I agree with you on that. At lower price points, digital can be very competitive or better.Yes especially in a controlled acoustical settings in synergetical correspondance with your speakers and gear where the distinction will count way less and will erased itself greatly... The conditions for a true contest ask for a kind of "mike lavigne system" environment... But the remaining differences which subsisted are minute even if audible, then did not count really for us in daily listenings...
Like usual digita/analog and others falses oppositions mask essential problems, acoustic being the more important....
By the way a digital system is more vulnerable to room bad acoustic condition than an analog system... It is my opinion not science here....