Does Anyone Think CD is Better Than Vinyl/Analog?

Turntables are the only source components that don’t use an amplifier to reproduce music.
If you put your ear near the tonearm or cartridge while playing a record you can hear the music. Can’t do that with tape or digital. In Stereophile this month, one of the writers made a point that a gramaphone recording( Had greater distortions) came across more believable than electronically reproduced music.

Could it be this lack of amps be a reason tt sound more like live music?

Tonight I'm thinking so - maybe since most Pop CDs I just don't have, can't get on vinyl. 
Good CDs (pop) pack more punch, dynamic range, very few LP if any can match. 
And I'm talking strictly Red Book here! 

Listening to e.g. Joan Osborne 'relish' now, I have a hard time to imagine this tour de force of stomping bass performance on any LP - really. 

Also earlier on, having compared Abbey Road, by the Beatles, to my LP reissue. My CD is simply better - as well.
 
Most 'newer' CDs, 90s plus productions, pack a load more dynamics, easily 6+ db, compared to early 80s stuff.
And the often sorry mastering is no pretty stuff for comparison either. 😔
Michélle 🇿🇦 
 

I'll just say as an older guy who grew up in the 70's on RECORDS, and later in life with the creation of Digital CD music, they both sound different and each has their advantages/disadvantages. Let your mind and ears decide. I am still old school and have not and will not get into this Spotify and Amazon music "online" thingy, just my thoughts, cheers. 

        Good points mijostyn. There's also the facts that a very high quality high-resolution digital playback system can be near sota sound quality wise and also convenient to the extreme.  I've discovered that the key for extremely high sq performance on my digital system is to use high resolution digital file recordings, usually downloads of at least 24 bit/96 KHz, that were recorded direct to digital. All 3 components are connected to my LAN wi-fi and communicate with each other instantaneously.
     My system was not nearly as expensive as a high quality vinyl setup would be.  I spent less than $5K for a Lumin D2 dac/streamer, a Synology hard drive component with 2 TB worth of Western Electric hard drives as a storage device and an Apple iPad as the GUI and remote.
     How convenient?  The iPad remote rests on its recharging station on the table next to my listening chair along with my preamp's remote. If I want to listen to music, I just use the preamp remote to change the input and set the volume, then use the iPad remote to select what music to listen to and press play.  It's literally a hi-res audio jukebox with over 20,000 hrs of musical content consisting of all musical genres from classical to The Clash and everything in between.
     Sorry vinyl lovers, no moving, cleaning, adjusting or fiddling involved.  The Lumin D2 turns itself on with the first detection of a signal and the music emerges from a dead-silent background in a very dramatic and impressive fashion. 
     The sound quality of the music is full range, full bodied, powerful, dynamic, highly detailed, with very accurate and natural tones, textures and timbre.  This is all within a wide, deep and very realistic stereo sound stage illusion with solid, stable and palpable images, including the spaces between them.  Overall, a very satisfying and enjoyable musical experience.
     I understand, however, that I tailored my system to my personal preferences and that it's only my version of an ideal home audio music system.  I also have no illusions that my system is the best and I certainly have no intentions of convincing anyone that they should do anything other than follow their own preferences when building their own ideal systems, whatever playback method or methods they may include. 

Tim

Better is relative.

If you have a pretty decent digital source with a pretty good DAC, then it could be a matter of Convenience.  having to get up to turn the record over, clean the album, needle, make sure the turn table speed is correct, etc.  With CDs and especially streaming (high quality streaming), you have many more choices than what you currently have in your album inventory.

And, for a pretty decent digital system, it can and does sound wonderful.  Especially for better recorded digital music.  With older CDs, the music is wonderful, however, you often have to get past the really bad recording quality.  Some makes me want to run screaming out of the room.

However, when I really want to sit and listen, I will put on an album and every time (not some times) it is smoother, more open and better.

Don't get me wrong, if the music was originally digitally recorded and then placed on a album, when I listen to the same music on the digital system, it sound pretty darn close.  Each and every piece that I have listened  to that was originally recorded analog and converted to digital, when I listen to the album and then the CD, the album wins each and every time. So, to me, it depends on how it was initially recorded.

Forget about the pops and clicks for a moment and talk about albums (and cartridges) that don't have pops and clicks.  Then, listen to an analog recording vs the digital remaster of the same analog recording.  Then, come back and tell me honestly what you really hear.

In any case, I am enjoying both the digital and analog system in my home.  

enjoy