Vinyl / High qual analog tape / High-res digital -- One of these is not like the other


One common theme I read on forums here and elsewhere is the view by many that there is a pecking order in quality:

Top - High Quality Analog TapeNext - VinylBottom - Digital

I will go out on a limb and say that most, probably approaching almost all those making the claim have never heard a really good analog tape machine and high resolution digital side by side, and have certainly never heard what comes out the other end when it goes to vinyl, i.e. heard the tape/file that went to the cutter, then compared that to the resultant record?

High quality analog tape and high quality digital sound very similar. Add a bit of hiss (noise) to digital, and it would be very difficult to tell which is which. It is not digital, especially high resolution digital that is the outlier, it is vinyl. It is different from the other two.  Perhaps if more people actually experienced this, they would have a different approach to analog/vinyl?

This post has nothing to do with personal taste. If you prefer vinyl, then stick with it and enjoy it. There are reasons why the analog processing that occurs in the vinyl "process" can result in a sound that pleases someone. However, knowledge is good, and if you are set in your ways, you may be preventing the next leap.
roberttdid
So much for the scientific method.  👎  The Emperor could show no imperial evidence for his new clothes!!
The night of the long knives, fortunately for your friend and humble narrator they’re rubber knives. 😬 Let’s call it night of the rubber chickens 🐔🐔
This is what happens sometimes when your friend and humble narrator comes back here from the future trying help out fellow audiophiles. I get stoned and crucified by knuckle dragging mossbacks on some weird mission to make everyone as ignorant as they are. New pseudo scientist, same as the old pseudo scientist. 🎶
Obviously the rubber knives are because he is not trusted with anything sharper.