When I used to have a vinyl setup I would occasionally compare the same album on vinyl with CD. Some of them sounded nearly identical with a moderate grade cartridge and phono stage. Some sounded very different. I think the mastering is a big deal, and perhaps the implementation of the RIAA curve in the phono stage and how well it mates up to the cartridge it’s being used with. I heard a lot more variation between cartridges and phono stages than I heard between dacs and transports. My favorite vinyl setup had a Sumiko oyster cartridge and a Carver phono stage with various settings. This produced an obviously colored sound that I found very pleasing. When I upgraded to a Bluepoint cartridge and Creek phono stage it sounded much more similar to CD to me. It was technically better but lost some flavor that I enjoyed. What’s the point if it sounds pretty much like the CD? Well, there’s the mastering differences. It would seem we’re all sensitive to different aspects of the sound. Other than the very earliest CD players I never heard anything specifically wrong with digital. And even then it was a lot less overall than I could always hear with analog. To my ears it was and still is a big step forward.
I acquired a digital 31 band equalizer while I still had the vinyl. Playing with that I was able to very closely match the sound of records and CDs of the same album that had sounded different before. The trick was usually to apply a gently sloping downward curve across the entire audio band to the CD playback.
One other thing I'll say - I LOVE turntables as mechanical gadgets that are beautiful to behold and operate. I'll never feel the same about solid state electronic devices. I also LOVE old film SLR cameras. I'll never feel the same about any digital camera.
I acquired a digital 31 band equalizer while I still had the vinyl. Playing with that I was able to very closely match the sound of records and CDs of the same album that had sounded different before. The trick was usually to apply a gently sloping downward curve across the entire audio band to the CD playback.
One other thing I'll say - I LOVE turntables as mechanical gadgets that are beautiful to behold and operate. I'll never feel the same about solid state electronic devices. I also LOVE old film SLR cameras. I'll never feel the same about any digital camera.