[AnotherUnixGeek]

So anyone hoping high-resolution formats will totally knock out LPs is dreaming; with a great turntable analog is fully competitive and possibly better than high-resolution digital.

That's nice - fully competitive. If the LPs are maintained perfectly, free of any surface flaws or dust. I remember how carefully my dad used to slide his best LPs out of their rice paper sleeves, with his fingertips only making contact with the center label while the palm of his hand braced the edge of the heavy yet oh-so delicate 180g or 200g vinyl. This after careful adjustment and verification of the turntable speed, alignment of the arm and cartridge, adjustment of the needle tracking angle, replacement of the needle before it was needed to make sure no microscopic damage could be done to any groove.

And then, inevitably, a barely detectable click-click-click during a quiet passage in the music of a newly purchased LP. I'll stick with my FLAC rips of my old CD collection and a USB DAC. Excellent, clean sound every time without having to obsess over the care and feeding of vinyl substrate.

[Lurker]

Some people will just never get it. You’re one of them.

[wastoute]

But man you could get a couple really great plays from new vinyl. Like you say, though, between tracks one still heard the click click... IMHO, the music industry screwed up. There is nothing like live music. Stars should be GIVING the media crap (MP3, CD, vinyl, whatever) away to generate demand for live performances. Absence of any decent music is probably as much to blame for Rap crap as anything. There are a number of decent musicians who are struggling while a very few make mega bucks, perhaps just because the moguls would rather deal with fewer people. We would all be better off if great live music was available and inexpensive. It should be about the music on both sides of the stage, not the bucks.

[OftheOhio]

Your dad got it, I’m surprised you didn’t. There is a “presence” with lp’s that you don’t get with any other medium. Reel-to-reel was very close and even 8-track had it somewhat. Nothing since does, cassettes destroyed hi-fi, and cd’s are little better than those. Separation, I don’t know what you call it. It definitely was a more true sound as far as instruments were concerned. Sure there was the scratchiness, so what.

[teeman8r]

I am with you on this... Nicely said. You are not alone.

[Olog-hai]

Sure, and static or any other kind of EM field has absolutely no effect on FLAC, never mind the integrity of the playback software. Right?