Every difference between digital and vinyl is caused by vinyl failing to faithfully reproduce the original signal. It may be “pleasing” signal degradation, but it is degradation nonetheless.
As for the analogy about different headphones, I don’t think differences in quality of the amplification/playback hardware are necessarily tied to the recoding medium playback mechanism itself. In other words, you could just as easily hook some vacuum tube amp up to your CD or FLAC player if that “warm” sound was what you were going for.
Every difference between digital and vinyl is caused by vinyl failing to faithfully reproduce the original signal. It may be “pleasing” signal degradation, but it is degradation nonetheless.
As for the analogy about different headphones, I don’t think differences in quality of the amplification/playback hardware are necessarily tied to the recoding medium playback mechanism itself. In other words, you could just as easily hook some vacuum tube amp up to your CD or FLAC player if that “warm” sound was what you were going for.