There is no discussion about audio quality. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. You can talk about the format, cds being less nice to handle with that awkward plastic box which always breaks. But not about the audio quality. Its measurable.

Yes, perfectly pressed vinyl can sound fantastic on very hq hifi. But it will crack. It will hiss. It will degrade each time you play the record. Thats not up for debate. How much, or how little, that is up for debate. And also, how you store your vinyl has a big impact on how they age. (but the medium will always age) Anyway :thats what you are referring too. How much. But how much isn't the issue: it is, unmistakenly, always there. It's physics. You can't deny it.

On the same hq hifi setup a hq hifi (super) cd player will at the very least sound equally good. It will never hiss. It will never crack. It will never pop. It will not degrade.

Most times it will sound better. It will always sound cleaner. But we don't like cleaner. We like stuff that creeks. We, people, like things which seem to "live". It makes it easier to relate too. It's why we cannot say goodbye to big steamengines of bygone eras. Its why we loooove the sound of high octane ICE's and still use them a lot while we all know electric is probably better in every way. And the same applies to music: the pops and hisses make it sound more authentic, more alive. And this is where science goes of the rails and feelings take over. Its a slippery slope.

Op is talking about the loudness war. Look it up, its a real thing, but reading your comment you must be aware already. "remasters" these days are all most always oversteered in every way possible because... Reasons. I recently listened to a vinyl remaster of a 90s dance record: horrible on hifi. But sufficient on a Bluetooth phonogram player.

Like you said: nobody plays on hifi anymore. So its getting remastered more and more for shit setups. Sonos. Bluetooth headphones and the likes. And while sounding nice, that is a far cry from hifi.

When playing your original cd's you get the original remaster. Not that oversteered shit on apple music, youtube or Spotify which sound horrible on a hifi setup. There is a very definite difference. Easy to spot.

And tbh: I'm guilty too. I chose the comfort (ease of use) of sonos over the sound quality of a hifi setup. In the end it costed the same and my wife is happier without the cabling. Living (together) is always compromising ;).

I get why people chose vinyl. It's the experience. It's like smoking cigars in a lounge with some friends while drinking brandy. But like those cigars vinyl is not the best choice. But I do like cigars and brandy anyway...

And lastly: no. Ripping LPs is a tough job taking at least the playtime of the album. Cd's can be ripped and the files automatically named in minutes.

Is ripping LPs complex? No. But it takes a good setup and it takes a lot of time. You dont need neither when ripping cd's.

So, anyway: physics, science, support the statement "cds are superior to vinyl". It's measurable. You may not like it, you may miss the authenticity but the dynamic range coming of a cd vs lp setup (of the same cost, mind you) is almost always better.

But hey, I'm no bob Dylan. Who never was and still isn't a fan of anything digital. He swears he misses something. I don't. I look at the science and see better numbers for cds.

And I do believe that analog recordings of anything (sound and vision) can always be superior to digital. Digital always has a max. So many pixels. So many kbit. Analog does not have that problem. The only problem analog has, is the medium on which it is set on. That has limitations. And those limitations always always result in a lower quality then what you can easily achieve with digital. At home. (for a reasonable cost) add a megapixel. Add a mbit. In the end it will and has crossed the anolog boundaries of the used mediums far and wide.