Vinyl and CD share have a lot in common. Both are media which became popular with the public because of the convenience and lower cost (cheap to manufacture) than available alternatives. The lp was a cheap and convenient alternative to reel-to-reel tape; the CD to lp.
I have a lot on lp that is not available on CD, and a lot of lps, jazz in particular, clearly sound better than the
CD reissue. This is also true of a lot of pop/rock reissues. Whether the master tapes have gone bad, or the mastering is just different these days, I don't know, but I am MUCH more pleased with classical CD reissues.
That said, if I had to give up one or the other, I would give up on LPs first. I have FAR fewer lps that cannot be found on CDs than CDs never issued on lp. Almost no new classical releases come on lp, and frankly, if they do, I would still go with the CD. I like the long, uninterrupted "sides" of CD (I have a Taneyev CD that is more than 82 minutes long), I like the ease of finding my place in an opera libretto by using the track number, and the huge dynamic range of classical music does make noise intrusive during quiet passages on lp.
I have a lot on lp that is not available on CD, and a lot of lps, jazz in particular, clearly sound better than the
CD reissue. This is also true of a lot of pop/rock reissues. Whether the master tapes have gone bad, or the mastering is just different these days, I don't know, but I am MUCH more pleased with classical CD reissues.
That said, if I had to give up one or the other, I would give up on LPs first. I have FAR fewer lps that cannot be found on CDs than CDs never issued on lp. Almost no new classical releases come on lp, and frankly, if they do, I would still go with the CD. I like the long, uninterrupted "sides" of CD (I have a Taneyev CD that is more than 82 minutes long), I like the ease of finding my place in an opera libretto by using the track number, and the huge dynamic range of classical music does make noise intrusive during quiet passages on lp.