True..............they definitely do not sound the same. And all I can tell you is the two burners I have now, one is a Pioneer and the other a Tascam. Of course there have been many players thru the years and I couldn't really tell you every one or even most of them. But this is a pattern that I've heard thru the years and although I have heard some where I would go, "Wow, that sounds really good," the clear pattern to me is that 16/44.1 doesn't have the resolution of good analog.
And there are certainly studies that support that plus I have read articles that I can't really repeat because they were so complex I don't totally remember them. But they spell out in technical terms things like dynamic range and resolution abilities and the theoretical limits favor analog without a doubt. Remember, it's 16/44.1 we're talking about here.
So if theoretically analog has a better potential, then it comes down to implementation. And vinyl playback is at it's highest level ever here in the twilight of it's existence. If you've listened to it on say a Technics 1200 which many consider a high-line turntable, then you've never heard whay good vinyl can do. Basically, if you have a direct drive turntable.....then it's crap by current standards. Same goes for turntables with plastic chassis no matter how solid they might seem and the same goes for cartridges more than a few years old. The new designs have eclipsed even the better performers of a few years ago.
Now I'm not trying to convince anyone who doesn't want to hear it, 'cause I don't really care. After all, digital is the father of this great homerecording revolution that's happening and I use a digital recorder myself although I use an analog board.
It's an amazing thing....how affordable it has made recording. But I don't use 16/44.1 ,......I use 24/96.
As for what I hear.....I've been a musician for 38 years and a full-time piano tuner for 27. I think that it's not unreasonable to at least suggest that I have well-trained ears and a certain level of credentials to give me some credibilty. That, of course, doesn't automatically mean I'm right.........but I hear what I hear and I'm capable, because of my job, of quantifying and focusing in on tiny things as far as sound goes. It does bug me that the only question digital lovers want to ask is why I must be wrong and why I must be deluding my poor old senile brain and they never ask, "What is he hearing and why could that be?"