Turntable got absolutely crushed by CD


Long story short, i've just brought home a VPI classic 1 mounted with a Zu-Denon DL103 on JMW Memorial 10.5 with the appropriate heavier counterweight. Had everything dialed in..perfect azimuth, VTF, overhang, with only a slightly higher than perfect VTA. Levelling checked. All good. 

I did a comparison between the VPI and my Esoteric X03SE and it's not even close. The Esoteric completely crushes the VPI in all regards. The level of treble refinement, air, decay, soundstage depth and width, seperation, tonality, overall coherence is just a simply a league above from what I'm hearing from the VPI. The only area the VPI seems to be better at is bass weight, but not by much. 

I'm honestly quite dumbfounded here. I've always believed that analogue should be superior to digital. I know the Esoteric is a much pricier item but the VPI classic is supposed to be a very good turntable and shouldn't be a slouch either. At this point I feel like I should give up on analogue playback and invest further in digital. 

Has anyone had a similar experience comparing the best of digital to a very good analogue setup?

Equipment:
Esoteric X03SE 
VPI Classic, JMW Memorial 10.5, Zu-DL103
Accuphase C200L
Accuphase P600
AR 90 speakers

Test Record/CD:
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing (Redbook vs MOV 180g reissue)



chadsort
Lizzie, are you living in a cave, perchance? The German disc trimmer trimmed the outer edge of CD and cut the outer edge at an angle. The outer circumference is not perfectly round relative to the spindle hole. Less wobbling equals less jitter. An Angled edge means less scattered background laser light gets into the photodetector. And you want to be my latex salesperson? 

One secret, it’s very hush hush, so don’t tell anyone, of the Japanese SHM CDs is that the clear layer of the CDs is more transparent than standard CDs, which use polycarbonate for the clear layer. As fate would have it polycarbonate is only around 90-92% transparent. Can you believe it? 😳
"play just fine" is not audiophile language. Yes, you would have to pay more for Japanese cds. Do it.
I have maybe one Japanese CD (David Lindley's "Mister Dave," an otherwise unobtainable solo album that David won't discuss...record company politics maybe...that is simply brilliant), and it doesn't work AT ALL on my turntable, but plays perfectly in my CD player. Could that be due to the excessive roundness? Also, to say the upturn in vinyl sales and production is exaggerated simply ignores reality, and yeah, it's mostly due to young people discovering the things...new pressing plants, more vinyl everywhere...who knew? I listen to CDs AND vinyl...there is no argument really as both can sound astonishingly good.
Cassettes are cool. Better grab em up quick, though. They don’t make em any more. 
I’m much more happy to use a cassettes than CDs
CD format is dead, let’s face it, digital is all about files, not a CDs

Each CD can be copied on hard drive and your digital device will find a cover and tracklist online automatically. Scratched CDs are useless and can not be played (even scratched vinyl can be played, but not a CD), hard drives also dies occasionally. Even the best CDs can be copied with no loss. So what we’re missing without CDs ? A printed booklet if there is any? Digital format cost nothing, everything can be copied in digital for free with no loss in quality.

There is no future for CDs. The industry tried to fool people when CD format was invented, but it does not replaced vinyl after all. Dealers who bought warehouses full of vinyl records in the 80s/90s became millionaires. Young Hipsters, adult vinyl collectors and music lovers still buying vinyl. Vinyl is a good investement, not a CDs. Digital has no value at all, it cost nothing and alway will be nothing!

There is no such media format for young generation as CD or DVD, BlueRay, MiniDisc, DAT cassette or whatever, everything is on the cloud, streaming for free.

The only format which is continuously fascinating people of all kinds is Vinyl. I bet everyone would love to have a turntable and vinyl collection of the favorite albums, not everyone willing to pay for it. Nothing can beat vinyl, it’s an art form, the most exciting physical media format!

Cassettes are cool and cheap, new independent record labels releasing music on cassettes in limited edition series. 20 years old hipsters buying them even if they don’t have a cassette player (same with vinyl records). This is just cool!

Majority of audiophiles are so boring when it comes to discussion of ticks and pops, vinyl cleaning etc. 

Vinyl will never be replaced by any format, at least in our life. There is always an alternative to use, but vinyl is everywhere all my life and even new releases from very young musicians coming out on vinyl. Every musician would love to have their own album on vinyl, this is the only format they can actually sell for money, the rest will be copied for free.