Analog or Digital and why?

I enjoy both analog and digital in my system. And I have a lot of fun with both. But, if I knew a kid who was into music and building a system from scratch today and didn’t already have a couple thousand records, I would advise that kid to build a nice digital / streaming system first and just relax and get into the music. There will be plenty of time to add an analog setup once the kid’s musical preferences start to sort themselves out. When Purple Haze blew my mind for the first time, I did not hear it on some exquisite two channel system, I heard it from WABC’s Cousin Brucie on a transistor radio at the beach. Ditto the Beatles and the Stones and Cream and Zepplin, etc. etc. etc. Dig the music and the rest will sort itself out. 

According to The RIAA, analog music sales (vinyl, tape, etc.) made up about 5% of music sales last year. The rest was digital, mostly streaming, but also downloads and CDs. Many of the LPs were sourced from digital masters.

LPs will be around for a while, but new recordings to tape are the exception not the rule. Digital recording and playback continue to improve and sooner or later will be considered to offer the best sound quality available by all but the most die-hard vinyl enthusiasts. That’s how I see it anyway.

I’ve been listening to vinyl for 55 years. 

It’s what I have learned to listen to and what I have accustomed myself to. 

I have 6,000+ LPs, maybe 300 CDs. Digital sounds thin and sometimes gritty to me.

I am able to hear - without knowing beforehand - whether or not a vinyl LP was digitally mastered. I avoid digitally mastered LPs if I can.