I have a pretty good digital setup that sounds very, very nice. While the CD player is somewhat low-end, it doesn't really matter, because I'm taking it right off the transport and running it through an Audio Alchemy jitter reducer and then a Denon DAC, with dual Burr-Brown 20 bit linear converters. Most of the recently mixed jazz compilations as well as other material has no harshness and a lot of dynamic range. Clear highs and solid bass are the rule and I've been happy with the results.


Recently, I've been somewhat surprised when listening to vinyl. I now have a whole lot of vinyl and I'm starting to listen to it with a critical ear. Some of it was mixed like crap, Van Halen is all midrange, with no bottom end or really good highs whatsoever. But the real surprise came when I was recently listening to a mint Beck, Bogart and Appice record. The cut was "Superstition" and the intro guitar literally jumped right out of the speaker! I've never heard a CD that could match that sound. The experience was reinforced last night when I previewed the very strange Yamashita, Winwood and Shrieve album "Go". The last song on side 1 had the most bizzare side effects including a gong. I was cooking up a meal listening to it and the gong caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting it from the record, but the loud, clear sound reverberated through the room as if it was actually there! Then the cell phone started ringing and I wasn't sure whether it was the record or the phone that I was hearing. Something about vinyl that digital can't match and I know now, why there's such a following.