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Help with some recommendations

Chrispy

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Some of my vinyl records are worth hundreds of dollars. I might as well try and get the most out of them. I know it seems counter intuitive but I just really like the non-crystalline sound of vinyl over cds. Still have thousands of cds but I rarely play them anymore.

I was surprised by the "value" of some of my vinyl on discogs, but that just makes me want to play them less in a way :) Non-crystalline? What does that even mean? I'm the other way, rarely play my vinyl, almost exclusively digital of various formats (mostly ripped cd). The surface noise of vinyl isn't my favorite thing let alone other issues with the media in general. Never even thought about going with tubes myself (did experience them as a kid, tho).
 
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podenbeck

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I was surprised by the "value" of some of my vinyl on discogs, but that just makes me want to play them less in a way :) Non-crystalline? What does that even mean? I'm the other way, rarely play my vinyl, almost exclusively digital of various formats (mostly ripped cd). The surface noise of vinyl isn't my favorite thing let alone other issues with the media in general. Never even thought about going with tubes myself (did experience them as a kid, tho).
By crystalline I mean the perfection of digital. For some reason it always sounds a little bright. Probably perception. Likely because I have never heard digital trough a really good DAC. Every medium has its downfall. We are lucky that we can experience music in different ways. I guess the tactile part of vinyl always gave the music more soul for me. Different avenues and destinations.
 

Chrispy

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By crystalline I mean the perfection of digital. For some reason it always sounds a little bright. Probably perception. Likely because I have never heard digital trough a really good DAC. Every medium has its downfall. We are lucky that we can experience music in different ways. I guess the tactile part of vinyl always gave the music more soul for me. Different avenues and destinations.
Likely you've heard a perfectly fine dac; you're overthinking it perhaps. Tactile for me in the longer run (of having no choice other than vinyl for many many years) just became a pain in the ass. :) I'd just rather not have the multiple imperfections as I just find them annoying in the long run. Have fun!
 

majingotan

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By crystalline I mean the perfection of digital. For some reason it always sounds a little bright. Probably perception. Likely because I have never heard digital trough a really good DAC. Every medium has its downfall. We are lucky that we can experience music in different ways. I guess the tactile part of vinyl always gave the music more soul for me. Different avenues and destinations.

Based on my subjective experience, I've never heard vinyl even sounding 1/10th of the fidelity and having that emotional connection compared to my portable digital setup. The last time I've heard Vinyl setup similarly priced to my digital setup, vinyl definitely sounded similar to lo-fi FM radio (not HD radio) missing most of the details I hear from my digital setup. Maybe I need to spend 10-50x of my digital setup to even get a good result or match the fidelity of my portable digital setup from vinyl which IMO is incredibly poor value.

As for Vinyl, I was thinking a Rega P8 with Zephyr MIMC cartridge + iFi Phono 3 Black + Schiit Saga setup to amp should at least be competitive with my DAP lineout to amp.
 

Waxx

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on integrated amps, Rotel, Yamaha and Marantz/Denon make good models, nothing really special, but decent build with decent specs and measurements and no real issues. Marantz sound is slightly coloured (so listen before buy to see if it fits you) but in a good way.

For seperates, there are not that many arround that does not cost a fortune and measure good (at least in class AB) but i saw the Shiit Vidar measures relative good and has enough power and is not that expensive (650€). The Outlaw 2220 is another option, but here in Europe a lot more expensive (you need 2) and more power than you may need (not bad, but more expensive). The Freya S preamp is good, better than the tube version of it (altough i love tubes, but it's not well done on the tube version). Shiit was overhyped in the beginning but got burned on this site and learned from it so now they became good, so relative safe to buy now.

Wit your wishes and preference, i would probally go for a Freya S and a Vidar and keep the remaining money to get a good digital rig next to your turntable system. I'm also a vinyl lover (and got tons of records), but this day a good digital rig is as important, also because a lot of music is not on vinyl released or only in a bad pressing and all other media is digital (even radio now) so a good dac (like a topping) is needed. I got myself a cambridge dacmagic (before topping was arround, so long ago) and it let me listen to digital music a lot more without feeling i'm missing something.
 
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podenbeck

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on integrated amps, Rotel, Yamaha and Marantz/Denon make good models, nothing really special, but decent build with decent specs and measurements and no real issues. Marantz sound is slightly coloured (so listen before buy to see if it fits you) but in a good way.

For seperates, there are not that many arround that does not cost a fortune and measure good (at least in class AB) but i saw the Shiit Vidar measures relative good and has enough power and is not that expensive (650€). The Outlaw 2220 is another option, but here in Europe a lot more expensive (you need 2) and more power than you may need (not bad, but more expensive). The Freya S preamp is good, better than the tube version of it (altough i love tubes, but it's not well done on the tube version). Shiit was overhyped in the beginning but got burned on this site and learned from it so now they became good, so relative safe to buy now.

Wit your wishes and preference, i would probally go for a Freya S and a Vidar and keep the remaining money to get a good digital rig next to your turntable system. I'm also a vinyl lover (and got tons of records), but this day a good digital rig is as important, also because a lot of music is not on vinyl released or only in a bad pressing and all other media is digital (even radio now) so a good dac (like a topping) is needed. I got myself a cambridge dacmagic (before topping was arround, so long ago) and it let me listen to digital music a lot more without feeling i'm missing something.
Yeah that's what I am thinking. I know soon u will be going through those crates of cds
 

Waxx

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Yeah that's what I am thinking. I know soon u will be going through those crates of cds
No i won't, but i have tons of digital hi res files (at least cd quality) that i play from a dedicated music computer. That does not mean i ditched my vinyl, vinyl will always be there. But cd's as physical format are outdated by hi res files on a hd drive (be it usb stick or real drive). My music is on a nass server that i can access from anywhere in the house...
 
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podenbeck

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No i won't, but i have tons of digital hi res files (at least cd quality) that i play from a dedicated music computer. That does not mean i ditched my vinyl, vinyl will always be there. But cd's as physical format are outdated by hi res files on a hd drive (be it usb stick or real drive). My music is on a nass server that i can access from anywhere in the house...
Oh shizzle I meant to put a "I" instead of a "U" in there. That is what I get for chiming in using my phone. Damn that must have seemed rude. Sorry about that.
 
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