Does Age Matter?


Having read and contributed to several threads on the digital vs analog controversy I developed a nagging itch that suggested it is older people that prefer analog and younger people digital. If this is the case than there is most definitely a nostalgic element to that opinion. Perhaps we can answer that question. I will go first. Please do not ruminate on the differences. Age and preference, digital, analog or both! We'll tally the results at the end. 

I am 67 and like Both analog and digital.
128x128mijostyn
I am 78 years old. I think I have 10 or 15 LP's that I saved, only because they are not available on CD.  LP's are great, but they only have a 60DB dynamic range. Maybe the new ones have more, but I don't have any of those. I have a stereo with my back speakers in an ambient loop. It has more depth than I could ever ask for. An ambient loop is old technology those most people have never heard of. I've been using an ambient loop since the early 70's and most people that hear it are blown away by the depth that they hear. Look up an ambient loop in Google, using this phrase:  "what is an ambient loop in music reproduction?". You might like what you read. 
65yo. Mixed digital (electronic files) and digital CD. I listen to streaming music via my local public library and from online radio" websites. No vinyl.
Mostly I listen to electronic files, but I never buy it/them. I buy CDs and rip them, because I want hard copies of my music and I want to own, not rent, my music. I back up the electronic copies. I also download mp3 files, that I can keep forever, from my local public library, via a service called Freegal, which additionally has streaming. Freegal is owned by Sony and includes all the sublabels owned by Sony. My local library also has another streaming service called Hoopla, with over 300,000 albums.
I relinquished all my vinyl and my turntable almost 15 years ago. Having lived in multiple locations, including cross country and up and down the coast moves, hauling around vinyl gets a little old. Also the extra space required for a turntable becomes a burden. Not to mention the pops and scratches etched in my memory from younger wild party years, just doesn’t appeal to me any more either.
I'm 71 and have 3 systems, den, living room, bedroom.  All have both digital and analog components.  In the 3 systems, there are 7 working turntables.  I love vinyl.  But what I really love is music.  So most of my listening is digital (streaming mostly), whether on one of those systems or on my computer with headphones (Topping, Bottlehead electronics, many different 'phones).  When I have the time to devote to it, I use one of my turntables.   But I also admit to cheating in my digital listening - many of the playlists that I stream are rips that I have made of my records.  I should also mention that, until this pandemic hit, I went to about 20, mostly jazz and classical, concerts a year.  I count that as analog despite the fact that most of the musicians use their fingers.  

Someone else will have to parse the percentages.
Younger people may have better hearing, but not necessarily better listening.  Knowing how to listen to music--and the genre you're listening to--really impacts what your hear.