Craig above mentions the objectionable surface noises of LP's; certainly a valid concern. I shared this view for decades, until recently setting up my first high quality turntable. I went straight from mid-fi analog to digital years ago, & then only rarely played my old records.
The first time that I dropped a needle into the groove on this VPI TT, initially I thought that I had forgotten to plug in the interconnects because even with volume control turned up it was very very quiet, until the music began playing. And does it PLAY! I was, & I am still amazed at how good quality analog actually sounds. A couple of minor surface-dust pops were my only "analog complaint" but I'm told that if I only washed my records then even those will go away. I'm now buying records again; something that I haven't done in nearly 20 years!
The first time that I dropped a needle into the groove on this VPI TT, initially I thought that I had forgotten to plug in the interconnects because even with volume control turned up it was very very quiet, until the music began playing. And does it PLAY! I was, & I am still amazed at how good quality analog actually sounds. A couple of minor surface-dust pops were my only "analog complaint" but I'm told that if I only washed my records then even those will go away. I'm now buying records again; something that I haven't done in nearly 20 years!