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Old 07-13-2019, 06:17 PM
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AVphile AVphile is offline
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Default Seeking the Original Intent

Over past couple of decades, I have constructed an audio system which gives me consistently pleasurable listening experiences. However, for the longest time it was CD-, FM- and vinyl-based, and so earlier this year I decided to add streaming to the mix. I attended the AXPONA show, listened (for my purposes, a fruitless exercise actually except for auditioning cabling and power conditioning, I came to realize in hindsight) and made various equipment decisions. My goal was to incorporate into my system a high resolution digital streaming capability of a quality commensurate with the rest of my gear.

What I purchased is tangential to the reason for this post; those audio components are now included under my signature. Furthermore, my system hardly represents the ultimate, but, again, that fact is not germane to the remainder of this post.

At this point, I now have multiple ways to listen to the same recording, utilizing seven different sources as well as four different DACs for converting the sources which are digital. Not surprisingly, dependent upon the source (and, if digital, the conversion mechanism), the resultant music, for the most part, can sound markedly different. Sometimes the voice is forward, other times receding; sometimes the bass is pervasive, other times it is tight; etc.

While I could simply keep expanding playlists of the source, medium and playback equipment combination that sounds best for each recording -- and I may well start doing that, this conundrum has gotten me to start thinking: what was the sound the performer(s) and producer/engineer originally intended in making that recording? For example, take Adele's voice. The essence of her voice is recognizable regardless, but the totality of the way her voice sounds will, to a great or lesser degree, be a bit different based on whether I listen to her on vinyl, CD, Blu-ray (concert) or high-res streaming. Each version, still sounds "nice" to me, but I really wish I knew what her actual voice sounded like and, consequently, could listen to "that" voice through my system.

I am describing a "high-class" problem, I know. Nevertheless, it gnaws at me a bit. I am interested how others handle it.
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Main System: Theta Casablanca V preamp/processor; Wadia 8 CD transport and Digimaster DDC 2000 DAC (w/all updates); Theta Compli CD transport; Oppo UDP-203 disc player; Lumin T2 music server/DAC; Roon Nucleus+ core (w/Teddy Pardo LPS); SOTA Sapphire turntable (w/ Premier FT3 arm and Hana SL cartridge); SugarCube SC-2 non-destructive "click and pop" removal device; PS Audio Stellar phono preamp; Magnum Dynalab MD-102 FM tuner (w/MD-205 Signal Sleuth FM antenna amplifier and ST-2 FM antenna); McIntosh MC 611 (3), Krell FPB 200C, and KAV-250a power amplifiers; Revel Ultima Studio (2 - L&R), Voice (1 - center), and Embrace (2 sides and 2 surrounds) speakers; SVS PB-16 Ultra (2) and 3000 Micro (2) powered subwoofers; WireWorld Silver Eclipse 8 speaker cables; various Kimber Kable, MIT, Shunyata, and WireWorld interconnects; Shunyata Denali 2000/T (2), Denali 6000/S, Hydra [original], Hydra 2, and Venom PS10 power conditioners; various Shunyata Delta, Venom, PowerSnake, and Sidewinder power cords, and Venom Defenders (2); Richard Gray's Power Company Substation and 400 Pro; Luxul AGS-1024 Ethernet switch; Sound Anchor amplifier stand; VTI (2) and Billy Bags (4) equipment racks.
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Old 07-14-2019, 11:02 AM
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Antonmb Antonmb is online now
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Default Seeking the Original Intent

It’s an interesting, if first-world, problem. If I have the same recording in multiple formats, I tend to default to the one which I enjoy the most (which may not always be the best “audiophile” sound) and forget the rest. Usually this is the format for which the recording was originally mastered, so for instance most 50s-70s recordings I prefer on vinyl, while music more recently recorded in the age of modern digital, especially classical, is better digital. The exception to that is when I’m just relaxing and don’t feel like getting up to flip records - then it all sounds good from the server using Roon and an iPad.[emoji41]

As for modern recordings on vinyl, I guess I don’t see the point in vinyl issues of music that’s been well recorded and mastered for digital on good modern digital equipment.
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Last edited by Antonmb; 07-14-2019 at 11:06 AM.
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