> However the static is soon forgotten as Whole Lotta Love rumbles out of the speakers and fills the room. Clear and all encompassing, it's as if the audio spec

> However the static is soon forgotten as Whole Lotta Love rumbles out of the speakers and fills the room. Clear and all encompassing, it's as if the audio spectrum has opened up to me and now I'm swimming in the sound, rather than just watching the waves from the beach. Not that I'm trying to sound like I found God or anything, but this has to be the musical version of that revelation. "In MP3s it's all wedged up into one space, everything is compromised," explains my sonic Sherpa, Phil. "Whereas on a record like this on a decent system, you can isolate everything. Just listen to the voice, and now to the drums. Normally, you miss things, like bass players!" The music is like a big, warm melodic bear hug. Ok, thanks, sonic douchebag Phil. The important part is "on a decent system". It's almost as though having this big set of expensive speakers all around you might make a song sound more "all encompassing" than listening through a pair of $10 earbuds. I have some vinyl because I like old things, and I agree that it's an experience worth trying, but have you ever listened to an album like The Wall or The Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl? It's great as a chance to listen the way people did when it first came out, but on the other hand, these albums are meant to be listened straight through, with the "songs" flowing one into another, and it really messes up that flow when you have to flip and re-start 4 different times to finish The Wall.