transport.
nt
"What did the Romans ever do for us?"
I purchased an Esoteric XO-5 last year. My red book Cd's sound so much better, none of the digital artifacts that I had with my last system. Very analog sounding, big soundstage, beautiful highs and VERY tuneful bass. I have also started collecting SACD's, Some sound OK, but most others sound stunning. I think the biggest improvement is the fact that I can now listen for hours on end without fatigue.
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