I also remember Harold Youngblood, he passed in 2008, but we were friends for 20 years. I never heard of him deciding to abandon vinyl for digital, but he believed that the best of both required that the equipment be up to the task.
I was into vinyl in the 80s and 90s because of an experience I had at Harold's (one of the audiophile experiences I've always been chasing to duplicate) but like many lifestyle dictated digital later, mostly as a matter of available space.
I've rekindled my interest in audio as a whole and am back into vinyl in a very big way......I also love the best digital has to offer. I have a VPI HRX with a Kiseki purple heart cartridge on the analog side and an Esoteric K03 SACD player with a Bryston BDP2 on the digital side.
Someone said once that "music is what happens between the notes"
and that in my opinion sums up the difference between vinyl and digital.....digital does a great job at providing you an accurate noise free picture of a recording but on a flat plane.....whereas the best vinyl rig will flesh the images out and provide you with a very intimate view of the instruments, textures, decays....vocal phrasing etc....vinyl just sounds more musical and the fiddeliness of it is a plus in my view....I love the whole ritual of cleaning, changing sides, setting up a rig, tweaking the setup etc....
So in a word YES, I think Vinyl is worth it.....but only if you're willing to commit to it with a proper rig and that's true for digital as well....
I was into vinyl in the 80s and 90s because of an experience I had at Harold's (one of the audiophile experiences I've always been chasing to duplicate) but like many lifestyle dictated digital later, mostly as a matter of available space.
I've rekindled my interest in audio as a whole and am back into vinyl in a very big way......I also love the best digital has to offer. I have a VPI HRX with a Kiseki purple heart cartridge on the analog side and an Esoteric K03 SACD player with a Bryston BDP2 on the digital side.
Someone said once that "music is what happens between the notes"
and that in my opinion sums up the difference between vinyl and digital.....digital does a great job at providing you an accurate noise free picture of a recording but on a flat plane.....whereas the best vinyl rig will flesh the images out and provide you with a very intimate view of the instruments, textures, decays....vocal phrasing etc....vinyl just sounds more musical and the fiddeliness of it is a plus in my view....I love the whole ritual of cleaning, changing sides, setting up a rig, tweaking the setup etc....
So in a word YES, I think Vinyl is worth it.....but only if you're willing to commit to it with a proper rig and that's true for digital as well....