Digitally recorded vinyl vs streaming

On your original question...I have run this experiment many times.  I find that that if I can get my hands on an undamaged copy of the album on vinyl, it never sounds worse than the digital stream.  This is usually true even if the album was originally recorded digitally. 

That does not mean that the vinyl release sounds better 100% of the time, although it usually does.  Basically, the worst possible result with the vinyl edition is that it is of the same quality as digital.  If find this most frequently happens with recent releases, and usually when the digital release is of low enough quality that I was really hoping to get a big improvement with the record.  I know some artists are now releasing albums at a maximum quality of 320kbs mp3, because "you can't hear the difference" by which they mean THEY can't hear the difference when plugging a pair of Sony headphones into the USB-C jack of their Macbook Pro.

The main issue with the decades you mentioned is availability.  The 90s in particular seems to be an era when vinyl releases just weren't happening.  Luckily the digital streams are often of good quality.

@mojo771 I will second the recommendation for an external DAC.

I too ordered a Border Patrol DAC online. To put it simply it gives me more: More details, depth, more soundstage. Please note that it is the power supply that is rectified by tube. The signal path is SS. Even so it was a nice improvement for a IMHO, reasonable amount of money. 

While I prefer vinyl, sometimes I just want to sit. 😉

Happy listening. 

I have a Brinkman tt, but my streaming setup comes close on a lot of records. Now... I think you go all in or not. I stream. From Qobuz via Innuos Zenith. In my setup, the audio switch, USB reclocker, msampler, quality BNC, USB and Ethernet cables, all brought it closer and closer to finally ask myself, was the fancy TT and expensive records worth it. The answer is still yes but  it is a close match.

Mojo, if you’re looking for a streamer, check out Lumin and Bricasti. They both offer different models with and without DACs. Since I have an external DAC, I purchased the Lumin U2 mini a few weeks ago. This is my first Lumin product. So far, I’ve been impressed on multiple levels. I’m definitely not an expert regarding streamers. As you can imagine, there is a lot of information available online regarding streamers. I’m sure you will find this site helpful. Your budget may also help narrow your list of options. 

I sold all my vinyl and vinyl playing gear over a year ago because frankly, there was no consistent "better" when comparing the 2 formats

I didn’t have a huge vinyl collection, maybe 250 albums. Sometimes the vinyl sounded better, sometimes the digital stream did. There was no question digital was quieter and much more convenient to access and explore. Ever buy an album and find it sounds crap, sometimes even unlistenable? That is a thing of the past for me now. I now only listen to music I "favorite" on my steaming platform. There is so much music out there. I feel life is too short to listen to crappy recordings, unless the performance is utterly compelling,

I also started with the Bluesound node a few years back, and at that time my vinyl set up was still often better. Since upgrading to an Auralic G2 streamer and Musician R2r Dac, I was so satisfied with the sound and thrilled with unlimited access to so much music on Tidal. that I found I simply wasn’t using the vinyl gear much and it was not worth the hassle.

BTW my vinyl set up was VPI Aries 2, turntable, Benz Wood Cartridge, Art Audio vinyl One tube phono preamp.

I suspect in a rush to cash in on the CD "perfect sound forever" craze, much Analog to digital mastering for CDs was done rather hastily, on converters that were primitive by todays standards (were talking 1980s). Much music has been digitally remastered and sounds wonderful now, So, in a nutshell, sold all my vinyl and playback gear, at top dollar I might add, and never looked back.