Streaming Is To Audio What Red Plastic Cups Are To Wine

Is there a difference in red cup pedigree?

Dixie vs Costco 1000 count generic?

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At CAF, I heard a demonstration at the Command Performance main room of test pressings of a new album by the Tedeschi Trucks band. I was astounded by how different tonally the sound was from different vinyl compositions. 

Folks, vinyl is not a reference material. Vinyl records may sound pleasing, with a warmth that is often not found in the digital version (this is true of vinyl records pressed from digital files, as the Mobile Fidelity ruckus showed us).
 

People whose ears I respect have an opinion that vinyl records, with all their compromises and tweakiness in playing, are more resolving than their digital counterparts. But the level of vibration control and noise reduction to achieve this is astonishing in its cost and complexity. My Aurender N200/Yggdrasil OG/Quboz combo crushes my Ariston RD11S/Grace 707/Benz Ace/Hegel V10 combo in resolution and musicality despite being somewhat equivalent in inflation adjusted dollar cost.

Sometimes you feel like making a martini. Sometimes you feel like popping open a beer.  One is not more valid than the other. 

@rbstehno 

Whats comical about these digital vs analog posts are that the vinyl lovers have a nice analog setup but then use cheap crap for their digital stuff and they wonder why digital sounds like crap.

I have followed a similar path to you over the past couple of decades, However, that is a nonsensical straw man argument. I know plenty of people with excellent streaming setups who also enjoy vinyl - some even prefer it. 

In any case, the OP did say specifically that this topic is not about sound quality. 

With vinyl you will always have the maintenance issues, the wear issues, the lack of vinyl of your favorite artists, the need to get up to skip a track, on and on, plus the BEST sound from an album will always be the last time you played it because of wear.

It's all part of the charm 😉