Why vinyl?

1) cheap used
2) very good sound is possible
3) older coots like me have a big investment in vinyl from the olden days already so why not more?
4) larger format with artwork that adds to the package and text fonts large enough to read.

Digital gets a bad rap. The current CD format is 25 years old already (amazing, isn't it). 331/3 Lps were the bomb for only about 30 years. I have many CDs that sound better than many LPs.

The medium is not so important as the will of the manufacturer to do it right.

Digital technology today can support much higher quality although cost for mass market consumption is probably an issue. The best possible seldom finds it's way to the masses, but it does to those willing or able to pay.

The big unknowns surround which channels will be most successful in delivering the higher quality stuff.

So love your vinyl, but do keep an open mind to better things that are possible both today and in teh near future.

Agree with ojgalli 100% + very good point!

With good playback equipment (ie your medium to higher-end home stereo/audio system) mastering and production is by far more important than delivery medium.

There are some very old recordings that are full of technical flaws from a modern perspective yet sound most wonderful and enjoyable on a good system.

For example, I've heard some very old stuff by Louis Armstrong broadcast over the internet on WWOZ, New Orleans, using my Roku Soundbridge, on Christmas Day (wish I could remember exactly what the recordings were??) that blew me away as much as anything I've heard on the best vinyl or CD.

I think if they just packaged CDs into larger format LP-like packaging with some interesting artwork, etc., like the olden days, I would be very happy. I have thought about storing CDs of albums that I burn myself back in the original LP covers in protective sleeves, along with the vinyl. Haven't perfected this approach quite yet though.

Although I do like the sound of good vinyl, it's mostly the fun factor (and readability) of the whole package that appeals to me more so than the inherent sonics of vinyl alone.

Nothing the size of a CD will ever be as much fun as LPs were/are as long as it is packaged into a tiny, mostly unreadable case, as are CDs.

THese days, you get a lot more information about music online than you do anywhere else, so the days of fancy physical packaging of music may be over, I'm afraid.

I have to wonder how much the warmth and appeal of many older well recorded LPs from the 60s, etc., is due to the fact that they were LPs so much as the fact that these recordings were mastered using the analog tape and tube recording systems of the day, whereas these days most new recordings (like Norah Jones, I would assume) are mastered using SS and digital?