Why digital beats vinyl
1.6.2026
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Pictures: Dayan Pfammatter
Vinyl’s alive and kicking – maybe more than ever. The crackle and warm sound is striking a chord with consumers. But is the vinyl hype justified? Or is it simply a case of nostalgia-fuelled romanticisation?
Browsing my record collection, I pull out an album covered in a fine layer of dust. I marvel at the elaborately designed cover and read through the track list before carefully taking it out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable. I position the needle with great care, lean back and enjoy.
Listening to music on vinyl is a ritual that’s no longer exclusive to any particular generation. The vinyl craze is in full swing, especially among young people. Record stores and thrift shops across the country are reporting an influx of young customers. The Swiss newspaper «Tages-Anzeiger» reported that Gen Z is also into records (linked article in German and behind a paywall). This trend is reflected in sales figures worldwide. For the first time since 1983, vinyl record sales in the US generated over one billion dollars last year.
I’ve also been unable to resist the pull of vinyl and was sucked in several years ago. My living room is equipped with an entry-level Sony turntable and over one hundred records. The lion’s share of the collection was originally my parents’. But I also got a fair few second hand and some of them brand-new. After all, vinyl isn’t reserved for Electric Light Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac or Dire Straits. Contemporary artists including The Weeknd, Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa are also pressing their music on vinyl and selling impressive quantities.
Collector’s editions, box sets and colourful records have become integral to the music business more than ever before. If you truly want to experience your favourite band’s music, you’d better be doing so through vinyl, after all. At least that seems to be the general agreement. But is the analogue experience actually superior to the digital one?
The thing about sound quality
Objectively speaking, modern technology has long since surpassed vinyl. The crackling and hissing of records that vinyl fans rave about is simply background noise in the music; imperfections in the material. The sound quality of a record ultimately depends on its physical condition. And its condition deteriorates with every listen due to careless handling or a cheap turntable. Just like the one in my living room.
Not even a brand-new record in mint condition will be able to correct an imperfect setup. For the ultimate experience, you need a high-quality cartridge, amp and perfectly aligned speakers in an acoustically optimised room. But a setup like this will easily cost you a four- to five-figure sum. Not to mention the effort, maintenance and time this expensive hobby requires.
If you’re truly committed to catching as many acoustic details as possible and achieving the best sound quality results, there’s a much simpler and more affordable option: digital audio.
FLAC beats vinyl for sound quality
These days, virtually every music streaming service from Spotify to Apple Music to Tidal offers high-resolution audio in some form. However, whether you can live with the moral implications of a subscription model is a different matter. Pair your music with the right Bluetooth headphones, and you’ll be enjoying it at up to 96 kHz and 32 bits per sample. Put simply, that’s an almost perfect reproduction of the original. For a fraction of the cost of a high-quality vinyl setup, I might add.
If you have access to high-res FLAC files, you can step it up a notch and add high-quality DAC and wired headphones to your setup. This will give you sound quality that most people can’t tell apart from a studio recording.
Digital audio formats allow you to enjoy your favourite music in all its glory. No variables, no background noise, no physical medium that wears out with every listen. This might sound a little sterile, but it’s essentially just clean.
And when it comes to physically owning music, CDs combine the best of both digital audio and vinyl records, without any of their drawbacks.
I’m only referring to the sound quality, and in no way trying to pooh-pooh the joy of vinyl. Remember, I’ve already invested a lot of time and money in this hobby myself. But what else, if not for superior sound quality?
Pleasure over perfection
As a music lover, I always enjoy listening to my favourite albums on vinyl. Not because of the sound quality, but for of the ritual. When I take Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories or ELO’s Time out of its sleeve and play it in my living room, it’s a completely different experience to opening Spotify on my way to work and hitting «Shuffle».
For the duration of the LP, I devote my full attention to the music. I read the enclosed booklet, examine the cover, or simply let the sound wash over me. No notifications, no doomscrolling, just the music and me. I’m whisked away by Kate Bush, David Gilmour, Kim Wilde and Mark Knopfler.
Another aspect vinyl lovers appreciate is the pace. In a world where every song and piece of information is always at our fingertips, vinyl offers a delightful contrast. A breather between Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp.
Not to mention that having vinyl also means you physically own your music. The tactile experience of putting a record on and getting up halfway through to flip it over is something else. What’s more, unlike with digital subscriptions, nobody can deny you access to the music you’ve purchased.
In a nutshell, I love vinyl with all my heart. Because of the experience, because of the emotional significance, but not because of superior sound. When that’s what I’m craving, I go for lossless audio and Bluetooth LDAC. When I feel like analysing music, I go for digital. When I want to experience it, I put on a record.
Header image: Dayan Pfammatter
Dayan Pfammatter
Freelance Editor
pf.dayan@gmail.comI've been fascinated by all things keys, displays and speakers for basically as long as I can remember. As a journalist specialising in technology and society, I strive to create order in the jungle of tech jargon and confusing spec sheets.
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