Analog vs Digital Confusion

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.

Listening to Digital is like having a shower with millions of little ice cubes instead of fresh water (vinyl)

So, bottom line, how can the record sound better than the CD played on compitent CDP?

You will get a lot of responses, but nothing in writing can answer that question. That's like trying to answer why a wine or scotch that is aged longer tastes better.

The only thing I would say is that I prefer vinyl, and the less digital processing the better. My best vinyl has no digital mastering, processing, recording, etc. It's ALL analog. As far as I know, you cannot play an ALL analog recording on a CDP.

I was trying to avoid the endless debate here over which is better in any absolute sense, and attempting to address the questions of a possible new entrant into vinyl as to what to expect. We could fight endlessly over the digital v analog debate, and I'm not sure that's productive. For what it's worth, I am vinyl only, but if I didn't have more than 40 years of records accumulated, and was on a budget, I'm not sure that vinyl is the right way in~ unless a substantial measure of top level vinyl performance can be achieved on a modest budget. That was the previous question I posed....