Vinyl vs Streaming

Several things to take into account.  My most recent comparisons brought to light that, for me, a tube phonostage and an R2R DAC are quite comparable, but then it comes down to preference in taste.  The RIAA EQ sound from vinyl produces quite a different sound than digital, so again, it comes down to taste.

Solid state phonostages and Delta Sigma DACs are comparable, IMO, but it gets down to splitting hairs, and again, personal taste.

There is, however, NO comparison in convenience, and cost.  Streaming wins in that regard.  By the time you invest in a GOOD turntable, cartridge, and phonostage that can even challenge digital, you're knee deep, even before acquiring good, clean vinyl records.

So............if digital has surpassed analog, at what point did it occur? Is there a numerical value that can be put on the best analog recordings (like master tapes or D2D recordings) that would illustrate where it compares to digital like 24/96 or 32/192 or the many others that have ensued with considerably higher sample rates? Where does live music lie? If live music is the ultimate, what numerical value might it have? Is there a formula for this? 

Nope. I don't miss analog at all. The ability to stream new releases (and re-discover older music) is so easy. 

So............if digital has surpassed analog, at what point did it occur? 

It depends on the person. Lots of people love the way their digital sounds for most of their music, and that’s fine. Others (like me) still strongly prefer vinyl’s sound for most material. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon unless there’s a new magical tech that restores & remasters older recordings to sound great on modern formats. Also whatever distortions analog introduces at its various stages of "processing" - frankly I think I like them to some degree.

It’s been decades now I’ve been reading about digital "finally matching" or "finally beating" analog THIS YEAR. It’s tiring, and meaningless. They’re just different.

And let’s be real. This is a mostly aged (ahem) crowd whose hearing is changing, and the draw of convenience & downsizing looms large at a certain point. 

For me the over-riding issue is and always has been the availability of the music that I want to hear.  There is still a lot of old jazz that is simply out of print and basically the only way to hear it is on old records.  Or sometimes on re-issues on cd compilations in many cases coming from over seas.  Most of the stuff is not available on any streaming service.  This music could never be considered high level sonically so the issue of what format has the best sound is moot.