I'm interested in this because I'd like to take the best of my vinyl and put it on computer but am willing to only have the best selections and quality available for my computer(s)/harddrive.  I listened to these selections  and also had heard a few in Steve's listening room as I waited to pickup some equipment. I like what I heard.  I hope that there's enough interest for this to work as a Decware option.  Eventually I would like to have an all digital/computer system with tube/analog sound and this seems to be the best way to go... If Steve (Decware) follows through with this I know it will be done right and at a reasonable cost.

I have a tremendous interest in seeing this priject evolve. I would have many of my old favorites from the 60's and 70's, evne Mobile fidelity and 12' pressings that I can't afford to maintain a T/T for $3k+ for the occasional listen. I'm old, health won't be improving...but quality of listening could if this genome explodes.  I'll help light the fuse... and I used to share my records, so I would certainly allow someone else to listen to them, and it's not really hi-jacking the material, just running it through a process to improve the performance level...Heck, I'll send Bonham's , Entwistle's, and Marley's widows a buck or two ...  no woman no cry, eh?  

I just did some listening in my mastering studio with some ribbon nearfields and played the Steve Miller AIFF files about a dozen times each.  Then I opened them up in an editor. The LP sample was more compressed and louder with more distortion in the upper frequencies. The CD version was quieter and less compressed. Not really a fair comparison in general if you ask me.

I would be curious to know what year the CD sample was from. It sounds like a very early mastering to me due to all of the dynamic range left in the sample (something not done in most modern re-masterings).

At the end of the day, I preferred the CD clip. The upper end distortion (a kind of sibilance in the higher frequencies) was enough to turn me off of the LP version.

And to be honest, unless this was a double blind test where the participants didn't KNOW which sample they were hearing (ie "the lowly CD version" VS. the "LP VERSION WITH 10,000 DOLLARS OF TUBE GEAR" in the signal path) the results are worthless.

The discovery of this thread was an accident. What brought me to your site was your tube amplifiers. I have heard great things and hope to buy one, one day soon.

Thanks!