I agree and that is why I think many people just want what sounds best to their ears. We could argue all day about tubes vs SS or CDs vs vinyl. That is my whole point. The goal (for me) is the best sound from the medium, whether it is vinyl or mp3s. I feel that a reasonable way to do that is with the TDS202 where mp3s are concerned.dewdude said:ok, but there's a huge majority of people that aren't that TRUE of a purist.
When I said the medium of CD was flawed, I was referring to the majority of CDs that are engineered incorrectly. Yes, I could buy only Mofi or Chesky, but I like a lot of variety. This leaves me with a lot of clipped albums that sounds like crap and if I can make them sound better through a DAC that upsamples or a TDS, that is what I will do. To be a purist when the sound suffers does not make sense to me. As a side note, I do not pass vinyl, SACDs or DVD-As through the TDS202 because the sound quality is usually great as it is.
I actually said "live music in a perfect setting". This is practically unachievable, so the true purist would rarely be happy.As far as live music..i HATE concerts. Concerts are loud..usually way too loud
This is my last post on the subject (however, I will read your response). You appear to want the sound to sound exacly like it does on the medium and I prefer to manipulate the sound if I think it makes it sound better to my ears. These are two contradicting preferences that audiophiles argue about all the time and there is no real answer because it is a subjective debate.
Therefore, I will recommend the TDS 202 to a guy that listens to XM and mp3 because I think it makes those mediums sound better and I am speaking from personal experience. Whether or not the poster wants to take that advice is up to him. However, if he is listening to mp3s, I doubt he is a true purist.