A very good ENGINEERING explanation of why analog can not be as good as digital..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzRvSWPZQYk

There will still be some flat earthers who refuse to believe it....
Those should watch the video a second or third time :-)
cakyol
I understand BOTH formats have their strengths and weaknesses.  That was not the purpose of the discussion.  Maybe I miswrote the headline.

It was meant to be read by people who CLAIM that vinyl is ALWAYS better then digital.  And to that, I say NO WAY.

@stevecham 
who cares if the cutting head has to make a continuous path, if the the information contained in that path is from a discontnous waveform?  Vinylistas are reacting to some byproduct  of the whole vinyl reproduction chain that they identify as pleasurable, and the rest of us hear as artifactual or distortion.
  Vinylistas always are clamoring for digital systems that sound “analog like”.
Before I sold off my analog system, I tried to make it sound as non analog as possible.  I had a battery powered pre amp because it was quieter with darker backgrounds and I was fanatic about trying to improve speed stability, reduce surface noise, wow, flutter, you name it.  Eventually I decided this is crazy and will go 100% digital.
@mahler "who cares if the cutting head has to make a continuous path, if the the information contained in that path is from a discontnous waveform?"

Obviously, you don't get it. As I said, it also applies to every tympanic membrane responding to pressure waves in air (microphone, speaker, eardrum) as well. This is the crux of the matter. Think about it.
Lights (particularly fluorescent) strobe at 60hz (or 50 Hz in EU and some other places). The vast majority of folks ignore it as if it were a candle flame. Some folks get migraines due to the flicker. TV do the same thing, millions billions? of people see nothing but a smooth image. Ditto movie pictures in a theater ...
Digital waveforms are continuous, but with a lot of spurious information in the highest frequencies.... and due to the way they are made, they may have artifacts which in particular, create a kind of annoying treble.
Vinyl makes continuous waveforms too, but due to the way the information is transmitted include other annoying discrepancies, including pops and ticks, scraping noises,wrong VTA, wrong antiskate, wrong arm to LP geometry, worn records, worn stylus, vinyl fill problems, mistracking, skipped groove, locked groove, scratches, dust and dirt on the playing surface, dirt on the stylus, wrong tracking force, bent stylus, improper cartridge loading, wrong gain, wrong RIAA curve, wow and flutter, slow speed, too fast speed...
I am amazed the notion that digital in ’incomplete’ sine the math proves it is complete. Maybe not perfectly in many current manifestations, but just like the claims of ’theory sez’ digital is wrong, theory also says digital is perfect. So I say toss all this theory 💩 from both sides. GET OVER IT...
And LOOK what you made me drop on the carpeting...
This misses the point. 
If people and a goodly size population say they prefer vinyl then the job is to explain why they do. 
Unless you can do this scientifically then you are failing to apply the rules you espouse to others to yourself.
I don’t believe the answer lies in expectation bias caused by the cultural rituals associated with vinyl either just like addiction to cocain isn’t because people love jabbing themselves with needles.
i suggest the answer lies in the sound differences between the two media. And I’ve not seen much scientific information or study identifying the differences and then comparing preferences in blind tests either. There’s great scope for study here.