Albums better heard NOT on vinyl

Not really looking for lot of "technobabble" on the mediums, but here are my opening statements.

Given the extreme dynamics of the music, the subtle drum and guitar parts, I can't even imaging being able to get a copy of this title on LP that would compare to listening to it on CD. Every tick/pop/crackle of the vinyl would burn to my core.

(and by extension, Tales from Topographic Oceans/Lamb Lies Down/Quadrophenia etc)

Having all the tracks in Lossless Files on a pod player and being able to sit there and let the concert happen un-interrupted couldn't really be achieved with LP's.

JD !!??  

To be honest, I don't remember I've ever heard any, and if so, it should be because the production was so bad, so it would be 

better to listen to it on CD, as vinyl would be more revealing, and even if the CD would make some jitter.

If anything, a vinyl record would mask bad production more, as long as the record/stylus are in bad enough shape. In reality, it wouldn't really matter probably. Jitter has nothing to do with this.

I don't think ANYTHING sounds better on vinyl, anyway (aside from the fact that vinyl is much harder to take care of and STILL gets damages over time, is less versatile and cannot be used in a vehicle, is heavy and hard to transport, cannot directly be uploaded to a computer or phone, etc.). It has a lower potential dynamic range than CD and digital (although the human ear can barely, if even at all, pick up the difference when we reach the maximum DR on any format), and the sound of vinyl depends heavily on your setup and each person will have different preferences. If you're like me and can't afford an expensive setup, vinyl sounds - and I'm going to ruffle a lot of feathers here. I don't care - like utter sh*t. At triple the price I would pay for a format that doesn't sound like sh*t and which won't even allow me to listen on my phone or in the car. Depending on your set up and the amount of wear on the hypothetical CD, either digital download or CD is the way to go. Any bitrate above 320 is unnecessary (although I concede that WAV is the best sounding format, albeit not enough to warrant them larger size - FLAC is a straight up scam). Sure, if you're paying very close attention 24-bit may sound nicer than 16-bit, but it's not noticeable enough to warrant the higher price. Basically, if you want the objectively best sounding format, WAV, 24-bit digital download is the best. But I'll stick with regular CDs and 320 mbps MP3s, thank you.

There is one exception to my dislike of vinyl - poorly mastered digital albums. When a digital album out CD has been brickwalled or just poorly mastered, then vinyl is better because it likely is not AS poorly mastered. It still won't sound good, but it'll be better than the digital version. Regardless I hate this trend of producing digital albums as if their vinyl. It's better than brickwalling it, but you know there's a way to make a god sounding digital album without either brickwalling it nor treating it as if it were vinyl, right.

So my answer? Pretty much most albums released after 1986 sound better NOT on vinyl. And even a lot of stuff before then, too! In theory, that is. Let's be real - 8/10 remasters sound like piss-stained sh*t. Since most well-selling music before 2005 has gotten a sh*tty remaster (except for some very new remasters of initially poorly mastered albums, such as the 2022 Nightwish remastered which actually FIXED the brickwall), I actually prefer the vinyl for a good plurality of anything released before 1986 (and a good minority of albums released after 1997) for which the price of these vinyl will not usually exceed $5-10 USD, if I shop at the right store (which is cheaper than the digital/CD reissues). So the takeaway here? Poorly mastered albums on digital formats are better on vinyl, as are the original vinyl releases for albums that had only s sh*tty remaster on digital. Otherwise, vinyl sucks. Sorry. Of course there's more nuance here than I'm making this out to be with.

only for 2 reasons. the synths on the vinyl version seem to disappear into the background and the CD ( I go for the Sony release) has the flexi disc bonus tracks that were not included on the original LP.

Overwelmingly I now prefer vinyl to CD . I purchased a low end of the market turntable for about £280 and everything now sounds better when using the normal speakers I've used for years. I did buy a new amp but the previous one was knackered. 

However I now rely a lot more on streaming because I am pretty lazy. Hopefully I will never buy another CD, a technology that dramatically failed to live up to its early promise and I now regard as the biggest con/sham of my lifetime. Back in 1979/80 I can remember Tomorrows World demonstrating this new technology and thinking how wonderful. I got sucked in. If you have £20,000 to spend to make it work then cool. Thankfully streaming has now liberated us from this nonsense.

I prefer CD or downloads now. 

I also prefer to hear on CD when it's a triple or even a double album with the vinyl sides 10-15 minutes long, and due to 

environmental considerations, especially if it's heavy vinyl release.

99% of the time, I listen to MP3 files (with highest quality VBR compression) so I agree with you. Very hard to tell the difference under "normal" listening conditions (in the car or at home on a basic sound system).

But I also use FLAC for archiving purpose. I still wonder why bardberic says FLAC is a scam?!