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One of my hobbies, for about 10 years now, is digitizing LPs, "cleaning" the audio file, and saving to CD-Rs and my external music hard drive.
Just about any way you look at it well recorded digital music is more faithful to the original source than an LP. Even the best, most optimally balanced tone arm will cause physical erosion of both the LP and the stylus each time an LP is played. And that doesn't take into account noise produced by dust in the groove, surface scratches and abrasion, imperfections in the vinyl, etc.
A lot of the "warmth" that people associate with analog LPs can actually be attributed to the vacuum tube equipment used for playback in the "old days" -- and that "warmth" can be simulated digitally.
But the "noise wars" are very real. I have two copies of Love's Forever Changes album. One, the first one released, was taken from the original master tapes, and it sounds very good. The second one was "digitally remastered for CD" and it doesn't sound nearly as good -- there is no subtlety: the voices are as loud as the guitars, which are as loud as the drums, all the time. Remastering can definitely improve a noisy master, but only if it's done well.
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