Playing Kind of Blue again tonight but this time just in the CD player to get a good feel for the sound. Without an A to B comparison and getting too into it, I prefer the record. I'll have to do some more listening but the sound was just more three-dimensional. The instruments sound more realistic and there is a better sense of space. The CD presents more forward while the record has much more depth. Besides the distortion we've already discussed, there is a fair amount of background hiss on both the CD and record. I'll try to expound more on Friday.

Cheers,

T Cobe

My Dad came over today to listen to the new turntable and to roast coffee. I wish I could send smells to you guys! If you haven't experienced the smell of roasting coffee, it's hard to describe. I suppose it's a little like baking cookies and leaving them in the oven too long; not burnt but a bit dark brown and crunchy. The beans are in the bag and off gassing some terrific medium roast coffee smells. We roasted 4 different naturally dried coffees so there will be a lot of fruity aromas coming from the bags.

Regarding the music, we listened to Jack Johnson's On and On because I have it on CD and LP and I wanted to compare with a more experienced listener. I'm going to sound like a bit of a paid advertisement here but analog was just better! I can't imagine finding a better album for comparison. The differences were very significant.

The record had much more depth and sense of space. The presentation was a bit more laid back. The levels on the CD had Jack Johnson's vocals way forward of his guitar which is unnatural. The bass seemed bloated and the highs a bit sharp. The variation in volume required me to turn up the record as my CD player was much more loud on the same volume setting on my pre-amp. Now I realize that these findings are not always going to be the case and it will vary from album to album, but I'm starting to hear a trend...

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi T Cobe,

Interesting report. I'll offer a comment about relative volumes. I have generally noticed that, when I listen to an LP, I have less loudness at the same volume level setting on my Onkyo, when compared to a CD. Without research, I have attributed the lower LP volume level to differences between the phono preamp and the CD line level input.

Best,

Art