Since the introduction of CD there has been an on-going debate in audiophile circles. Which is better? Analogue (i.e. vinyl) or digital (CD). The true audiophile has always favoured vinyl but the cost of top quality turntables, arms and cartridges can run into many thousands of pounds. A glance at any current hi-fi magazine will verify the prices of these wonderful pieces of engineering.
I gave up on vinyl because it simply failed to deliver the sound I wanted. Yet the compact disc was also flawed. Nevertheless, after much heart-searching and lots of listening I decided the CD was the better carrier of classical music.
In recent years I have favoured headphone listening. I do own a pair of loudspeakers but rarely use them. It was becoming evident my interest in music had declined and I had blamed it on the limitations of the CD. I started to wonder if I had been wrong to reject vinyl.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, came my ‘eureka’ moment! Something astonishing happened and my love of music came back in an instant. I bought an inexpensive headphone amplifier. *
Suddenly CD’s sounded ‘right’ to me. The ‘musicality’ was back. I was hearing things on the recordings I’d never noticed before. The structure of the music, the multi-layering of musical strands, the way everything just made more sense now. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. CD’s that I’d disliked in the past sounded interesting and engaging for the first time ever. Even old favourites were a revelation. No-matter which disc I selected they all sounded amazingly good now. Not only have I re-discovered my CD collection but I am re-discovering music again.
Copyright © 2016. David Anderson. All Rights Reserved.
* A full review of the headphone amplifier will be published at a later date.
Tapesponding 
Interesting Dave. I come to this from the other direction as it were. For years I have listened only on headphones, to the extent that until relatively recently (thanks to being retired) some music that qualifies as favourite, is being heard for the first time on speakers. As you have intimated, quality is everything, so now I have what I consider an excellent set up, plus a detached house (I’ve never believed neighbours might want to share what I like when I like) abd I’m hearing things that are almost new and exciting. It would be good to know the brand/model number of your headphone amp though. Cheers.
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