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

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. 

If you live in Chicagoland and want to bring your killer DAC over and A/B vinyl versus digital over some drinks, let me know!  I'd enjoy it.

I may take you up on that!  

Digital takes a long time to get really right.  I don't agree that the sound is homogenous.  I did not find it reliably good until I built a custom computer with low power and no moving parts, and a dedicated audio-grade SoTA USB card (with separate power supply), added a Wyred4Sound DAC2 and got the ASIO drivers working correctly and made a number of other important software tweaks, and then sought out the best digital release for each title - sometimes that is HDTracks, sometimes that is CD, and sometimes something else.  There are many nuances, like using Exact Audio Copy, to get right in order to max the sound quality.  

I know getting analog right is also a process, but the point is, you cannot compare the two unless you have spent equivalent effort (and had equivalent success) optimizing each.