weirdo12

That's exactly what I thought.

Is the Ayre Codex a Pono on steroids?

The Id is Linux based and the 2Qute _should_ work with it. JRiver claims it works with most USB DAC's and there is nothing bizzaro about the Chord USB interface.

For $80 buy Spin-Clean and air dry after cleaning - don't try to dry your clean vinyl with a rag. In the age I grew up in vinyl did not sound that great (clean and loud) compared to my first CD player - even at first.

In your case don't turn the amp off and turn the laptop on when you want to use it. The only thing you should turn off is the laptop.

Anyone that listens exclusively to digital or exclusively to vinyl is willing to settle for the best source material offered for the format they have chosen. I guess there's nothing wrong with settling ;-J

If your vinyl is in good shape please contact me and I will buy it. I'm in the same city as you I believe. Or maybe you can donate it to Goodwill for a tax credit? Why hang on to it if you listen to it 0% of the time? 1200 LP's take up a fair amount of space. It seems a shame that all those LP's are being neglected. Give me one good reason that you hang on to it?

Did you mean to say they sound different and you are a fan of the digital version not the vinyl? Seriously the iPhone 6 is your go to digital playback reference that beats what - your Crosely suitcase all in one? There's nothing wrong with championing digital audio but wow. Any time I hear the term better I cringe.

It's rather unfortunate that if that was the first time they met (if that's the case) as I would have expected that they'd have gotten along quite well. I really like the work Chris has done but spare me with using the the Neilsen Sound Scan stuff to support an argument. Fremer has asked pressing plants for production numbers to support his claims. I acknowledge production does not = sales. Neither gentlemen disagree on the fact that the source materiel is critical to great sound reproduction.

That's easy to answer: 100% ;-)

There is no clear cut answer to that question. For new recordings I would guess that at least 75% of the time paying less and getting a physical copy is the way to go. It's goofy to pay HDtracks (or any hi-res retailer) extra for a dynamically compressed recording.

Do you use JRiver's Volume Levelling feature?

Here's some more info on the new releases: Legacy Recordings Licenses North American Rights To The Kinks Catalog Of Recordings Made For RCA And Arista (1971-1985) - Press Release - Digital Journal

If you like the original HDtracks release you can safely pass on the new one. I A/B'd them and they are very similar. I bought the new one hoping for more. One difference is the new one is louder and clips and the old one does not.

It's unfortunate we aren't the winners. I would think regardless of the urge to support Beck's mastering decisions there are many people that are disappointed. I am. It's not as if there isn't the iTunes mastering option available. Just don't put that on the CD.