Vinyl vs Streaming

@ctlesq 

Certainly streaming is more convenient. Back in the good ol' days one listened to the radio all day. 

I listen this way also from time to time.

Listening as you described is not critical listening. it is simply listening to music as background.

You can purchase an aftermarket  tonearm lifter if not having an auto lifter is a burden. I use one on my Technics Sl-1200G and am now in the process of fitting one for an outboard tonearm on that table.. You will still need to get up to change the LP..

I find that vinyl still sounds better and ,more relaxing. But my aging body prefers streaming for convenience and the ability to build playlists as I go. It seems each song reminds me of another then another. Which with vinyl I would be hopping up and down getting albums out. And in the end it really is about the music, relaxing and taking a mental “bowel movement” away from life’s problems. 

@jay73 the conversation is a bit deeper than vinyl vs streaming. Here are just 2 of the critical points to consider - 1) the master you are listening to, 2) the associated equipment

Streaming services have high resolution remastered content or new content recorded in a digital domain. Depends on what music you’re listening to. If it’s Taylor Swift then it makes no difference (nothing against Swift or you listening to this…just an example) and I wouldn’t bother with vinyl at all. But if you are listening to albums recorded before the digital era, there are plenty of originals or reissues done in pure analog that will blow away the remastered versions. Right now it’s actually a great time for vinyl. I’ve been buying my favorites done by Analog Productions, Craft Original Jazz Classics, Rhino High Fidelity, Mobile Fidelity, if you buy a reissue mastered by Kevin Gray, Bernie Grundman just using these guys as an example, you’re in for a surprise. And well recorded original LPs in full analog in mint condition are awesome as well, albeit pricey in most cases. 
The remasters on streaming have the life sucked out of them for the most part. The tone, air, dynamics…just not the same as even the original CDs. 
 

Now to equipment. This matters a lot. I have a pretty good digital front end setup. I can enjoy it just as much as I enjoy vinyl if the source material is right. 
Looking at your system - MoFi Studio Deck is ok. Not going to deliver the best possible vinyl experience. Hana SL - good cartridge and can most likely get you more out of your vinyl mounted on a better table. 
I used to run MoFi UltraDeck with Hana ML into Sutherland 20/20 Mk2 LPS. It was alright but nothing special compared to the Bricasti M3 DAC I had at the time. I sold that analog set up to up my digital game. 
I have a much better setup now for streaming but I was curious what a better table can do. Got a VPI Prime X with Hana ML and Whest Two.2 phono stage. And that’s when it just kicked my butt.

With streaming I got to a point where my listening habits have changed so much that I enjoyed music less and was skipping thru songs satisfying my curiosity about how a particular track would sound thru this excellent digital rig. Add to this all the network tweaks to reduce noise and jitter. Evaluate it all using same playlist. Skip thru songs and check how things sound. And yeah sounds amazing. But with vinyl I put on my favorite album and I listen start to finish, it draws me in and it changed my listening habits, bringing my focus back to music. 
I’m very pickup of the vinyl I buy. I almost never buy digitally remastered stuff except when I’m really curious how it would sound, get disappointed in most cases. 
 

Playing Black Sabbath vinyl first album Rhino HiFi done by Kevin Gray, the sound is so raw and so realistic, I just can’t stream this lifeless remastered version of this album. No joy. I was blasting this on vinyl late at night that my kids and my wife were texting me threatening messages describing in great detail what they will do to me if I don’t lower the volume. If I was streaming this, I’d be done listening to this album in under 5min. So yeah to me vinyl is awesome. You just need the right source material and the equipment to showcase it. 
 

But…I do enjoy streaming as well. So don’t misunderstand me…it comes down to preference, mood, source material and equipment. Both can be amazing - try to enjoy the music. That’s what’s it’s about!

I’m sorry, but I am so tired of statements like”…except with some old die hards that are romantically attached or like some old recordings not available in the millions available in streaming is over.”  I am not romantically attached to vinyl. I just think it sounds better than streaming. The condescension and arrogance in such statements is offensive. 

Bang for the buck, digital is better -- although you could spend house money on digital, too.

I have heard vinyl's ultimate (or near ultimate) pinnacle of sound quality, with reference level equipment, playing cherry-picked pressings, and nothing digital has been its equal.

In fairness to digital, I have never heard a Wadax front-end, or an MSB Technology Sentinel front-end.  But it would probably take such competition to outshine what I have heard from vinyl.

My digital sounds very good (with the right files).  And my vinyl sounds very good (with the right pressings).

Which one is the winner?  It is kind of like comparing flavors of ice cream.

In my case, I give my vinyl the edge.  When I listen to my best digital, I ask myself "What could possibly sound better?".  Then I play one of my white hot stamper pressings, and it has a way of totally engulfing and enveloping me.

The best digital that I have heard leaves a sense of "Hey, look how real and natural I sound" (and it does sound real and natural).  But with the best vinyl, nothing sounds like it is trying to prove anything.  It sounds the way it sounds, just because it does (if that makes any sense).