Digital wins on paper, and I still drop the needle

Let me be clear before I defend my records: on almost every practical count, digital wins. Higher fidelity, wider frequency and dynamic range, no wear, no surface noise, millions of songs on your phone. I state that without romance.

Even the purity argument is weaker than vinyl people claim. The bass is limited at the cutting stage so the needle does not jump around, and the high frequencies are boosted by up to 20 dB during cutting and taken back down on playback, which adds noise. The stylus has mass and cannot perfectly track the groove, especially on the inner grooves.

And still, for critical listening, I choose the complication. The vinyl chain adds tiny random variations and second and third order harmonic distortions, much like the ones acoustic instruments produce in real spaces. My belief is that those imperfections give the brain the cues it uses to recognise a real physical object making a sound. Many mastering engineers and musicians with access to the best of both formats still prefer vinyl for certain music, and that is not nostalgia.

So I keep both, and I am honest about the bill. The streamer plays whatever I ask, instantly, the same way every time. The records ask for research, cleaning, the right pressing and a revealing system, and some evenings they still disappoint me.

Easy wins most evenings. On the evenings that matter, I will pay for the illusion in effort.