I am now 95% vinyl and rarely have problems with surface noise. Of course I am fairly fastidious in cleaning. Digital only gets played now for background music.
I must be old
Listening tonight to Heavy Weather on first vinyl then CD through a Sonica DAC it occurs to me that there are no pops, the stage separation is larger, the dynamics are larger and the instruments are better defined. My record album is not brand new. It has surface noise. My CD does not. I want to love my vinyl but unless I buy perfect new LPs I cannot tolerate the surface noise or lack of frequency limitations for the sake of euphonic sound. Am I crazy? Misinformed? Stupid? I have been an audiophile for 50 years.