Digital is far better than vinyl

@lalitk LMAO

I’m look around me and I can also now proclaim based on clear evidence that the earth is indeed  flat. 😉

During my first 15 years with an audio system, vinyl was my main source. My first "audiophile" turntable was a mid-1970’s Phillips GA-212, and it sounded just fine for the time. Eventually moved up to Thorens with a Shure cartridge, which sounded even better. It didn’t cost a lot to have good sound from vinyl, and to the point made by @wlutke, it still doesn’t. Back then, cassette was our way to take music on the road. Those sounded fine too. Car noise and warm sounding Jensen 6x9 speakers made highly detailed playback unnecessary.

CD came along and sounded like CRAP  for years, but it was novel and convenient. That convenience is what drove buyers to keep purchasing CDs and manufacturers to keep improving playback options. I am amazed at how good 16/44.1k streamed music can sound when played through a high quality server and DAC. In my case, it is good enough that the convenience of streaming (or playback of ripped CDs) outweighs the possible preference for the sound of vinyl in some cases.

Of course, they have improved vinyl playback with better tables, cartridges, and phono stages, and better isolation platforms to greatly reduce the detrimental effects of vibration on vinyl playback. Vinyl has its own issues such as the outer tracks sounding better than the inner tracks, the choice to use 33rpm as the default playback speed when the higher speeds can provide better sound, and of course the physical wearing out of records and styluses. I suspect it is also harder to find new music on vinyl compared to digital.

One last observation on sound quality is that with higher resolution systems, little sonic deficiencies have become a bigger deal. My original system with that Phillips turntable consisted of a cool Sansui 5000 receiver and Jensen 12-inch, three-way, speakers mounted in a big, solid birch plywood box. That system didn’t need the level of detail available today to sound musical and fun to listen to. Fortunately, in today’s world, a buyer can set up a pretty good sounding vinyl or digital system without breaking the bank.

That's good news!  Less interest means lower pricing for vinyl associated stuff for those of us who don't get it. 😁

So you buy a bunch of entry level analog gear and compare it to mid-grade digital and proclaim to the world that "digital is far better".  Thanks for figuring that out for us all.  Nice work!