Hey Eric...most of all that you love about analog *should* be present in hi-res digital (if they ever get their act together). You're missing all of the details that 16 bit audio just can't hold. Some info has to go when the music is transferred to 16 bit, and it ends up being all of the subtle details...all of the little cues that make it more "real" sounding. 16bit technology keeps improving and I know it sounds better and better, but it can only get so good. A certain amount of info is not on the 16bit disc, and no new technology can chage that. I also think part of analog's charm lies in the actual physical contact between the stylus and the groove. The music you hear has no ending...it goes from music to the sound of that contact (even if you can't hear it on your system). All digital has a finite starting point for each sound. The background is silence until a 1 or 0 pops up and the sound begins. It does make for a better listening experience in some ways, but I do think the fact that the noise seems to float, untethered, has a different psycological effect than the analog sounds which are all grounded in physical contact...just like voices, birds, the wind, waves, cars, non-digital instruments, and almost every other sound that we hear everyday. I think that physical beginning is one of the things that we enjoy about analog (consciously, or not), and I don't see how that can ever be present with digital technology...no matter how good the resolution may be.
I'm still working to love digital, are you?
I'm wondering how many on this forum are still trying to love the "sound" of digital, as compared to analog. After my 15 long years of digital updates (9 cd players, 3 transports and 5 D/A converters), I still relish the midrange purity and harmonic structure involved with analog, that is not nearly as prevalent in digital. I know that digital gets better every year (I've spent well over $20k myself staying abreast with the latest in digital updates), but digital still doesn't grab my soul the same way that analog does. How many feel the same about analog as I do?