CDs Vs LPs

I like vinyl; just sounds better to me.  I have about 400 CD's and about 250 LP's, some of which are duplicates.  When I want the best sound, I always go for the LP.  If I am sleepy, though, as others have mentioned, I  go for the CD.

I don't have any doubt that records require a lot more effort to sound good.  Hating pops and clicks, I clean each record on my SmartMatrix Pro by Clearaudio before each use.

I think that you need to spend quite a bit to get really good sound from vinyl.  You need a good phonostage, turntable, cartridge and record cleaning machine.  A Pass Labs XP-15, Rega RP10 with Apheta2 cartidge and Clearaudio record cleaning machine retails for nearly $12,000.  For a middle class guy, that's painful, if not simply out of reach.  Sounds great, though.

I have a Modwright Oppo 105D cd player with the upgraded tubes, and it sounds among the best of CD players I have heard for $5,000 and under.

Whenever I listen to a well recorded album, when it's over, I just lift the queuing arm and smile.  

A very subjective question. Personally I prefer..............wait for it...........both. I may be somewhat nostalgic, I run two seperate systems, one strictly analog ie tube equipment, TT, Cassette  (soldRTR) and one digital ie CD, Processor, Server etc. Both have awesome sound and SQ. Depending on the mood I prefer one over the other. I certainly prefer the simplicity of digital all the time but I enjoy the labor intensity of analog at certain times. I have noticed that some recordings just sound better (warmer?)on vinyl than Cd at least to me. Maybe it's the recessed memories. Either format is fantastic.

My system can reproduce EITHER, with excellent result, AS LONG AS the source material is well recorded, mastered and pressed. Of course, when new my tubed output, CDP(BAT VK-D5) was over $5K and I installed six mid-60’s, grey shield, Siemens CCa’s(over a grand, THEN). I haven’t spent nearly as much, on my analog rig, though I’ve upgraded the power supply of the phono stage and completely redesigned the turntable/motor assembly. I try to listen to CDs, when I want to do some reading or work a crossword, but(generally speaking)- I’m transporting elsewhere, by the music, anyway. Regarding vinyls: "Clicks", "pops", "ticks", "hiss"?? I suppose, if you’ve got cheap recordings/pressings, and/or no record cleaning machine(and/or- way to eliminate static), you’re going to have those. I RARELY have, in the past four decades.

I discovered serendipitously, about 35 years ago that the phono section played a huge role in how many ticks and pops you get with LPs.

Since I am a designer as a result I'm used to not getting ticks and pops. To avoid wear, I use a Triplanar arm. It never mistracks so I'm not encountering wear.

Surface noise otherwise really isn't much of an issue for me- I only use a dust brush and don't feel the need to otherwise clean LPs- I've not used my LP cleaner in decades. I listen to the music, which exists in 3D; surface artifacts exist in the speaker, so I have no problem listening past them.
I don't mind digital these days at all but much depends on quality. In the old days when my hearing was more intact, I ascertained the quality of the playback by how long it took to give me a headache. A good player was 2 minutes and bad one was 30 seconds. About the late 90s I heard the first DAC (Appogee) that didn't give me a headache. These days getting a headache is a rare thing; the last time it happened was 3 years ago at RMAF. Anyway, the better systems are pretty convincing  but oddly, price isn't the variable- whether the stuff works right or not is. So digital can be really cheap or really expensive, but if it works I'm fine with it. To this end I regard it as bad news that Oppo is out of the game.

My biggest objection to digital is the distortion in the highs which in the digital world is known as aliasing. The ear converts it to a sort of brightness. These days its not nearly the problem it was years ago so I can listen to digital without much complaint. But when I play the LPs for my girlfriend, she hears the improvement right away (extra detail for some reason) and she hears the same things I do, so I think digital still has a way to go. Her daughter, who is 30, can't listen to digital at all; she says it makes her jittery and annoyed. She's not particularly pleasant to be around in that state, so when she comes over we have to have the stereo either off or on LP only.

I like the streaming aspect of digital- find what you want and just play it. But I don't like the ads, the subscriptions and the feeling that it isn't permanent. Not that LPs are permanent, but I have some made 55 years ago that still sound great, with no wear or ticks and pops. Maybe its a comfort thing...