I use both vinyl and digital. I used to be a keen buyer of vinyl when younger and also had many years working as a "professional" DJ, doing a lot of indie / alternative type gigs, so the records from this era are not all dance rave disco type stuff. In fact the gigs were very varied in nature, and the vinyl collection that remains as a legacy of this reflects that. So I have a lot of legacy vinyl and hence need a decent turntable / phono stage if I want to play them. I am not a vinyl convert though, most of my new purchases have been digital. It is perhaps interesting to note that I do have some music on both digital and vinyl, on my old system I had some music that sounded better playing the vinyl version, this varied depending on quality of the vinyl itself and the quality of master transfer etc. With the latest system, I think that more or less everything sounds better with the digital version, which says something about the performance of the Devialet's digital analogue conversion.
The interesting point is that I did not chose the Devialet because of it's phono stage. I had decided on new speakers, and then set about auditioning various amplifiers to establish which worked best with the speakers. I think speakers have the biggest influence of the character of the system, and then correctly matching speakers with an appropriate amplifier is the key to creating system that really performs and works. So I chose the Devialet because it was the best sounding amplifier with the speakers of choice. I was not remotely influenced by the shiny box (in fact, I preferred the look of Chord electronics), the one box solution stuff, AIR, the sexy remote, or anything else. Also, although I could see the logic of a digital phono stage, part of me really did not like the idea an analogue source being corrupted in the digital domain.
This weekend I have been trying a Tom Evans Groove phono stage, which is on loan from my very helpful local hifi dealer. I will post details of this comparison under a separate thread, this is not quite the right slot, but in conclusion the Devialet's phono stage comes out on top. So how much is the built in phono stage worth? Although an external phono stage will change the character of the sound from vinyl, which may suit personal preferences, I am not sure an external phono stage at any price could definitively better the Devialet's version. (I did like some aspects of the "Tom Evans" sound though) A brand new Tom Evans Groove would cost over £2K. So considering the quality (and monetary value) of the DAC, phono stage, AIR, and then new stuff like SAM thrown in, that shiny box starts to look like very good value, and a very good choice indeed for vinyl users. It must be just about the best "built in" phono stage available, and I still thought the Devialet offered best sound quality per £ without even considering the vinyl performance.
The interesting point is that I did not chose the Devialet because of it's phono stage. I had decided on new speakers, and then set about auditioning various amplifiers to establish which worked best with the speakers. I think speakers have the biggest influence of the character of the system, and then correctly matching speakers with an appropriate amplifier is the key to creating system that really performs and works. So I chose the Devialet because it was the best sounding amplifier with the speakers of choice. I was not remotely influenced by the shiny box (in fact, I preferred the look of Chord electronics), the one box solution stuff, AIR, the sexy remote, or anything else. Also, although I could see the logic of a digital phono stage, part of me really did not like the idea an analogue source being corrupted in the digital domain.
This weekend I have been trying a Tom Evans Groove phono stage, which is on loan from my very helpful local hifi dealer. I will post details of this comparison under a separate thread, this is not quite the right slot, but in conclusion the Devialet's phono stage comes out on top. So how much is the built in phono stage worth? Although an external phono stage will change the character of the sound from vinyl, which may suit personal preferences, I am not sure an external phono stage at any price could definitively better the Devialet's version. (I did like some aspects of the "Tom Evans" sound though) A brand new Tom Evans Groove would cost over £2K. So considering the quality (and monetary value) of the DAC, phono stage, AIR, and then new stuff like SAM thrown in, that shiny box starts to look like very good value, and a very good choice indeed for vinyl users. It must be just about the best "built in" phono stage available, and I still thought the Devialet offered best sound quality per £ without even considering the vinyl performance.
