Vinyl's Noise Floor


vinyl's noise floorI'm actively considering returning to analog after a 19 year hiatus from it. I listen to a lot of classical music, which, as we know, has many pianissimo, i.e., soft passages. If the soon-to-be desuetude 16 bit format has an attribute, in my opinion, it would be an extremely low noise floor. I've read about the advantages of analog, the most salient of which is its innate sense of continuity and palpability. What concerns me about vinyl is its, supposedly, high noise floor.Assuming that the recording is of the highest calibre, the vinyl impeccably clean, and the analog rig unequivocally great, will there be even a modicum of distracting noise during a near-silent segment of music?
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Showing 1 response by nrchy

I listen to analog predominately and the vast majority of my LPs are not noisy. I buy lots of used vinyl and still buy plenty of new releases. Noise is rarely an issue. My system consists of a Sota Star with the Rega RB 900 arm and a Benz Glider cartridge. My digital front end cost more but I still prefer the sound of vinyl. I understand this is more expensive than what you are looking to buy but don't be afraid of "returning to analog." A relatively good TT setup and a record cleaner will get you music you can't get from/on CDs.
A clean record on a good TT will give you great music (yours) and there's no reason it has to be noisy. Some recordings are better than others but I have recordings with backgrounds so deep and black you could fall into them.