When and how did you, if at all, realize vinyl is better?

For dedicated focused listening I prefer vinyl 90% of the time compared to CD/digital.   My vinyl setup is over 3X the cost of the digital equipment although my player and DAC are no slouches either- e.g. Marantz SA8005 player.    
I just don't believe throwing money at digital will make it sound that much better. 
Even though the predominant impact on sound quality is the recording/  mastering as some have mentioned, it is still easy to pick out the tendencies in the sound that digital and vinyl playback exhibit.  I prefer vinyl.  

Looking for a digital solution that won't drop the sound quality drastically from my vinyl setup but listening to the LPs last night I am simply mesmerized by the sound quality- the soundstage, the flow of the music, the character of the sound.  I play a CD and it sounds un-natural and like someone is putting on the brakes after notes- no flow at all- stop start stop start....
I'm interested in the Sony ES server but from what I have read it uses some upscaling engine. That seems like processing / coloration although the times I have heard it I have liked it.  I still believe it will not sound as good as playing an LP though- but a trade off for convenience.