I agree the mastering/engineering that actually ends up on either format is a key factor; probably even the MOST key factor. But for me, time and time again I keep finding vinyl placing significantly ahead of digital overall. That said, over several years now I've pushed my vinyl gear further towards the "ultra" category while my digital remains stagnant in the hifi "budget" tier (e.g. Yggdrasil, M51, etc) - so no, it's not a fair comparison. But when I got my first vinyl rig, similarly priced to my Meridian G08 CD player at the time, and the vinyl absolutely *spanked* the G08 (which was ironically sold to me as the CD player for vinyl lovers) - my affection for digital never recovered from that.
I also have problems dropping 5-figures plus on digital gear that depreciates nearly as fast as spent wine. My ClearAudio Innovation and SOTA tables are still beasts after several years. How many iterations of players have the Esoterics of the digital world gone through in that time? The cartridge is certainly the loss-of-value pain point in vinyl, but when well taken care of they can last a LONG time.
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