An interesting article, Martin, thanks. I must confess that I still enjoy vinyl playback (although that is only available to me when I am in the UK) both from the sound and the ritual. Having said that, there is not a great difference between my analogue replay and my digital one (whether CD or file / streamer) in terms of sound, but I suspect that is because I have moulded the latter to match the former. Of course this may be to the detriment of being faithful to the 'original' although I have no way of knowing what that was.

What I did find interesting was his discussion of preference and the way engineers sometimes introduce distortion, colouration etc into the final mix. In some ways I think this is similar to what is done when grading video, especially for cinema where film stocks are often emulated (sometimes even grain is added) and frame rates are reduced the match the 24 fps that is familiar to at least older cinema goers. As an example, there were many complaints when the The Hobbit was first shown and I can see why. It was shot at 60 fps and was shown either at that rate or as a 48 fps resample. This gave the film very high acuity and made it look much more like video than the flickering film many in the audience were used to (it also meant that costumes, effects and matting were much harder to blend and make appear 'real'). What I'm getting at here is that for many people, the illusion that 24 fps creates a smooth representation of a moving image (which it is demonstrably not) is so hard-wired into our perception that a higher frame rate, while a much more realistic representation, looks fake. Vinyl replay 'sounds' much more like what real music should sound like than a true recording of it (and maybe that is why even a poor reproduction of that sound can seem so much better when accompanied by a video of the performance).

This 'argument' is of course biased because I, and many others on this forum, are of an age that means we were brought-up on vinyl replay and I suspect that while we can learn to appreciate the fidelity of good digital replay we are still 'programmed' by our experience to 'like' vinyl. However, what of that new generation of vinyl-adopters? Is it just the fashion, tactility etc that draws them? Or maybe, if their only prior experience was fairly poor digital replay, then vinyl will certainly sound 'better' in some way. Can someone who was brought up on high fidelity digital replay love the sound of vinyl more?

As opposed to the generation who listened to music on tinny transistor radios and cheap cassette players (or a Dansette)? Mind, they probably get a better experience that way than by listening to music through the speakers of their car audio system!

Actually it was in part those that I was referring to as having only prior experience of poor digital replay. I think one of the revelations for those that have adopted vinyl is that they are forced to listen to an album rather then flipping from song-to-song or listening to a play-list.

Car audio. Perhaps I'm easily pleased. I have a Clarion unit from 2007 and it happily satisfies me, listening to Radio 4, Smooth Radio very, very occasionally for short spells, and Classic FM. Jimmy Hughes, from time to time, used to comment on the merits of listening on 4 wheels. Of course this was long before the thumpy thump reproduction that is so beloved by so many these days.

I saw my LP collection get taken away in 2019. The defining moment had arrived when I realised that digital was giving me more enjoyment and I, too, wasn't playing records anymore.

In a parallel universe, it's a different story, Martin. You just can't get enough of the snap, crackle, pop, vinyl roar and smell of the black stuff. Not to mention getting to fondle Sarah McLachlan's album sleeves, when the fancy takes...

Oh the joy of vinyl!

theaudiophileman.com/vinyl-musical-ramblings-feature/

Reading this article where vinyl fetishism and dedication are taken to uncharted extremes, I am reminded what I'm not missing.

Of course we are all different and some can find great pleasure listening to vinyl without hours of ritualistic faffing around and stress, but I wasn't one of those people - it was really a love/hate relationship. I feel that I now have a much healthier enjoyment of music as a result of moving to streaming, where I can relax into it without worrying about the next click or pop.

Madness. I really don't miss records at all. I loved the joy of setting up a turntable well, but ultimately the sound quality is not good enough for where I am now.

Outside the 'sounding better' scope;

The social aspect of easily sharing a link or just searching artist/album/track recommended, on forums or with friends and loved ones by messenger/whatsapp etc is not to be sniffed at either.
Much either to find new artists you like.
No need either to buy a whole album (sometimes much of which you think is dross)🙂
We evolve.

I have a few things that sound amazing on vinyl.
I have many / limitless things that sound amazing on Qobuz.

Deep powerful bass is possible on digital that would see the needle out of the groove on vinyl!

I wonder how much of the enduring appeal of vinyl is that embedded in it is the sound of our youth, that we cling onto in some way with it. This nostalgic urge can override any shortcomings it might have as a playback medium in this day and age. I think subconsciously that might have been something I couldn't recognise at the time.