Analog vs Digital Confusion

Rgp; I've been playing LPs for more than 40 years and have a CDP and a tube buffer that makes for some very listenable CD playback. I could be content listening to only digital music. But I continue to listen to vinyl mainly because I enjoy the "ritual" of setting up a turntable, installing and aligning a cartridge, cleaning records, and then carefully setting the stylus in the groove to listen to treasured LPs.

Vinyl analog vs CD digital isn't a choice or debate, they are but two forms of potential music playback. The source material is irrelevant; both analog and digital sources can be excellent, or not. And both forms of playback can be rewarding but each have their benefits and drawbacks. I think of records and CDs in context with the following analogies...

VINYL ANALOG - CD DIGITAL
dry flies - spinning lures
Nordic skis - Alpine skis
old 3-speed bicycle - modern racing bicycle
wood stove - electric heater
French press - Kuerig brewer

Clumsy analogies but if you're at all familiar with any of them you get the idea. Vinyl isn't just about the music, it's about playing the music. There's an element of tradition and, for some, nostalgia involved with vinyl. So if you think you might enjoy the "ritual" of setting up and maintaining a turntable, tonearm, and cartridge and cleaning and playing LPs then give it a try. But don't get into vinyl if you think you're going to experience a much better sound. I'm not convinced that vinyl is inherently much better if someone has a decent CDP (in comparison with a similarly decent turntable) and plays music from similarly good sources.

Regards,
Tom

A good case in point would be the LP & CD of Eric Clapton Unplugged, a digital DDD recording. I have qued up both and compared the two with the flip of a switch, The LP sounds better when (as does most music)
played on the Well Tempered Reference with a Van Den Hul Colibri MC Cartridge than the CD on the Levinson 390S CD Player. I believe the D/A converter used to produce the LP is far better than we are ever likely to own.
Also consider the Turntable/LP route is a Rose with Big Thorns,Huge expense of phono cartridges,LP cleaning ect.
LP's are not a media of convenience, you would be better off to use the $ to upgrade to the best CD player unless you are Weathy or an LP Audio-nut like me.(Even so I play CD's 98% of the time, those Mega-buck needles only last 1000 to 3000 hours). $$$ OUCH!
PS: I think the Bandwidth Highs & Lows on LP's are wider.
However with a really top hi-end system, it's possible to get so close you won't miss LP's.

Well I think you will find on digitally recorded music you won't hear that great a difference. Part of what makes a record is the sample rate. If you think of a wave then play connect the Dot with 44,100 dots per sec of wave then you have a rough picture of how a player checks to see what the wave is suppose to look like. Where as the record is the wave. With that being said you are getting into a whole mess of cleaning and buying the same vinyl multiple times trying to find a good clean copy. I enjoy records but for the effort they take to keep the noise out of my music I truly am happier with an SACD that plays the exact same everytime I push play. And as you pointed out if its being created digitally you might as well read it digitally. I am sure some vinyl guys can share even more with you. Enjoy the music

Rpg, you ask a key question about a subject that has been discussed to death and which will elicit a lot of different opinions. But, you really seem to be asking two different questions that should be asked in the context of two different scenarios; you only describe one possible scenario.

Question 1: How can analog in general sound better than digital? A lot of different opinions about this one, but IMO it can and usually does; IF IT IS AN ANALOG RECORDING. For the possible technical reasons for this, you can find a lot of information (laced with opinion) if you search in this site. But for me, and for many, a good analog recording played back on vinyl (or RR tape) represents the pinnacle of music play back. If you really appreciate the sound of live music, the difference will not be subtle.

Question 2: How can a recording that is recorded and mastered digitally sound better on LP vs CD? If played back, as you say, on a competent CD player it probably won't sound better. It will sound different, and might sound "better" on LP because possible and probable colorations of your particular analog set-up mask the possible and probable problems with the digital recording.

You will get a lot of different opinions about this. Some will encourage you to try vinyl and some will discourage you. Vinyl playback is far more than the physical ritual of spinning records. Eventhough the dividing lines continue to blur more and more, analog is a different experience from digital. Some listeners seem to be more sensitive to those differences than others, but I would encourage you to try it.

I think all these opinions are fair expressions of people's experience. One
of the concerns I always have when people ask me about entering into
vinyl is whether they will get a true picture of what a vinyl front end is
capable of on a modest budget. If the 5k has to include the cost of the
phono pre, that puts you into a budget of pretty modest turntable/arms,
when adding a decent cartridge. I raised a similar issue on another forum,
which is whether in this price range, you are really getting the true measure
of what vinyl is capable of. Buying used may help you up the ante, but as I
kept improving the vinyl front end and associated phono stage, the level of
musical 'rightness' kept improving. And it's not just about spending money,
it is also dependent on the sonic character of the phono pre as well as a
good tone arm and a turntable that doesn't have obvious colorations.