Vinyl sounds better (shots fired)

There are things I like about each better than the other. 

High quality reproduction from vinyl is vastly more expensive than digital.  Not an issue for those of you with more money than you know what to do with, but certainly an issue for many.  Itʻs not hard to drop $10,000 and more on a table, cartridge, mods, cabling, separate phono preamp, etc.  Of course youʻre going to claim massive benefits on your $10,000 vinyl rig over a $300 PC playing back through a competent $300 DAC.

In careful listening, I find that a good vinyl setup does sound more "organic" (for want of a better word) than digital.  I have a number of good recordings in both media and do hear the differences, but they arenʻt worth the many thousands of dollars it takes to get there.

Sʻmatter of fact, Iʻm selling off my jazz vinyl collection right now with ads on US Audiomart and Craigslist.  Most of the hard bop is gone, but I still have a good amount of Latin jazz, big band, West Coast jazz and vocals.  $10 each including shipping.  Sold about half the records so far.

Itʻs just so very much easier to play digital and at my age of 73, I donʻt want to be one of those guys with a gigantic pile of stuff to wade through.  Done with it.  Got some good records though if anyone wants some recommendations.

@newton_john  That modest PC/DAC combo I spoke about is actually quite good and illustrates the unfair advantages that digital has over vinyl.  

The thing that makes the most difference in your sound is always the loudspeakers.

@newton_john @facten

My discussion is really centered on value.  The PC/DAC combo Iʻm talking about is something generic.  DAC has come a long ways and you get very good reproduction with modestly priced units.  The differences between a decent $500 DAC and your $5000 wonder are not $4500 worth, unless youʻve got $4500 and nothing else to do with it.

Streamers are just miniPC boards running someoneʻs custom front end on top of Linux.  None of those mega-buck streamers are running their own custom O/S.  Bits is bits, but thatʻs a completely different discussion.

The point here is that for well under $1000, a PC/DAC combo can be very, very good.  You can easily drop $10,000 on a turntable/tonearm/cartridge/phono preamp combo and youʻre still having to deal with all of inherent imperfections of vinyl.  Vinyl is NOT a good value.
 
And letʻs not forget that the majority of newly issued recordings are offered in vinyl, which is a signifcant downside.
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@facten It's not that vinyl can't sound wonderful or that people shouldn't enjoy it.  I've sent the last half century enjoying vinyl.  I'm just saying that it is only marginally better than vinyl, and definitely not in all ways.  Vinyl is:

- vastly more expensive for the same level of quality
- noisy
- subject to wear and dirt
- inconvenient
- new recordings are not issued in vinyl

@westcoastaudiophile  I get that and agree completely.  It's just that the price tag is significant.  A lot has to do with the original engineering and mastering.  Two excellent examples are:

The Arrival of Victor Feldman
Kind of Blue

The first was recorded BEFORE Kind of Blue and is superb, both musically and in the engineering.

Kind of Blue is important musically, but the engineering is awful.  Pay close attention to the sound of the bass player in both recordings and you'll understand what I'm saying.

The quality of the re-mastering has a lot to do with how good a digital release is.

@westcoastaudiophile  Your secret is safe with me.  You told her that you got that old Linn table at a yard sale, right?  And tubes!  Who uses electron tubes anymore?  Must have inherited that from your Uncle Steve.