Another great reply!
What is the difference in the Thermal Dynamics pipes? Sometimes these things aren't that easy to decipher from a wiki.
Two things I liked about BC were the different materials not connecting to each other, so I can pack them in, and the diamond sorting pipes are very simple to work with. Does Thermal Dynamics have an answer there?
Actually, the only materials that would not connect are cobblestone and smoothstone pipes, everything else would connect. However, Thermal Dynamics has a VERY easy solution:
A Duct can be wrenched to permit, or deny, connectivity between two ducts. So, for example, you have an item duct carrying stuff from your mob grinder, and an item duct carrying stuff from your quarry, and don't want them to mix. Wrench the connection, and they disconnect. Easy peasy.
Now, as far as sorting, Thermal Dynamics is almost as good as Logistic Pipes, and beats the pants off of Diamond Pipes.
There's ALWAYS a logic behind sorting, and it is Closest Valid Inventory. Whatever inventory is the closest, that's where it goes. You have restriction and vacuum pipes which can help you manipulate this. So basically, if you want to compare it to a system, compare it to RP2's old Tube system, because it is FAR closer to that in functionality. It will *NEVER* spit items out into the world, it will 'backstuff' one iteration, then the rest will bounce back to inventory of origin, to await a valid inventory becoming available. This also prevents it from pulling anything else out and clogging the system even worse. For this alone, it is superior to BC Pipes, albeit more expensive to craft (itemducts require tin and either lead or hardened glass, liquiducts require copper and either lead or hardened glass, whereas pipes just require cobble and glass). But there's even more sorting functionality available.
First off, there's the Servo. It pulls stuff out of the adjacent inventory. Think of it as the Autarchic Gate, if you like. You can also whitelist or blacklist items to pull. So, for example, you can pull coal but not dirt from an inventory, or you can pull everything that isn't dirt.
Filters do what you expect, and are put on destination chests. Basically, it says what can or cannot go in the inventory, based on the whitelist or blacklist. So you could put a Filter on your Trash Can and say 'only dirt, sand, cobble, and gravel can go in here'.
Retrievers are a bit more complicated. Even lower-tier retrieves basically say 'Anything that is on my white list/not on my blacklist that is in any inventory attached to this duct network gets pulled in here'. So, for example, you want a failsafe to pull all dirt out of all your storage chests in case any gets in there. Putting a Retriever whitelisting Dirt on a trash can will do the job. However, it gets better. Signalum and Enderium Retrievers have LP Supplier Pipe functionality, basically saying 'keep x of these items in this inventory at all times'. So say you're using MFR's Biofuel Generator, that needs nine discreet items all stocked for max efficiency, but it only has nine slots and you don't want to 'jam' it with multiple stacks of the same item, you can use a Signalum Retriever to say 'I want exactly a half stack of each of these nine items in this inventory at all times, and pull from any connected inventory to maintain this, if possible'. That way, even if you run out of something, the slot will remain empty in case it comes back.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Thermal Dynamics. I feel it completely replaces, and significantly improves upon, the BC Pipe concept.
