Funny how streaming/digital still chases that analog benchmark.

I think the pandemic has given birth to a whole new interest in live online.

@mrbobm  you are right. Done 1 the DSO here a couple weeks back. Enjoyed it. 
Still would rather be there. 

I’m going to say this once more. Whenever I see/hear someone talk about surface noise, pops & clicks, etc, I KNOW they have NEVER heard a good vinyl setup.

@artemus_5 or a properly cleaned piece of vinyl. 

artemus_5687 posts02-27-2021 12:09pmI’m going to say this once more. Whenever I see/hear someone talk about surface noise, pops & clicks, etc, I KNOW they have NEVER heard a good vinyl setup.

That’s mainly cleaning and a good pressing. Can’t ignore that 70db typical, near 80 in exceptional conditions though and that's modern pressings not old ones. It’s not as black as digital and if you like loud the noise will be there.

• Using digital, I can use DSP to pervert what the musician intended and produce a frequency response like you get from vinyl. I can set up a number of different DSP profiles for each track to replicate the way the sound worsens as the needle heads towards the hole. I can add a sample of surface noise. I can add random pops and clicks. I can make all lower frequency sound mono instead of stereo. I can make these pops and rumbles a little more annoying each time I play the same album. I can sequence the music so that after 20 minutes I have to get up and fiddle about a bit. If I want to give Qobuz £20 per album I can, even if I only listen to one of the tracks once. I could pay large insurance premiums to cover the cost of losing my vinyl in a fire or theft.
  But I’d rather not.
  

Bravo, bluemoodriver.

I have 12 feet of vinyl collected over the years, since I was a teen.  In the last 10 years, I have not touched a single album.  I have purchased over 500 CDs, many duplicates of my albums, and enjoyed my music more than I ever did with Vinyl.  I am enjoying more detail, more passion, more euphoria from the way I am now listening that could never be repeated through Vinyl without excessive effort by me.  Life is too short.  Grab the moment.