I honestly can't usually hear a difference between analog and digital, and when I can, it's in favor of digital. I think it also depends on the music system you're listening on. If you have $10,000 or more into a system and under-30 ears that haven't been exposed to gunfire or ridiculous concert sound, then I wouldn't be very surprised if you could hear a difference, but I'm not convinced that it would be in favor of analog.
I think that "character" depends a lot on the sound system and the surroundings. But again, I don't have a BMW-priced sound system. I've built mine from Facebook, Craigslist, pawn shops and Ebay based on reviews and recommendations.
I'm firmly convinced that psycho-acoustics are a major factor in each of our listening preferences. If we are convinced that A is superior to B, we will perceive that as a fact regardless of measurements.
My position is partly influenced by my years in radio working with reel to reel tape, LPs, carts and cassettes. I am currently digitizing cassettes of my multi-year radio show in the 90s and I'm having to work with a lot of EQ, some noise canceling when the background noise gets excessive, and (board op error) levels which are off. Cassettes were a good solution at the time for portability, erasure and re-use, and their sound was acceptable for the time.
Anything vinyl melts or warps easily, tends to accumulate needle noise at the start of a cut when it's played often (and immediately if it was cued up), gets scratched easily, and takes up a lot of room in storage and transportation. IMO the one thing LPs have going for them is room for album art and notes.
For storage, portability, durability and consistent sound quality, I'll take CDs every time. I know some of the early CDs were poorly engineered and EQd, and I have a couple of those. (Mitch Ryder's compilation album "All Mitch Ryder Hits" is one of the offenders.) But most CDs are much better than that. I have at least 200 in one moderate sized bookshelf.
Here's a photo of part of one wall in our living room, showing (IMO) one of the highest and best uses of LPs.
