It was the first time I had heard a vinyl record. My father had recently acquired an impressive record-playing setup, and I sat centered before his massive speakers as he described the components and fiddled with various dials. Most of it went over my head. Up to this point, my experience with music listening was limited to cassettes, CDs, and – for at least the last decade – streamed music played on my phone, laptop, or smart speaker.

While the significance of the brand, model, and year of all his new toys was lost on me, what happened next was a revelation as the faint crackling of the vinyl whispered through the speakers and gave way to Boston’s Foreplay/Long Time, the hairs on my arms and scalp prickled. I suddenly understood with perfect clarity that every digital recording I had heard before this moment was two-dimensional, the instruments and voices flattened and compressed in such a way as to deliver them to my ears devoid of all their depth and color. The music rendered by the vinyl record transported me to the studio in which it was created, and if I closed my eyes, I could envision the location of each instrument in the room.

This is the difference between the sound of vinyl records and typical music streaming services. Most people listening to music today are getting the equivalent of a TV dinner when they could enjoy a meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. In the second quarter of 2022, there were more than 600 million music streaming subscribers worldwide, which doesn’t include those listening to the radio or free streaming services. Most people today listen to MP3s or their equivalent, which are of inferior sound quality to vinyl records.

It is simple to explain why this is so in the modern era. The options for imbibing digital media are endless and all-consuming. Email and ebooks, disappearing newspapers, the slow but inevitable death of CDs and DVDs, and websites replacing encyclopedias and textbooks – digital interactions increasingly dominate even our relationships through text messaging and social media. Access to digital media has revolutionized the world, allowing a level of connectivity that transcends time and distance.

The picture becomes even more apparent when considering the practicality driving digital consumption. Why sacrifice the space required by an entire library of vinyl when you can listen to thousands of songs on a smartphone – which occupies about the same amount of space as a deck of cards? MP3s don’t scratch, break, or get lost. Online, you can find just about any song you want to hear almost instantly and for free. Add to that the cost of acquiring and maintaining the equipment required to play vinyl, and it’s easy to see why many people simply don’t bother.

A growing movement of people says that physical media is worth the inconvenience. The year 2022 marks the 17th consecutive year that vinyl album sales have risen in the United States. When I reflect on my experience hearing vinyl for the first time, I understand why. Having lived long enough to see the digital machine plow its way into every facet of our lives, I can see how it robs us of something more precious than our convenience.

Something happens to us on a physical level when we experience things tangibly – when we walk through a library and turn the page of a book, write a letter to a loved one, work out a problem with a colleague face to face, or share a meal with a friend. Music impacts us on a deeper level when we can truly hear it – every note, frequency, and voice.

Is it time for a counterrevolution? Should we discard digital conveniences? Those of us who have lived to see the tidal wave of digital media sweeping over our lives know there are drawbacks to living in a world composed of ones and zeros. We wax nostalgic about living without the distraction of devices and complain about our kids and their screens. However, there is room for – and benefit to – having both. So, go ahead and keep your Spotify subscription, but take it from me. You will never hear anything better than Boston’s Foreplay/Long Time on vinyl.