Haven’t read this but let me take a stab. Plain and simple - the music lovers in us like to sift thru our hefty catalog - pick the album based on album cover recognition - pull it out w index finger on center / thumb on edge- clean it / and line up the needle drop. Then sit back and hold the cover and stare at it. I miss it even today. Buying the album in the store has this same feel. And, as your collection grows there is this weird sense of pride. :). I just don’t think they sound as good. Lol. Shoot me.
Playing vinyl is more involved physically and mentally, but it does make it worth and keep listener focus on the music more. The routine feels like a ritual; I have collected quite a few CDs, SACDs and vinyls over the years and have favorite music in both formats; Sometimes I can only get the music I like in vinyl or vise versa; In general, I feel like on my system, with both well burn-in and cabled digital and vinyl playback systems, vinyl sounds more natural and more open, and directly connected (again depends on a lot of things, not always true); It is also interesting to see different technics and focus are applied when comes mastering vinyl vs. digital format from below interview of Bernie Grundman;
Good article…such is definitely the main reason for the vinyl revival. Just as some time people even might write paper letters again…
I just couldn’t manage my music demand with vinyl anymore, even if every recording was available in the format and I had the funds.
Great there’s both! Vinyl is more like having some master tapes and pull them out occasionally. An expensive adventure for an occasional pleasure 
Some even put on reel2reel…a strange revival imo (although in the past I had some fun with an old Revox tape machine myself)
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Vinyl is not seeing a significant comeback as witnessed by not seeing it in Walmart.
Vinyl is for vintage collectors and romantics (read the linked article).
Personally I can’t tolerate even a single bit of surface noise, so made the transition early. I enjoy the dynamic range and clean sound of good digital.
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I was chatting with the sales guy at a Joe Jackson concert a few weeks ago… he was selling Joe’s newest record “Fool” on CD and vinyl. He said the vinyl doesn’t sell at all… “a few hipsters”.
A 30 something IT guy at one of my clients had a modern “Close 'n Play” on his desk. Classic hipster with a goofy hatthing… drove one of those Cube cars. The Close 'N Play had speakers built in like the old real deal. You can’t tell me he liked vinyl because it sounded better… sounded like massive crap to me. Actually, it sounded like a real Close 'N Play.
I honestly can;t figure out why vinyl is still alive… I just guess that wen you look at a “world market”, there only needs to be a tiny percentage in any country that, in sum, turns out to be big enough to warrant production.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Walmart doesn’t sell any music, but these stores do sell vinyl: specialized retailers like Urban Outfitters, Hastings, Hot Topic, and FYE, which together have about 1300 retail locations.
The phenomenon is not as niche as ye naysayers believe. Your beloved PSA is about to release a phono pre-amp and developing a higher end BHK phono stage. Obviously, there is no market there 
The turntable market is also growing. Technics has released at least three new versions of its venerable SL-1200 deck. Why? Pro-ject has a new factory with 400 employees. To do what?
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it trivial or insignificant.
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I recall reading some recent music industry revenue report that fastest growth in recent years are in streaming and vinyl businesses (Yes, CD sales plummeted). According to the report, a lot of young folks are actually the drivers behind vinyl growth. The digital playback is getting so good and I listen to more CDs and SACDs recently after Snowmass 3.0.0 releases. Still collect vinyl and CDs; both formats can get expensive when seeking some rare music / performance / recording / pressing or processing (kind of thrill to find them!)
Smething to think about when you read the words “fastest growth”. Selling 1 unit last year and then 2 units this year is 100% growth.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
More food for thought: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190207-why-streaming-music-may-be-bad-for-climate-change
Hi Bruce,
Points taken, statistics can have different underlying interpretations, depends upon context and data behind it; here is article that I read for reference; Let’s embrace the more available formats / content and time to enjoy some good old music:-) Cheers!
Vinyl has had a revival in the Jamaican dancehalls as well where it had all but disappeared! Mighty Merritone sound system has been spinning records continuously since 1950!
I’m back to listening to vinyl again after a year and a half with no turntable in the system.
Having a helluva lot of listening fun, the sound quality is surprisingly great. Jazz recorded pre-tape sounds better to me on vinyl reissues than the latest digital remastering, and certain LPs from the 'fifties and early 'sixties have a magic sound I don’t find elsewhere.
I love my DMP>DSD and there are so many digital releases I just can’t or won’t find on vinyl, and I have roomfuls of them and will continue to listen to them. (I got into digital about 33 years ago because wonderful jazz LPs I had only read about, never seen or heard, were suddenly available on compact disc, often with new bonus material! That got me hooked.) But right now vinyl is giving an extra charge and revisiting my collection is a lot of fun.
Same for me, but I had a turntable… a sub-par Bang & Olufson that never sounded great. So I rarely played vinyl.
Recently found a Swiss-made Thorens TD-150 locally, and it’s been a blast. Records are fun again. Like @lonson, I love digital (although I don’t have a DMP; only a mac mini running roon to a Topping D50 DAC), but it’s fun to hit the record stores again, looking for out-of-print or unavailable-on-Tidal/Qobuz stuff.
Not all records sound better than digital; but some sound superb. It’s not an all or nothing thing.
Life’s rich tapestry, am i right?
Curiously, this thread on cartridges on Audiogon has over 20 million views in the 10+ years since it started. That’s nearly 2 million a year. That’s a lot. Wonder what outer space robots are pinging this forum?
My current main rack doesn’t have enough shelves. I’d removed the TT (a nice Clearaudio Emotion Second Edition) to work on a custom granit base and a custom dustcover, so its place is occupied by my new DMP.
Not sure what my next steps are going to be since… I’m not missing the TT all that much to be honest!