Digital can have more noise in it than analog. I'm not talking about ticks & pops while listening to a vinyl album, but general grunge. Note that this "grunge" (probably to strong of a word) may not even be noticeable to you... until it's gone. That stated, some equipment upgrades (amps, preamps, cables, conditioners, speakers) will help take that out of the system & as such, you'll notice more improvement with digital than analog.
What is the reason for this? (Digital vs Vinyl Question)
I recently bought new speakers - GoldenEar Triton One.R towers - to pair with my Naim Uniti Star. My set-up for digital is the Naim with Ethernet, Qobuz & Tidal HiRes organized and played through Roon. With all of my other systems until now I preferred the sound of vinyl over digital. I have a Rega Planar 3 tt with Rega Fono preamp. I spin the highest quality records you can get - Mofi 1 Step, Analogue Productions, Classic Records, etc. etc. I've been listening for days trying to convince myself otherwise because of the $$ I've spent on records but the digital chain just sounds better to my ears. The question is: Is this because my new speakers are revealing the disparity between digital and analog better than lesser speakers I've used in the past (Monitor Silver, PSB Platinum, etc.) or is it because some speakers just match better with digital vs vinyl or is it because with the Naim streamer / DAC I've just put together a better digital front end and need to upgrade my tt and / or phono preamp?