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

For dedicated focused listening I prefer vinyl 90% of the time compared to CD/digital.   My vinyl setup is over 3X the cost of the digital equipment although my player and DAC are no slouches either- e.g. Marantz SA8005 player.    
I just don't believe throwing money at digital will make it sound that much better. 
Even though the predominant impact on sound quality is the recording/  mastering as some have mentioned, it is still easy to pick out the tendencies in the sound that digital and vinyl playback exhibit.  I prefer vinyl.  

if you think that vinyl sounds better, then your system is inadequate and you need a more resolving system with a better DAC

- @randy-11

if you think that vinyl sounds better, then your system is inadequate and you need a more resolving system with a better DAC

could you give some detailed evidence for that claim?  

here's some evidence for the other side.  My digital set-up consists of a Baetis Revolution II server feeding a Chord Hugo DAC with a 1.2m Revelation Audio Labs Cryo S/PDIF cable. The sound is nowhere near as good as what I get from my analog setup, even with the highest resolution files I can find.  

Now I understand that there are better DACs than the Hugo. And I'm sure I could tweak it here and there to good effect. But I agree with @avanti1960 . I haven't spent more money on the digital side of the system because I just don't believe it will change the sound significantly enough to justify the outlay.  

"randy-11if you think that vinyl sounds better, then your system is inadequate and you need a more resolving system with a better DAC"

If you are going to make comments like this you should post your system on Audiogon.

I prefer to take the view that posting systems mean absolutely nothing. Knowing what’s in the system is NOT a key to how the system sounds. And trying to imagine what a system sounds like based on photos is nothing more than idle speculation. It’s all just posturing. Hel-loo! Example: one of the most expensive and renowned systems extant was out of phase for at least a year. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.