@ghdprentice - it’s a question of availability. Black Ice on ECM (Wolfert Brederode) is only available on redbook CD, no vinyl, though I rely on vinyl for a lot of obscure records that were never reissued legitimately, let alone on digital formats. Thus, I do digital of necessity, though if someone were starting out today, I would not recommend vinyl unless they have deep pockets; not just to get what the format is truly capable of, but the cost of some of these records is absolutely prohibitive.
To me, the key is whatever gives you more access to high quality music. The compositions, performances and recordings themselves can be scrutinized on each level. But the listener may choose "blow me away" as a show piece rather than something more off the beaten path. It’s a pretty personal choice. Not everything is digitized, let alone at high quality. Ironically, the best performance of The Cream remains a "bootleg."
I listen to obscure jazz that is borderline cacophony and for the most part obscure. That stuff can be found sometimes on digital (in CD, not necessarily on streaming facilities) but it is largely needle drops (some of the early CD reissues were pulled from tape; as to streaming I have no idea- my experience, limited to Qobuz, was that it was shallow in catalog depth). The original discs, made during the ’70s, are not the best representation of the vinyl art, but they actually sound good if you get a clean copy, though this stuff has gotten tres cher in the last couple years.
