Today is the last day of not listening to records. I figured it’s only fitting that I write a follow-up to my post from a couple of weeks ago. I’ve learned a few things since then; the most prominent being that my outlook on the day changes when there’s no analog detox when I get home.
Before you think, I’m going to show my analog loving ass. Let me say that streaming has revolutionized the way we listen to music. Countless albums at our fingertips, where ever we want to listen to them. That’s a something that wasn’t in mind when I was a kid.
I don’t think anyone that didn’t use dial-up to connect to the internet can fully grasp that paradigm shift, it took 40 minutes to download that “hot” new single at 128 kbps in 1996. The average album has 11 tracks; that adds up to 6 hours and 40 minutes. Comparatively, I can download the entire HBO series True Blood (36 episodes with a file size of 43.2 GB) from iTunes in 3 hours and 36 minutes, albeit with an internet connection that’s over 300 times faster.
Enough nerd, I’m not here to talk about connection speeds. Two weeks ago I said, “I will clean, catalog, and organize them; just no listening. As I write this, I’m using my underutilized Sonos bridge, fed to my preamp via optical cable.” Since then, I’ve learned that temptation is quite the challenge. Every time I go to turn on the preamp and amp my Superscoutmaster whispers to me, “Come on buddy, just one side…you don’t have to tell the readers.” I wanted to know just how bad my love jones for records is, so I had to see this experiment through to completion.
All of this listening required me to get the CD books out of the car. Yes, my car still has a CD player. I say that because my 2015 Dodge Ram did not come with as standard. It did have an SD card slot, 3 USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, and satellite radio (which isn’t available here in Hawaii). The first thing I noticed was how disorganized my CD’s had become since my Mcintosh CD/Bluray player got stolen. I don’t listen to them much outside of the car anymore. An upgrade may be in order shortly. I came across a few albums I forgot that I bought, a deluxe version of Giant Steps, Chuck Brown – We Got This (his last live CD), Melody Gardot – The Absence. It was like striking digital gold.
As much as I appreciate the huge cover art, liner notes, and pictures of music on vinyl; I tossed almost every CD jewel case I had. Aside from my newest additions to the collection, every CD resides in my iTunes library and its backup. I consider that an exercise in downsizing.
My DAC (digital to analog converter) inside of the McIntosh C50 is good, but not great. I have been on the fence of upgrading it since building my current system. There is a divide in my fiscally responsible self and the audiophile. Sadly they share the same wallet. The two schools of thought are the Chord 2qute ($1,795 from various vendors) and the Wyred for Sound DAC-1 LE (direct from W4S $1,124 with Femto clock). You can tell which prefers which by the price of each piece of gear. I have not heard the two units in a shootout but heard them in two different systems. I do not trust my month’s old aural memory, so I’m still on the fence. Upgradeitis doesn’t strike me often, so I’m in an unusual space.
For now, I’m going to turn on my phono stage and get it ready for tomorrow. I’d hate for that first listen to be a cold start. My time spent getting reacquainted with CDs, iTunes, and Tidal has been good. But we both know that I will always feel, dropping the stylus on a clean record is several times better.
I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did or did not, leave a comment and let me know your thoughts. Don’t forget to subscribe to our here mailing list so you can get the latest posts straight to your inbox.
