When and how did you, if at all, realize vinyl is better?

 I suppose since I'm the OP that I should chime in. 

Vinyl did not always sound clearly better to me UNTIL I started moving up the chain with a better amp, pre-amp and cartridge.  And, the number one thing that opened the door to vinyl crushing digital was a great phono preamplifier.  I bought a Manley Chinook and I immediately noticed a holographic image that digital just couldn't deliver.  

Just about a year ago, I could A/B vinyl v. digital and I was a little bit apprehensive in setting up the audition because I wanted vinyl to win.  Well, now that I have a fairly decent cartridge (Dynavector 20xh/Ortofon 2M Black), a real phono preamplifier (Manley Chinook), and a decent integrated (Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP), I just KNOW that switching the selector over to digital on the integrated is going to leave me wanting more.  

I've had a turntable since I was a kid in the late 70s and was semi-serious as early as 1996 (I bought my first Rega then as a junior in college).  But while I always liked things about vinyl I didn't see it as necessarily superior.  I'm super happy to say that now I do see vinyl as better.  My bank account can attest to that.   All I want to do is spin black discs, and my Tidal account and DAC don't get weekly use.  

The holography, texture, realism, and--well--lack of flat, smeary, boringness to the sound make vinyl a clear winner.  I WISH vinyl wasn't better because I'd save money on music, record cleaning, cartridges, etc.  The maintenance and tinkering are kind of fun though.  

I'll say this.  I'd move from tube back to solid state amplification (both for main amp and phono) before I'd move from vinyl to digital.  

I like digital in my rig and it generally sounds fine (perhaps due to a good DAC and the tubes in my amp), but LPs can sound sort of amazing for all the reasons listed above and I have lots of them so I play the damn things. Somebody wrote a great thing about how digital recordings on vinyl can sound better than the CD version…a Brit HiFI mag, and I wish I child find the article…couple of years ago…made sense actually as somehow the LP is always analog…or something. I think it's true.

My take on the issue is that the big distinction between analogue and digital lies with or revolves around the cartridge. Cartridges sound almost as different to each other as speakers do.  In addition, based upon how you set up the cartridge, you can further fine tune the sound.

As such, I would suggest that analogue provides two very real benefits over the more homogenous digital sound:

1.  It allows the audiophile to compensate or complement their gear and room to optimize the sound, and

2. It allows them to tailor it to their listening preferences.

In either case, it is quite possible that experienced listeners will prefer analogue.  Others, with different listening priorities or complementing equipment or rooms will prefer digital. 

I will also say that my patience and curiosity to continue to experiment with digital has waned.  I have not tried many DACs.  I stopped after trying a Creek Sequel and a NAD Master Series M51 DAC--Sterreophile Class A product.

I'm open to the idea that I could keep trying DACs and I may eventually match the sound of vinyl.  But I question whether that can be done, whether it will be a long process, and whether I will enjoy doing it.  I coupled the Manley Chinook with a nice used Dynavector and got the holography, realism, and fatigue-free listening I wanted.  I'd rather buy more records and experiment with cartridges than be buying DACs left and right.