i haven't had time or energy to read all of these comments...just like to add one of mine about a few of the things said. first, to really quantify a bit rate to an analogue thing...is very possible...after all,that's how they figured out how to make those silly silicon things work in the first place. still, i keep hearing and reading in articles about the sig to noise figures of analogue. digital sound stops at the noise floor..gives great figures for s/n, it's true. analogue does not stop at the noise floor! a mid-fi table or tape goes below the noise floor by some 6 to 12 db; a hi-rez system will go much lower. so, what you get, is not 60 (actually bout 72) db of sound level (spl) but you must add the 6 to 18 db of sound to this...80 to 90+ db! best proof of analogue and noise floors: go to a busy bar...listen to the...noise! some is louder than your speaking voice and some is lower. yes, our analogue mouths and analogue hears speak and hear within a noisy world.
enough soap box...i like digital, too...don't get me wrong. but when i want to be bathed in glorious sound...i turn off the dvd/cd and pull out some gram parsons or van morrison or emily-lou...and spin some magic!
thank you, t-higg