In response to your question:
I have my vinyl playback pretty much 100% free of all noise. It's possible to do but requires a lot of work.
I had a couple of Audiogon members here yesterday and they were literally laughing out loud at how quiet my LP playback was. That being said, analog playback is very important to me and I have a lot of years invested at making it right.
If you want simple, this is not it. CD is simple and why it has succeeded so well. Download is simpler still and will likely displace CD. Most people don't care enough about playback quality to invest the time, effort and money.
Second part of my response to your question concerns the music.
Mostly you can get anything that's on LP as digital but not the other way around.
Sure, there are rare records and some great out of print music but that's pretty much what Elizabeth suggested with shopping used.
On with the questions:
1. One of the biggest things that has kept me from trying Vinyl thus far is the concern of excessive hiss and crackle/pop that vinyl is known for. Is it safe to assume that purchasing new Vinyl and played on a higher quality setup will reduce (eliminate?) the pops and crackle sounds? I have no problem purchasing exclusively new vinyl, knowing full well that the process of shopping used is what draws so many to this market...
I have my vinyl playback pretty much 100% free of all noise. It's possible to do but requires a lot of work.
I had a couple of Audiogon members here yesterday and they were literally laughing out loud at how quiet my LP playback was. That being said, analog playback is very important to me and I have a lot of years invested at making it right.
If you want simple, this is not it. CD is simple and why it has succeeded so well. Download is simpler still and will likely displace CD. Most people don't care enough about playback quality to invest the time, effort and money.
Second part of my response to your question concerns the music.
Mostly you can get anything that's on LP as digital but not the other way around.
Sure, there are rare records and some great out of print music but that's pretty much what Elizabeth suggested with shopping used.