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Analog still rules, but my turntable is not of the quality that my CD unit is. Someday I will own a real quality turntable and put the CDs away. .
Most audiophiles' record collections include LPs <I>and</I> CDs, but one format invariably is played more than the other. In yours, which one is it, and by how much?
Right now I have only CDs. But today I was in a record shop listening to some records from one of my favorite bands (New Order). They didn't sound very good on the system in the record shop, but I noticed that there were different versions on the records than on the CDs that I currently own. If that's the case, I'm picking up a record player, soon. Not because of the sound quality, but because there is more music out there on records that I can't get on CD.
The saving grace for CDs with me is their convenience. . . When I'm ready for Serious listening on the "Big Rig", there is no substitute for LPs and my vinyl rig! To bad most young people just breaking into the High End Market have never heard a vinyl LP!
I still love the sound of my vinyl collection (and I still get really irritated at the occasional click / pop) but a whole bunch of factors push me to cd: i)a load of stuff I like isn't on vinyl; ii) the convenience of cd let's me play it in the car and on a portable (& I ain't gonna shell out twice); and iii)I've become fed up with all the tweakiness of hi-fi - there's times I just want to slip a cd into the drawer and simply sit back and enjoy the MUSIC.
I am a music lover first and an audiophile second. I came to this hobby because I need music in my life, and the best reproduction systems simply give me more of what I need. I own a fine system now, and even though I'm priveleged to have in my listening room some of the best digital gear currently available, I STILL find myself turning time and again to my record player (a VPI TNT IV/JMW 12"/Crown Jewel SE. The sound is simply more involving, more real. As much as I enjoy digital, and I do enjoy it very much, in absolute terms, analog is still the superior medium, at least to my ears. Even when I compare the sound of 24/96 DVD players to the TNT, it is the "archaeic medium" which calls me back time after time.
Even if I could afford to shell out the long green required for a "good" LP system, I'd still mainly listen to CD's and audio DVD's. Its the convenience. I can pop a CD in and go. I guess I'm just not into the whole ritual of LP's. I prefer just listen to the music. Right now while surfin the Net, I've got the 96/24 Livingson Taylor DVD playing in my DVD ROM drive thru a nice Boston Acoustics sub sat system - - it all came with my computer. You know what - - it sounds pretty darn good.