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

Effischer well written indeed and it mirrors my observations. I also feel as Atmasphere notes, there is generally an inherent brightness in cd playback that I don’t hear with vinyl. Vinyl doesn’t always sound better than CD playback, but it generally is MUCH more listenable and at its best sounds more natural and complete at every level, you don’t feel like anything is missing. The bottom line for me is that my listening sessions are longer, I’m more involved with the music and less so with the sound than with digital in general.

We recently had a friend and his wife visit us for an extended period. He is not an audiophile but really loves a variety of musical forms. I played both digital and vinyl recordings in a variety of genres. He made an unsolicited comment that the digital sounded "synthetic" relative to records.

"If they put caffeine in the vinyl I might come back to the fold:) "

Dave I somehow sense, based on your comments on this site over the years, that you seem in a pertetual conundrum over many things audio. Alas! you’re not alone, it is the bane of being an audiophile as we all well know. Whatever the medium the bottom line is, enjoy!

Rockadanny, I for one would emphatically disagree with that premise!
My system over the past 15 years was changed, upgraded, focused on digital sound including multiple turnover of digital components to try to achieve a less fatiguing presentation of music.

I can only say that my recent focus on vinyl playback has eliminated any ambiguity as to which I prefer. It is as it has always been as the two are different mediums. To me it's not even debatable. Maybe because of my age and growing up in the golden age of audio.  I  believe that the relatively recent  renaissance of vinyl playback is a connection to the emotional aspects of musical playback which is the heart of the matter. It seems many younger listeners, contributing to this renaissance also recognize this as well. What is going on here? Is this a  nostalgia trip or is there something deeper happening? 

To me is is quite clear in the here and now that the main advantage of digital playback, for the most part, is convenience. I have had more than the last 30 years to compare,  no ambiguity on my part, vinyl still reigns supreme in musical engagement. Having said that I completely respect the opinions of those that disagree, whatever floats your boat.

Jollytinker

Don’t know if you read it but if you can get a copy of the latest Stereophile you might want to read the first paragraph of Analog Corner by Michael Fremer to see just how heated this debate between analog and digital can get.

To answer your "why" I would only say there is nothing rational that could remotely answer that, as there is no clear answer for the political division in our country other than one simple thing to my mind, we have a tendency to talk past each other rather than to each other.