Let me be the party pooper today.
This afternoon, I had the chance to extensively compare an 8K turntable set-up with a 10K digital front end.
Turntable: a Dr Feickert with a very good arm and cartridge, phonostage from Hegel.
Digital: Grimm MU1.
Integrated/DAC: Hegel H590.
We listened to audiophile pressings (e.g. Mobile Fidelity) and then the same album on Qobuz (mostly 24/96).
We agreed the Dr Feickert produced a really nice sound, a joy to listen to.
But when we did some critical comparisons, digital won by a wide margin.
Quieter, better soundstage, better placement of instruments, more dynamic.
More bite, better transients.
My dealer said with quite some pop/rock albums, digital looses because of compression (loudness war), but with classical, jazz, and other acoustic music, and well produced rock, digital has surpassed vinyl and tape in all aspects. I can understand him now.
After the critical listening, we continued listening to vinyl, just because it's so nice to do so! Nostalgia certainly plays a role here, and touching those beautiful objects does something with a (more than 50 years old) person.
When I take a vinyl album in my hand, especially the audiophile and special editions, I sense the value.
It's obvious.
You certainly don't get that with dematerialised music.
But I've decided a while ago that I'll keep my funds for investing in digital, and when you consider the prices of those top vinyl albums, collecting vinyl certainly isn't cheap.