A simple question from the new guy ....

They are there but not like you probably remember. I don't notice them unless I pay attention. Vinyl sounds so much better than ALL digital that we are willing to put up with the pops and inconveniences that go along with. We wouldn't tolerate it if it wasn't worth it. Once I got vinyl going my CD, SACD player took a back seat.

But if you can't handle the pops and noises then it may not be for you. I would prefer that to the digital edge and coldness in comparison to the "real", layered and somewhat warm sound of true analog.

The better your gear, the more pops, clicks & hiss you`ll hear. New records loose their virginity quickly & develop pops & clicks. Even scrupulous record care is like pissing into a strong head wind.

I have never heard hissing on an album unless it was on the original master recording. Cassette tape hiss is another story. I never could listen to cassette recordings due to the loud hissing. The Dolby noise reduction just took away to much of the highs. When you listen to an album today you will be amazed how much more musical and open it sounds compared to what your used to from your CD player. It just sounds better. Give it a try.

Vinyl is what I was raised on,I'm used to it. Yes you get pops and clicks but it's part of the package. Going into analog is costly, and maybe you'd be better off getting the best out of your digital source that you have. You don't list system but what I'm trying to say is if you have let's say 15,000 invested in a killer digital front end and you want to get into vinyl to egual that sound you will have to spend money on a
Turntable
Tonearm
Cartridge
Record Cleaner
Cleaning Fluid and Brushes
Interconnects
And of course Records.
I try to get equal sound out of my Digital and Analog front ends. This allows me to buy the cheapest source a remastered Cd or a 18o gram pressing which in some sense makes me think I have more money to buy music. If you do go analog Make sure you get someone to do all the adjustments,pay extra for a Tonearm with a azimuth adjustment because someone who knows what they are doing can minimaze the noise from a misaligned cartridge and bad anti skating settings. If you buy a package deal,a TT, Cartridge.Tonearm don't assume that it is set up properly let someone do that for you. There are quite a few of these on Ebay and here. Things get misaligned in shipping,things get desroyed if not packaged properly and this is the cheapest route.

As you get better and better analog equipment, the cleanliness and condition of the record become the big factor in what accounts for and how much distortion there is. Obviously ticks and pops caused by surface impurities are the most obvious, but I have found that with clean, undamaged records, they are almost nonexistent. On the other hand, that old record you found stashed away in some coat closet, that looks like it's been cleaned with coarse grain sandpaper? Well that will sound wretched regardless of what you play it back on.