Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin

[The Straight Story]

Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin
By Eliot Van Buskirk Email 10.29.07 | 12:00 AM

As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl -- the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles -- is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary.

Talk to almost anyone in the music business' vital indie and DJ scenes and you'll encounter a uniformly optimistic picture of the vinyl market.

"I'm hearing from labels and distributors that vinyl is way up," said Ian Connelly, client relations manager of independent distributor alliance IODA, in an e-mail interview. "And not just the boutique, limited-edition colored vinyl that Jesu/Isis-style fans are hot for right now."

Pressing plants are ramping up production, but where is the demand coming from? Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today's music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and MP3s for their portable devices.

"For many of us, and certainly for many of our artists, the vinyl is the true version of the release," said Matador's Patrick Amory. "The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music."

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029

[RevCheesehead]

1. Somewhere in heaven, my mom is laughing.

That makes me smile. O8)

[midlife_mo_Jo]

125. Oh, no, am I ever in trouble

:hide:

My husband had hundreds of "records" that I convinced him to give away, but he did keep a few dozen. (No, I didn't force him, but without my complaining about his packrack tendencies, he would have never done it.)

He loved those vinyls. He cleaned them and cared for them as if they were expensive Waterford crystal, but after years of not playing them, he agreed actually they were taking up too much space.

[Wilber_Stool]

237. It's a good thing

I can't reach down one of these tubes, I'd, well it's just too horrible to mention. I'd probably get deleted.

[NashVegas]

2. Costco Was Selling a USB Turntable the Last Time I Was There

Vinyl is good for DJs and home-owners.

As an apartment dweller, I don't miss the 3k or so vinyl discs I unloaded. All my CDs are in huge Case logic binders that take up no more than two shelves.

[dflprincess]

6. Last Christmas my mother gave me Crosley system that has a

cassette player, CD player, radio and a TURNTABLE (It looks like an old radio/phonograph combo). I was thrilled - I hadn't been able to find new needles for my old stereo (okay, I hadn't looked that hard) and it had been several years since I had been able to play any of my old albums.

[fujiyama]

51. I think I saw what you're talking about when I was there the other day

Cool device - allows you to convert records to mp3...connects to a PC by USB.

[SteelPenguin]

173. The Quality of Vinyl is no match for the storage space of a flash drive

A friend of mine tried to convince me once in his apartment of the superior quality of the sound of vinyl. He went on and on, played me a few different albums, pointed out the different high and low poitns that were chopped out of mp3's etc.

I nodded, and assured him I could hear the difference, but the 18 crates of albums stacked on the wall of his room all fit in the palm of my hand and I could listen to them anywhere. Unless you sit around in your beanbag listening to records at home, nothing beats putting your entire music library in your pocket, imho. I'll take the tradeoff.

[NashVegas]

195. I Wouldn't Trust That, Though

Just because of the investment involved, I'd never be without a "hard" copy. CDs are a good compromise, for me.

[SoCalDem]

3. Hahahahahahahahahahaha..told you youngsters so

[TomInTib]

5. Vinyl is like skin-to-skin sex. MP3 is like Internet Porn.

Gimmee something I can touch, something I can feel (scratches and all).

[Wiley50]

10. "Vinyl is like skin-to-skin sex" You come up with some of the best, Tom n/t

[bleever]

15. Damn,

that's a great response. No way you typed that one-handed.

[TomInTib]

29. I have been working so hard...

I have long fingers (octave-six). I can place the little finger of my left hand on "shift" on the left side and my thumb on "2" on the right side.

And I worked all weekend on writing. Not much luck, yet.

But I can shave, brush my teeth, tie my shoes and button my shirt.

[Wiley50]

41. Good for You! DU's Very Own One Armed Bandito!! n/t

[Control-Z]

202. Not!!!!!

That seems impossible. What is the distance in inches between your pinkie and thumb spanned? Get a ruler out and let me know. I'm impressed - unless this is a joke I'm not in on. Of course, that wouldn't be unusual for me. Usually out of the loop, I am.

[aikoaiko]

132. uh, live music is like skintoskin.

[wtmusic]

141. there you go nt

[orleans]

220. skin to skin? oh my god! i think i've got enough lps left to have one hell of a hot time!

actually--i still love my lps--though i don't play them often.

[TomInTib]

221. Honey, Honey, .... Honey

Take care of that Wax....

[Snarkturian Clone]

235. Excellent. NT

[lostnotforgotten]

100. My Turntable - Vinyl Rules!

www.teresaudio.com

[...of J.Temperance]

108. Gosh, that's REALLY sexy

I want one NOW....that'd be a great back-up turntable to have, I need to check that piece of equipment.

What capacity are the speakers though....I like LOUD speakers....that looks like it might have some smallish speakers?

[B3Nut]

143. Any electronics and loudspeakers you like

A turntable like that does deserve a good amplification setup and fine loudspeakers...B&W and Thiel are really nice. Or a high-end speaker kit from www.madisound.com ...I built a set from them based on Danish Peerless drivers that sounds lovely...

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[lostnotforgotten]

196. My Speakers

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/

[...of J.Temperance]

209. They're very

Hip looking, I must say.

[lostnotforgotten]

228. Much More Accurate Than Thiel and B&W

Siegfried Linkwitz, the designer is a legend in loudspeaker design.

Check it out at www.linkwitzlab.com

[B3Nut]

236. I'd love to hear those

I remember reading about those speakers on some DIY forums...those who built them loved them. Mr. Linkwitz knows a thing or three...

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[...of J.Temperance]

208. Agree on B&W and Thiel

Pretty good they.

Oh heck, if I go for a high-end speaker kit, then I'll have to get my more "better at making things with his hands" friend to build them for me....I've bookmarked the madison.com link....thanks :)

[tridim]

146. Ahh, an audiophile..

I knew one once who spent something like $80/foot for his speaker cable. I never called him an idiot, instead I just teased him because he believed any marketing that was printed in an audiophile magazine.

That said, your turntable is pretty cool looking and probably wouldn't skip in an earthquake. I'm sure it also maintains a constant RPM +/- .0000000001 milliseconds.

How much do you pay for cartridges?

[Elwood P Dowd]

171. That's a fantastic table.

Is that a Rega tonearm with a Dynavector moving coil?

[lostnotforgotten]

229. Roger!

eom

[Elwood P Dowd]

251. If that's a Dyna 10X5, it will sound better

when you take the plastic cover off. There are only two little screws on the side that hold it. Be careful.

[lostnotforgotten]

255. Thanks For The Advice

eom

[Radical Activist]

247. The "youngsters" are the ones driving this.

Its the trendy hip thing to do. No thanks to the old folks.

[REP]

4. As someone with 13GB of digital music on me ... vinyl sounds better

There's a lot of crap (which I enjoy immensely) that doesn't really suffer from the spectrum clipping, but there's a lot of stuff that just doesn't sound as good.

[Wickerman]

7. the ritual of listening to vinyl is unmatched in the listening experience

Never felt the same listening to CDs and MP3's are basically listening to the radio.

[The Straight Story]

8. They need a model for cars

:)

[lumberjack_jeff]

There used to be one.

http://www.uaw-daimlerchryslerntc.org/images/news/phono.htm

[The Straight Story]

53. That is so cool - thanks for posting it and a kick for your reply (nt)

[girl gone mad]

99. That Lawrence Welk photo..

is so hot..

[BrklynLib at work]

128. Wow. That is amazing!!

[Canuckistanian]

16. A turntable and a good set of headphones

That's the ONLY way to listen to a new release of your favorite artist.

I still have about 300 LP's sitting in my garage. I also have two turntables, but can't use them for want of a new needle and a stereo amplifier that can handle a phono signal.

My wife and I are looking at getting one of these new USB turntables for just such a reason. We have some discs that you just can't find on CD or MP3.

Also, my 10-year-old son is dying to see how an old-fashioned record player works.

[Wickerman]

19. we just moved and finally, after 7 years I got my vinyl organized

600 lps that were scattered throughout closets in various boxes. Bleech. Finally, all in one set of shelves in one location. The problem is, somehow, in the last 7 years those 600 lps GREW to about 800. Damn garage sales.

The turntable/stylus issue is one that has nagged me for awhile and causes me to not play my LPs and 45 like I'd like - I'm afraid of damaging them. So, I listen to inferior MP3s and lose all the ritual enjoyment and sonic quality. Got to remedy that.

Your son will love the vinyl!

[...of J.Temperance]

88. I envy you for being so organized

My record collection isn't in catalogue order....can be rather confusing sometimes if I'm trying to find something, once took me on and off nearly a week to find a particular Howlin' Wolf LP!

[B3Nut]

149. If you need a phono-capable amp or receiver

Haunt the thrifts, yard sales, and eBay. 70's Pioneer and Sansui is often easy to come by. www.needledoctor.com has styli for just about anything. A classic 70's receiver or amp in good shape will spoil you for today's mass-market stuff. Some newer home-theater receivers have phono preamps, but simpler older receiver or integrated amp is IMHO better for a phono-centric stereo system. For more modern integrated amps that are not hard to find used NAD, Proton, Harman-Kardon, Denon, and Yamaha are good bets. Heck, old Yamahas lashed up to late-70's Polk speakers are a budget revelation. I have a Yammie CR-820 receiver ($40 at Goodwill) running Polk 7B speakers ($60 from a fellow audio collector) in my upstairs hi-fi rig, and it sounds gorgeous. Hard to top for 10 times what I have into it, frankly.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[...of J.Temperance]

86. I've got "The Wicker Man" (1973 version THE BEST) soundtrack on vinyl, are you....

Jealous....Mr. Wickerman....or do you have it too?

:popcorn:

[Wickerman]

124. Damn you!

No, I regret to say that I only possess a dreaded MP3'd version. Yes, color me jealous. :cry:

[...of J.Temperance]

214. Aw, come here

:hug:

One of my favorite tracks is "Maypole", which starts off rather normal sounding, then the melody gets increasingly hysterical sounding....as they sing a song about how The Maypole is a Phallic symbol:

"And on that bed, there was a girl
And on that girl, there was a man
And from that man, there was a seed
And from that seed, there was a boy
And from that boy, there was a man
And for that man, there was a grave
And on that grave there grew
A tree."

Jaysus, I could happily watch "The Wicker Man" once a month and NEVER get tired of that incredible piece of cinema.

[mitchum]

239. Hey...I had composer Paul Giovanni for a professor in college

[...of J.Temperance]

241. Gosh, how amazing

That must have been so cool.

Sadly, I believe Paul Giovanni died a few years ago from AIDS :(

He had a bit part in "The Wicker Man" as well, you know in the pub scene, where they all start singing the DEEPLY rooted in Double Entendre's "The Landlord's Daughter".

On Edit: Added comment

[mitchum]

243. About 17 years ago...

he was already very ill then, but he still had a sharp intellect and a gracious and elegant manner.

[...of J.Temperance]

253. Heck

I didn't know it was that long ago :( What a shame....I do envy you, that you actually met him.

[...of J.Temperance]

9. I always buy vinyl, I've got at least 11,000 records

My Dad who's been buying records longer than I have, he's got probably 25,000 records....seriously, he had to have a special building built outside his house to accomodate his record collection as it was getting out of hand.

I HATE CD's, IF I'm forced to buy a CD because the band hasn't put out a 7" or a "12 or a 10" record....then I'll buy the CD.

I'm a proud Vinyl Evangelist :) The 180-gram records are the best....sometimes someone will put out a flimsy piece of crap, which is REALLY annoying because the sound quality is equally crap.

What were the last records I bought....I got two Melt Banana "7's the other day, I bought a double LP that I found by Albert Ayler (free jazz fellow) and about three weeks ago I bought Polly Harvey's "White Chalk" on LP, and it's a STUNNER....thank God she's left behind that shite that she called "Songs From The City, Songs From The Sea"....bloody hell, I mean we don't want PJ Harvey like ON THE EFFING RADIO....I'm a PROUD Elitist musically, always have been.

I need to go on another record shopping orgy....of course it's ALL the fault of my Dad and the late and MUCH missed and MUCH loved John Peel....they're responsible for my record collection and my vinyl obsession :)

Have I been rambling? Yes I fear I have....it's best NOT to get me on the subject of records, because I'll sound like a real Trainspotter.

[The Straight Story]

12. Weird to think many people, including me, don't have a record player

My how times have changed :)

[Kahuna]

17. I have one. I've never been without a turntable. And yes, I do

prefer the sound of vinyl to CD.

[...of J.Temperance]

89. You DON'T have a record player?!

*Gasp* Ya heathen! :P

I'm not sure it's odd that I've got a record player, I'm not 30 yet....the majority of the people in my age group that I know, they all have record players too....they're all vinyl obsessed too.

I HATE those Club DJ's, they DON'T respect vinyl, they just buy it to spin the discs on the Wheels of Steel....they don't CARE or LOVE vinyl, like we do.

I LOVE the smell of vinyl, it's very sexy and sensual....'um, I'd better stop, I think I might start to like hyperventilate or something if I don't :spank: :beer: :bounce:

[madrchsod]

23. i don`t agree with you on canidates

but at least there is one thing we can agree on-vinyl rules. i am in awe of you and your dad!

[...of J.Temperance]

87. My Dad's COOL!

I basically grew up having to listen to Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band "Trout Mask Replica" and Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia" EACH at least ONCE a day.

My Dad will phone me up and say stuff like:

"Hey, Melt Banana are playing....I've just got some tickets, so we're going!"

VINYL RULES....the other BIG rule is ALWAYS make sure you have a spare supply of diamond needles, WHAT a nightmare scenario it'd be to have a bust needle and NO replacement :scared:

[junkiebrewster]

172. Ahh, Melt Banana!!!!1

One of the most interesting live shows I've ever seen.

Personally, I only just began getting vinyl after realizing that CD's are crap. I now had about 500 records and over 1,000 CD's. I'm in the middle of replacing the CD's with vinyl, which may sound expensive, but given that a lot of the CD's are older bands, their used vinyl can be had for cheap.

[...of J.Temperance]

211. Hello fellow Melt Banana fan!

Yeah they're amazing, we went to see them, totally mesmerizing....a truly chaotic stage performance.

Saw them in a Holiday Camp as well....dunno if you know about ATP (the All Tomorrow's Parties festival)? Saw them there in 2002....that was a good 'un too, not only were Melt Banana on, but also Will Oldham aka Bonnie Prince Billy, The Danielson Famile, Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Low, Mission of Burma, Oxes, Rachel's, Shannon Wright, Shellac (who Curated the 2002 ATP), Shipping News, Silkworm, Smog, The Breeders, Threnody Ensemble, Wire....and The MIGHTY Fall*

My username obviously comes from The Fall song "The Impression of J.Temperance", off their LP "Grotesque"

The UK ATP is always in the Holiday Camp, used to be at a Pontin's in Camber Sands, East Sussex....now they've moved to a Butlin's in Minehead, Somerset.



"All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

• Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia •Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the music festival. For the novel by William Gibson, see All Tomorrow's Parties (novel).

All Tomorrow's Parties logo projected at festival. All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place in England at Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset (up until late 2006, the festival took place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex). Named after a song by The Velvet Underground and Nico, it was founded by Barry Hogan 1999 as an alternative to the other festivals like Reading or Glastonbury, with a tendency towards post-rock, avant-garde, and underground hip hop, along with more traditional rock fare, but presented in an environment more intimate than a giant stadium or huge country field. The festival has its origins in the Bowlie Weekender, curated by Belle & Sebastian at the same UK venue in April 1999. Artists, usually musicians, but sometimes visual artists like Matt Groening or Jake and Dinos Chapman, are asked to curate the festival (a two-day or three-day event), inviting their favourite performers to play. The idea is that it is akin to dipping into the curator's record collection, or as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth described it, "It's the ultimate mix tape".


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Tomorrow's_Parties_(music_festival)

Excellant for beginning to replace your CD's with vinyl....500 records, sounds good :) Yeah a lot of second-hand vinyl I've found in near mint condition, you can get some really good deals!

On Edit: For some reason the link is FU, dunno why, I copy and pasted the EXACT link....D'oh!

[davekriss]

207. O my!

You have 10x the number of LPs I have. I've got 1,100. I've also got about 1,000 CDs. I switched over to CD's in 1988 thinking that, though they are so obviously sonicly inferior, they're more durable. I also thought that turntables, cartridges, and styluses (or is that "styli"?) would become increasingly hard to find and expensive. Around 10 years ago my daughters broke my last Pickering stylus and I haven't found a replacement. I think I ruined the cartridge by shoving the wrong stylus in it. I've been turntable-less for all this time. I dream of the joy I'll have someday when I can afford to replace. Tons of fabulous music locked up in my LPs. I looked at the needledoctor site someone listed above and it looks like I can get a replacement stylus for $30! Hmmmm. Ship it fedex, open a good bottle of wine, and I'll be in heaven this weekend...! :)

[Solly Mack]

11. I've really missed the artwork

[The Straight Story]

14. Hadn't thought about that

But yeah, there were some good ones.

I miss the feel of the cover, plastic seems so impersonal :)

[awoke_in_2003]

31. records had a certain smell, too

they stimulated all senses (well, maybe not taste :) )

[...of J.Temperance]

91. So it's not just me that's kinky about records....I just mentioned the smell of vinyl upthread

;-)

The best record stores as well, tend to smell of vinyl AND dry rot....in my experience.

[awoke_in_2003]

186. you figured out my kink

and i agree about record store smells. Sure miss them

[...of J.Temperance]

215. Our joint kink!

Dunno where you are, but where I am, we have some good Independent record shops, we have three of them....the BEST Independent record shop, in my opinion, is STILL the Rough Trade shop, the one on Talbot Road in London is better than the one's at Covent Garden and Brick Lane.

You would think you'd died and gone to Heaven if you EVER went into the Rough Trade shop on Talbot Road!

Link about The Rough Trade shop:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Trade_Shop


Here's a picture of some of inside the shop at Talbot Road, and yes, it smells of vinyl and dry rot!






On Edit: Fixed link

[Hekate]

26. I've really missed the liner notes! I still have all my records, but have to admit they don't...

...get much play-time. I tell you, hanging on to a turntable is really difficult. I am sorry I let go of my stand-alone one -- the CD segment of the stereo system gave out, couldn't be repaired after the third or fourth time I had my son fix it, needs to be replaced and then pfft, I need a whole new system. This time I'll keep the record function separate.

Hekate

[...of J.Temperance]

90. Yeah that's the other thing

You can't really even see the artwork properly on a CD, because everything is in miniature.

The worst CD's are those appalling Digi-Pack things....DON'T get me started on Digi-Pack's....or I'll be here ALL night with that rant.

[Ilsa]

13. I haven't been able to part with my phonograph or my vinyl records. nt

[jimshoes]

18. It's a joy listening to my

albums now and again. I've got a few turntables at my shop that I picked up from tree lawns on garbage day. Between them I've been able to put together a decent one and have been listening to albums for the last few months. Also picked up a ton of albums that had some water damage to the sleeves but the records played just fine. Most of the albums sadly were not the kind of music I liked. There were a few keepers though.

[riverdeep]

20. I agree with a lot of things, but this-

"The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music."

From everything I've heard, and I'll admit I didn't look too hard, CD's have the potential for better sound quality, but are often mixed poorly. The compression, especially, is turned up. I think I read this browsing the 'hydrogen audio forum'. But I'm not going back there, those people are nuts.

[kysrsoze]

75. Thank you for injecting some reality. I like vinyl and have a lot of old records, but

The sound quality of vinyl as a medium is not superior to that of the CD. I grew up on vinyl and it was so cool to go out and buy a new record. The warmth everyone speaks of is the noise created by the world's hardest substance ground to a razor point, rubbing against a plastic groove. Yes, it sounds warm, but it's inaccurate, and with each play it becomes worse. The "digital approximation" is much closer, particularly since the rate of sampling is indistinguishable to our ears. Even at 192Kb or higher mp3, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and the original source without some really good equipment. Personally, I start to hear a good deal of degradation at 160 and 128 sucks pretty bad. So I was ticked to find out that the Radiohead download I purchased was only at 160. We should be able to have 256 if we want it.

I read an article about a lot of recent CD's being overly compressed, which effectively screws the sound quality. It's essentially the same thing as overdriving a guitar amp - creating distortion. Everything is loud, and unfortunately, a lot of nuance is lost. IIRC, the article I read was in none other than Wired.

I still really like the sound of vinyl, even when it's a bit scratched up and "poppy." There's something soothing about it. The artwork is great too, but I've seen some incredibly creative stuff with CD's too.

It's ALL personal preference.

[madrchsod]

21. dam straight!

i got my old technics turntable,lafayette receiver,and wharedale 12in 3 ways...all for under one hundred dollars. ..when all the bits on the cd`s float away vinyl will still have it`s "groove on"

ever tried to roll a joint on a cd case?

[zabet]

22. I still have my vinyl,

even 45s. Some songs, especially old torch songs,
just don't sound right without that faint 's,s,s,tic'
in the background.
:)

[Gloria]

24. Just like the piano, vinyl accurately reproduces the actual soundwaves

of the note or voice...vibration is the name of the game!!! (Former piano tuner here and proud owner of lots of vinyl!!)

[Sparkly]

49. I didn't know that...

I thought digital was the the THE most accurate in every way - no?

[zagging]

59. Insofar as your ear can discern the difference

Between a digital or analogous recording, it's the same.

[wtmusic]

64. yes

Overall, digital is a far more accurate representation of what went down on the recording master.

Does that make it better? Completely subjective. Vinyl adds a specific coloration to the sound that many people prefer, some for certain frequencies it emphasizes, others because of simple nostalgia -- it sounds like the records they listened to as kids.

[Sparkly]

126. Question

I just got a system -- turntable and software -- that's supposed to enable me to transfer records onto CD. Will that capture the vinyl sound you refer to, or is it lost then?

(That's just out of curiosity. It doesn't much matter for the records I'm working with.)

[wtmusic]

139. Yes it will

If the analog/digital conversion is of reasonably good quality, you should have the best of both worlds :thumbsup:

What's it called?

[NashVegas]

127. Ever Put a Fingernail in a Groove?

I did that once. Cool stuff.

[zagging]

25. A pipe dream

CD's will most likely become antiquated as all methods have to date, but there is no way in the world analogue will ever overtake digital again. It may fill a small niche market so that you audiophiles can recapture the salad days when you smoked green shadeleaf, and filled your brains with overblown acid rock and psychedelic mishmash. But that's it.

[The Straight Story]

27. I never smoked that back in the day, and listened to Elvis and christmas music and christian music

Sorry to disappoint ya :)

[zagging]

32. Amended accordingly

CD's will most likely become antiquated as all methods have to date, but there is no way in the world analogue will ever overtake digital again. It may fill a small niche market so that you audiophiles can recapture the salad days when you (had no clue that everyone but you) smoked green shadeleaf, and (they were pretty hip, so if you had been a little less square, they would have) filled your brains with overblown acid rock and psychedelic mishmash. But that's it.

Any better?

[The Straight Story]

52. Not really :) here is why

Back in the day I was playing chess, writing programs on a trs-80, and rocking to something called MTV (which actually played Music back in the day).

I was a square to be sure (but somehow ended up with a pretty awesome hippie wife....).

Nowadays I see people divided - those who want easy to port music, and those who want to really enjoy and listen to real music.

Vinyl has something to offer both (as did wav files....but they were too large). We have people who want compression for ease of use, and people who want both. And as long as there is a need the market will drive it.

And you CAN have both, by having cds/mp3/and vinyl. Now that we have what we needed (the ability to take the music with us everywhere) we can also have what we want (better quality) and as that settles down I see a good market for all involved.

[zagging]

61. No problem

The way I see it, there are two kinds of people; those who get their rocks off coddling ugly, black, cumbersome, plastic disks to assuage that nagging feeling that their beloved youth is no longer on the wax, and those who try humor and fail miserably.

I have no ugly, black, cumbersome, plastic disks.

[The Straight Story]

63. May I ask -

How old are you? I DO think it is relevant to the thread.

[zagging]

67. Again, no problem

46. Grew up in farm country and have had a serious aversion to hard work ever since, although I cannot for the life of me seem to avoid it.

[ieoeja]

155. Maybe it's a "46 and grew up in farm country" thing.

Cause I will be 46 soon, grew up on a farm (not just in the country) and have had a serious aversion to hard work ever since, yet cannot for the life of me seem to avoid it.

And I agree. Vinyl is crap compared to CDs. I was lllllaaaaaatttttteeeeeee getting into CDs (cause I'm cheap). When I finally got a CD for the first time I was in complete shock how much better quality the music was.

There is no flippin' way I go back to vinyl.

[EstimatedProphet]

35. Dude, you're harshing my mellow

Man, mean people suck.

[zagging]

44. You made me laugh out loud

Thank god nobody is in this room but me...and apparently the community flashbacks on this thread.

All is groovy.

[asthmaticeog]

37. Dick much?

"so that you audiophiles can recapture the salad days when you smoked green shadeleaf, and filled your brains with overblown acid rock and psychedelic mishmash. But that's it."

I'm not old enough for all that, nor have I ever been a hippie type. I *am* old enough to know that hard drives can crash and records can't. Have a nice day, and welcome to DU.

[zagging]

50. Well then, you should be old enought to know that there is

no recovery for a vinyl record other than to buy a new one. You can't make a backup copy, and you sure as hell can't burn a copy off your friend, and there ain't no way in the world you're gonna listen to vinyl at the mall, or on a canoe trip, or a very long ass drive from Ohio to Texas when the kids are raising hell and have to stop at a gas station every 14 1/2 minutes. As a matter of fact, there's pretty much only one place you can listen to vinyl, and everyone seems to be losing that place these days.

[kysrsoze]

81. Sure you can make a backup copy. We were doing that in the 80's with cassettes

Then came DATs and the ability to record CD's. Now you can record a CD or vinyl to Ogg format and you have a really portable, lossless digitial audio format that sounds as good as a CD. Both records and CD's can be recorded at 192Kb or 256Kb mp3 and most people would never know the differece. Vinyl sounds cool and "warm" - not necessarily BETTER than CD's - just different.

[asthmaticeog]

110. I got a USB turntable just for that purpose.

LOOOOOOVE it. Not only is the process of converting the albums good fun, it's cool having CDRs of records that were never reissued on CD to listen to in the car.

[zagging]

115. Ya well, how are you gonna get that back on beloved vinyl?

We're talking about the wonderful, fi-fi quality of the viny. Backup tapes can't be put back on vinyl, so you're screwn.

[kysrsoze]

223. Well, I don't copy to cassettes anymore - that was a pretty junky medium

If you believe you can only get hifi out of vinyl, you need to take another listen and buy some new equipment. A well-recorded CD on good equipment sounds astounding. You can deny it all you want, but it's true.

[wtmusic]

145. Ogg is free, better than MP3, but lossy as hell

If people think they're getting what the artist intended out of either, no wonder they're going back to vinyl

[Cetacea]

84. Please explain that to Roger Waters.

He could use a giggle.

[...of J.Temperance]

92. I'm UNDER 30 years-old, so WTF you talking about?

Also:

"but there is no way in the world analogue will ever overtake digital again"


I shall quote, the great Steve Albini's note on the back cover of Big Black's LP "Songs About Fucking"...."The future lies with the analog loyalists. Fuck digital."

[girl gone mad]

101. huh?

what did steve albini ever do that was great? Please don't say produce Nirvana and Pixies albums, because all of their albums sounded good and both bands sounded even better live.

[Cetacea]

103. Most musicians prefer analogue.

It's interesting in analog versus digital arguments that people tend to forget the opinions and knowledge of the very people who created the music they are listening to...

[...of J.Temperance]

105. You are correct, all the bands I know, prefer analog as opposed to digital

I'd better NOT do any name-dropping or I MIGHT acquire like....groupies on DU or something! ;)

[stimbox]

147. I prefer analog equipment and recordings on CD.

Vinyl is ok, but I really prefer CDs.
I own a lot of records, usually things not available on CD.
I also like cassettes and have a ton of those too.

Vinyl is for snobby hipster kids.

Maybe the best thing is to play cds through a tube amplifier.
The clarity, freq response, and length of CD with all of the warmth of analog.

[mitchum]

246. I'm with you; I also use analog gear, but prefer digital recordings

I find it interesting that record companies are now touting the advantages of vinyl. That surely has nothing to do with the availability and accessibility of digital mediums versus the expense of manufacturing and releasing vinyl, does it? Naaa...of course not...

[...of J.Temperance]

104. WHAT? Are you SERIES?! Steve Albini was in Big Black, Rapeman and now Shellac

BTW Nirvana were ALWAYS shite....as people SHOULD know, Mudhoney were ALWAYS better than effing Nirvana....put "Superfuzzbigmuff" up against any of Cobain's garbage and it'll wipe the floor with Cobain.

What DID Steve Albini DO that was great....Oh I dunno....Albini's ONLY been THE most important person in the Underground music scene for 20 plus years and has been involved, in many ways, with so many amazing bands....and of course all of his own recordings have been on probably the best Independent label that has EVER existed - Touch + Go.

Here's a list of Steve Albini's greatness, he's literally untouchable and has been for 25 years....and yes he did record the BEST Pixies LP "Surfer Rosa" - they only made three good records, "Come On Pilgrim" which was a mini-LP, "Surfer Rosa" and "Doolittle", after that they went crap....granted The Breeders had ONE good LP "Pod" (which Albini recorded), "The Last Splash" was not too good, but Kim Deal had already totally lost the plot by then and got hooked on Brown.

Steve Albini also recorded P J Harvey's "Rid Of Me" and what else briefly from the below list that makes him great....Tar, Slint, The Jesus Lizard, The Wedding Present, Superchunk, Don Cabellero, Gastr Del Sol, The Amps, Melt Banana, Brainiac, Smog, Low, Storm & Stress, Silver Apples, Will Oldham, The Dirty Three, Bedhead, Shannon Wright, The Danielson Famile, The Ex, Labradford, Mogwai, Edith Frost, Silkworm, Godspeed You Black Emperor....I'm sure I missed a few out, but that's ENOUGH to prove how important Steve Albini has been and continues to be:

Here's the list of the bands and their records that he's recorded:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Steve_Albini%27s_recording_projects

Oh heck, after dissing Steve Albini IF you diss Thurston Moore....I might have to go like....ballistic totally!

I forgot, Steve Albini biography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Albini


On Edit: Added another link

[mitchum]

242. Turning all the faders up to 10 hardly qualifies as "greatness"

[...of J.Temperance]

244. Steve Albini has recorded TONS and TONS of bands and has been VERY influential

In the Independent music scene for 25 years....and you deny that he's great?

[mitchum]

248. Wll, I did dig Big Black and his column in Forced Exposure

[...of J.Temperance]

252. Cool!

I was blasting "Colombian Necktie" and "L Dopa" earlier....good job I've got no neighbors huh? LOL!

[...of J.Temperance]

106. My Dad took me to my first gig, and yes I was

Underage, but Dad knew people, so I got in.

My first gig was Sonic Youth and they were supported by Mudhoney, and it's the only time I've seen Sonic Youth upstaged by their support band.

I maintain that Nirvana were shite, and that Mudhoney were GREAT.

The second gig I went to was Throwing Muses and they were supported by (the) Pixies, and the latter totally upstaged the former, of course Throwing Muses were GOOD back then, around the time of "The Fat Skier", they went crap with that, oh heck what's the LP with the green cover...."Hunkpapa"...."House Tornado" was their last good recording in 1988, it all went downhill the following year with "Hunkpapa"....although I must say that I really like Kristen Hersh's Folky solo stuff, just usually her and her husband.

I should have added that the Throwing Muses gig with (the) Pixies as their support band, was in 1988, or was it in early 1989 just prior to Throwing Muses going crap....anyhow, it was at a venue in London off Kilburn High Road if I remember....because they both were on 4AD Records....and we must have been in Britain then to visit some relatives on Dad's side of the family....anyhow, I saw (the) Pixies when I was 10 years-old and underage, because Dad knew a lot of people and promoters and whatnot, so I got in underage.

I saw (the) Pixies BEFORE like 80% of people had even heard of them, of course that 80% only got to hear them after they'd gone crap and sold out....the lowest point has to have been "Velouria".

I'm rambling again, but musical things and records has always been a deep passion since I was pretty much 8 years-old probably.

Of course, the best band I've ever seen was Godspeed You Black Emperor, damn performance went on for what seemed like three hours, that gig was in 1999 or was it 1998, it must have been in 1998, because it was around the time I bought this LP....a MAGNIFICENT recording I might add, truly awe-inspiring noise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%E2%99%AFA%E2%99%AF%E2%88%9E


On Edit: Added comment

[sendero]

114. Steve Albini....

... is a legend in his own mind and a loser elsewhere.

I've never seen so much cult of personality built around someone with no talent whatsoever, other than perhaps the ability to shock.

[killbotfactory]

205. That's not true at all

He's a humble, down to earth guy who's just interested in making the music he wants to make, and offering bands a place to record that is affordable and willing to respect their decisions in regards to their art. He's also willing to call bullshit on industry practices designed to screw the artist. He's made a successful niche for himself in the independent music industry and he did it without compromising his values or humoring the sharks in the music industry.

[...of J.Temperance]

216. Excellantly commented....and you're spot on as well

Steve Albini is a TOTALLY good fellow, and he's always done things for ALL of the right reasons, he knows what he's talking about as well.

He is....Godlike almost....I can't believe ANYONE who values Independent music could DISS Steve Albini, he's made such an incredible contribution to Independent music, his influence is unimpeachable.

[...of J.Temperance]

212. Oh dear, were you in a band and Steve said you were crap and he wouldn't record you?

I've found that generally the only people who declare Steve Albini "a legend in his own mind and a loser elsewhere" are those people he's been painfully honest with and "your band's crap, I ain't recording you"

[Joe Fields]

165. "overblown acid rock and psychedelic mishmash" ??????????

I realize that music is a subjective experience, but don't you feel that phrase was just a might harsh? Millions of us audiophiles remember with great fondness the first moment we unpackaged a Pink Floyd album and placed it on our high end turntable.

[ryanmuegge]

185. You've unleasehed the wrath of a million hipster cliches.

You are correct, though.

[Melynn]

197. I remember those days

Getting high and listening to my favorite albums. It was a lot of fun about thirty years ago. And it seem bands toured a lot more in those days so it wasn't a big deal going to a concert. It seem like music meant more back in those days but then again, maybe I'm just getting old.

These days I don't get high and don't go concerts and I love my iPod and iTunes. I love digital music. For those who don't, I hope that they get all the vinyl records they want. Choice is good.

[Atman]

28. You kids are so cute! Anyone wany my awesome Selectric typewriter?

Man, it's so much awesomer than digital typing. It's more pure, and the font ball leaves cool little dents in the paper you just can't get when using a computer and an ink-jet or laser. Typewriters RAWK!

.

[kineneb]

38. got one better- Royal manual typewriter

circa mid-1950s. There is still a need to fill out @#%^&* carbon(less) forms on occasion.

...and still use the late 1940s hand-powered eggbeater that belonged to my grandmother, it works so much better than the plastic ones...

[pansypoo53219]

30. not sure about new vinyl

but i have picked up some good ones cheap at estate sales and rummage.
cool a 5 LP set of the Mills brothers! FREE!
yes, i am too young to like them and/or know who they are.

[Horseradish]

42. Listen to that stuff ...

The Mills Brothers rule. I'm jealous of your score. Can't get enough. Actually just listened to about 8 songs of theirs within the hour.

[kineneb]

33. not only still have vinyl, have bakelite (78s)!

I inhereted my grandparents' collection of 78s. I also have all my old LPs and some 45s. As soon as we could afford it, we bought a turntable to go with the vintage 1970s stereo system. I need to get a proper needle for the extra turntable, and then I can play the 78s.

There are online resources for needles, cartridges and replacement belts. (Google is your friend.)

[Mojorabbit]

225. I'll go you one better

I inherited an old edison years ago with two horns and the cylinder records. :)

[kineneb]

233. coool! nt.

[Liberal Veteran]

34. My iPod doesn't seem to have a record slot....

And I always hated the way the music skipped whenever I went jogging with my record player.

[zagging]

39. Accessories

You have to get the optional super absorbant skull-shock(tm) so you can carry it on your head. It's expensive, especially if you go with the 12 volt DC battery conversion kit. You'll be in great shape, but make sure you get a maintenance free battery so those nasty electolytes don't burn your hair and clothing up. There's a recall on the HDP21X version.

[SidDithers]

122. "12 volt DC battery conversion kit"...

:rofl:

Sid

Edit: Welcome to DU!

[IDemo]

36. I'm holding out for the return of eight track

B-)

[Liberal Veteran]

40. The best part of 8-tracks were how they cut-off in the middle of a song...

....and continued when the head moved to the next track.

Oh, and you could always count on your favorite 8-track to be "eaten" by the player.

[IDemo]

45. I always "liked" the double-track effect:

I can still hear "Stairway to Heaven" and "Rock and Roll" playing simultaneously

"There's who's sure a long time since I rock and rolled all that glitters is gold been a long lonely, lonely, lonely the stores are all closed".

[Frank Cannon]

62. Eight-tracks, for the most part, were practically invulnerable

There has never been another format before or since that would take as much punishment as the eight-track cartridge could. You could leave one of those babies cooking on the dashboard of your car for an entire summer, run over it in your Dodge Challenger accidentally a few times, and it would STILL play as great as the first day you bought it... as long as you didn't mind it cutting out in the middle of your favorite song.

My first introduction to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was by way of eight-track. The first cut-out was in the middle of the song "Time".

[kentauros]

58. The only thing I have close to that in my collection

are the "carts" from my mid-90s days at KPFT :) I need to send these on over to negativland sometime as one of the guys still uses them in their shows:



I would love to get my old Philips turntable fixed (it's got a bad chip that I don't know how to replace on my own) so I can rip my collection to drive/DVD and hear some of the out of print stuff again (when I'm not finding them already that way on Free Albums Galore that is ;)) I'll still keep the old stuff, but will only listen to the digital copies. That way, I save the waste of more plastic, of ruining the needle slowly, of ruining the vinyl slowly and can then archive the lot all over again. To my ears, I've never been able to discern the supposed "higher quality" of vinyl over digital. I feel some of that is more of a desire to want it to be better than actually being so.

Something else to ponder: Does digital music (i.e., digital synthesizers and digital music-making equipment like samplers) sound better on analog vinyl or digital media? ;)

[Canuckistanian]

60. Eddie Arnold never sounded better

And it was a format MADE for Boxcar Willie....

[...of J.Temperance]

93. Eight tracks still exist....I know a few people who use them

So see, ALL HOPE ISN'T LOST!

[Cetacea]

43. CDs: good example of mass consumer propaganda.

Most of us were duped into believing that CD's are better than vinyl. They are only more convenient.
Thanks for the link.

[zagging]

46. I would bet...

...That a good many people who worry themselves about the loss of analogue records blew their eardrums out standing in front of Marshall stacks. I'd say that fidelity is not as much a concern as hearing is.

[Buns_of_Fire]

71. Eh? Speak up!

:-)

[zagging]

72. I SAID...

I WOULD BET...heh heh

[Initech]

47. Cant play records in your car.

[IDemo]

48. Here you go

Current bid: US $102.50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ARC-Melody-2500-A-R-C-Automobile-Car-Record-Player_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42612QQihZ015QQitemZ250181264694QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[Initech]

55. OMG!!! Does that thing take up the whole passenger seat or what?

:rofl:

[IDemo]

56. Ya gotta know that thing would theft-proof your car, anyway

Thieves would die laughing after one look.

[WinkyDink]

121. Oh, THAT wouldn't contribute to any accidents, oh, noooooo!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

134. I had one, it played 45s, only for when you were parked or on a completely smooth road.

One bump and it would skip, at railroad crossings you had to turn it off.

[Dukkha]

142. here's a better option: the iVinyl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n33ACfZ45ys

[JMDEM]

54. Reality is analog. Think about that. nt.

[zagging]

57. It's all analogue

by the time it gets to your ear. Your ability to discern the difference between an analogue and digital recording is extremely limited by the fact that you are not a different sort of mammal.

[...of J.Temperance]

94. You DON'T work for one of those HORRIBLE Major record labels do you?

You sound like someone who works for one of the HORRIBLE Major record label's, I'm just being honest.

[zagging]

116. Analogue snobs are like wine snobs

Only their trained palates can understand the subleties and masterful quality of the final product. They can go on for hours about a topic which is entirely arcane and pointless, and is above the knuckle dragger's ability to comprehend.

They also stand around and spew into buckets.

Thankfully, they are few and far between.

[wtmusic]

151. Either that or, "Everything I have a less-than-complete understanding

of is arcane and pointless, because I know everything that's worth knowing." :shrug:

[zagging]

158. What's hard to understand?

Given enough time anyone can learn to put a record on a turntable and listen to it with an animated ooh and ahh now and then. What you can't learn is hearing frequencies much over 20K. All the blather about hearing all the subtle and precious hallmarks of an analogue recording is puffery.

[wtmusic]

160. So it's about nothing more than hearing above 20K? nt

[zagging]

162. What else is it?

Did I miss something?

[wtmusic]

163. All sorts of little games have been played

trying to "equalize" the raw sound of vinyl into something that resembles a flat frequency response, the most famous being the RIAA curve.

Raw vinyl has a pretty substantial spike under 200Hz and they try to get rid of that, although IMO not very successfully. So what's left over is a big part of the vinyl sound, and some people like it, even though it's technically an artifact.

You can also look at it from this perspective: record engineers of the 50s-80s were very aware of this spike and mixed to compensate (they rolled off low end, usually with a high-pass filter) so when you hear those masters transferred directly to CD you're hearing an absence of low end, at least according to what the record producer wanted.

[zagging]

166. OK

Essentially you're telling me that it's OK if someone wants to like the bugginess of the recordings, and I agree.

[Evoman]

174. Lol...and like some wine tasters, if you take the shitty stuff and tell them it 300 bucks and from

France, they will tell you how delicate the flavour is while you laugh at them.

[...of J.Temperance]

217. I am a PROUD snob....a proud music snob and a proud analog snob

I'm a Purist, and you know there's TENS OF THOUSANDS of us....ACROSS the planet.

So you can say what you want, you're just blowing hot air!

[mitchum]

250. Actually record labels would be touting the "legitimacy" of vinyl over digital...

since digital, unlike vinyl, is easily affordable to independent artists.
THAT'S exactly what the distributor and person from Matador are up to in the article.

[whopis01]

178. Not really - it is digital, just with really high bandwidth. n/t

[KG]

65. wishful thinking.

um, no thanks to vinyl. pops, scratches, muddy sound, maybe 20 minutes of music before stopping to turn over the record, artists' arrangements limited to what will fit on one side of a platter, dealing with dust everywhere. boy, how much fun is was that?


the introduction of CDs made me stop pining for the system i had to leave behind when my ex-wife requested my departure.

[Tatiana]

66. Best way to listen to Motown 45's.

I have purchased digitally remastered versions of classics for mobility but, I prefer the sound of the records.

[Cetacea]

68. "Digital music re-creates a sound. Analog music is sound."

snip
For most people, the difference isn't significant. But for audiophiles, it's noticeable.

Carol cited as an example a violin note that's struck in a recording session. In a digital recording, because there are a finite number of digital bits defining that sound, it will abruptly end. But with an analog recording, that sound will trail off more gracefully and actually disappear.

http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/002849.html

[zagging]

69. Max human ear CPS

is 20,000. You can record all the 40K CPS you want. It won't make a fig of difference unless you have a dog which enjoys Bach.

[wtmusic]

70. That note has long since disappeared into the noise threshhold

of even the finest turntable ever made.

If you listen to a crappy 16-bit digital recording in a recording studio with the monitors turned way up high, it's true--you can hear where that last bit is used up and the note abruptly ends. But by the time it makes it to your home stereo system, even on CD, it's really not an issue.

Much more obvious are digital artifacts of the analog/digital conversion process, which IMO is what really bothers many people about CDs. And many seem to think of MP3s and CDs as the same digital animal, when MP3s introduce atrocious distortion into sound in an encoding process which is absent in CD recordings.

24-bit, 48K digital sound recorded with good A/D converters is sound of truly amazing quality and purity, but most audio consumers have never heard it.

[Sandaasu]

74. Theoretically, yeah, vinyl can be better at first.

But because the reading of the data involves friction with a needle, you're losing quality every time. Even then, that's only theoretical. CDs are already so good that it's rare that the human ear can pick out the issues with it. If you're talking about something more than that though, such as DVD-Audio, I don't see how it could be possible, realistically.

Honestly, I'd have to say that a lot of the praise for vinyl comes from people who are just plain used to it, like with the obsession some have with vacuum tubes.

[wtmusic]

76. A good analogy

although there seems to be a subtle but innate human response to analog which goes beyond nostalgia. It has a lot to do with the transient response of physical systems like turntables and vacuum tubes--like reverberation, they tends to "frame" the sound in a certain way which makes it easier to picture in the mind's eye.

Or not. :crazy:

[zagging]

78. Is there a smilie which has a look of

someone passing a jagged rock?

[wtmusic]

79. Not that I know of

but best of luck with that rock. :)

[Cetacea]

98. Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[kysrsoze]

80. The citing you posted got torn apart by a lot of responses

Vinyl sound isn't better. It's different. Lots of people love it, including me. However, it is not a truly faithful reproduction of the music because it takes mechanical manipulation, including friction, to create that analogue wave. REAL vinyl is very rare these days anyway since most artists record digitally. Lots of technological advances bring both improved portability and better quality. Look at digital TV - it's far superior to analogue TV in audio and video quality, as well as the additional information which can be sent with it.

You're free to prefer vinyl, but there are many audiophiles who love both CD and vinyl. Even Ogg Vorbis digital format (unfortunately pretty rare in iPod-like devices these days), has outstanding sound quality and is considered "lossless." I've heard some really bad CD recordings, but it isn't the medium itself which is to blame.

[Cetacea]

85. Solid state types. And obviously not recording artists.

When someone can't hear the difference between tubes and SS, I seriously would question their ability to hear the difference between Cds and LPs, or for that matter, MP3s and wave files.

[kysrsoze]

222. Oh, there's a difference, but it doesn't mean tubes are better than full digital

Tubes have that warm sound too, but again you're talking about a coloration. Newer audiophile quality digital amps don't have the harshness of the old digital amps. As far as recording artists who record digitally, Rush and Sting were doing it in the 80's. You can absolutely tell when you're hearing an LP, but it doesn't mean that's a more accurate sound - it's colored with noise. Sounds really good sometimes, but again, it's not necessarily more accurate. BTW - I doubt most people could tell a difference between 256K mp3 and a .WAV file.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

73. I miss my vinyl collection.

I had a fantastic (for the time) collection of classic rock LPs. I kept them in immaculate condition, handled them only by the edges, wiped the dust from them before AND after playing them, and stored them vertically, with the inner sleeve openings to the top. The local radio night DJ used to come to me to borrow my music to play on the air because the radio station didn't have as good a music collection.

I sold my entire collection to enable me to break out of a dismal, dead end life and start over somewhere else.

It worked, and I never looked back.

But I still miss my LP collection.

[zagging]

77. Wow

I figured I'd better get rid of this post before I got into trouble.

Good listening!

[Dukkha]

82. I just bought 14 records tonight

all $1 each. Of course it took me 1 1/2 hours searching through the entire section to find the ones I like and have no visible scratches and wear. An addition 45 minutes spent cleaning them all thoroughly and I was in sonic heaven. Most of them played flawlessly. Sometimes the $1 bins produce nice gems, sometimes crap. It's worth $1 to take a chance to find the good ones. I got myself up to 100 records in my collection with today's haul so I'll be more selective now and focus mostly on new sealed copies, particularly 180 gram audiophile pressings.

I still buy digital music, particularly SACD and DVD-A discs when they are available. But when you have a good analog front end set up the rewards are wonderful. You'd be amazed at what you're missing. Music I've listened to for years on CDs or mp3s suddenly have a whole new soundstage when played back on a nice analog system or high resolution digital. You hear things in the music you previously couldn't hear before.

In addition to vinyls new comeback is another tried and true audio medium resurging, vacuum tubes. My system has a digital surround sound receiver with an analog tube amplifier integrated to power the front mains. The difference is amazing. It really takes the metallic edge off digital music and makes them much warmer sounding. Individual instruments are more defined and the vocals are like the singer's in the room with you. Most good tube amps cost a fortune around $5k - $10k but there are some Chinese made ones that can be had cheap or vintage Fisher & Sansui receivers. Be sure you get US designed ones or the quality control won't be there and they can blow like firecrackers.

[Hissyspit]

83. I bought Springsteen's "Magic" on vinyl in addition to the CD.

I know where Side 1 ends and Side 2 starts!

[...of J.Temperance]

95. This OP needs ONE more vote for 5, c'mon SOMEONE give it another vote

:)

[rAVES]

96. done and done :)

[...of J.Temperance]

97. Fab! That's VERY satisfying I must say....we got 5!

Well done :)

[unblock]

102. NOMINATED for response #5

:spray:

[TheMadMonk]

107. It's the hiss, pop and crackle of vynil which lend it its ambience.

Filling an otherwise sterile recording with the white noise of (and this thought just occurred to me) a large enthralled audience. The unavoidable "zero point" noise of a fixated crowd.

It makes you a "true part" of the experience.

[...of J.Temperance]

109. I agree....a little pop and crackle here and there

Is immensely comforting....it's a comforting noise.

[Clark2008]

111. I knew there was a reason I kept all my vinyl from the 80s.

It's making a comeback, eh?

:7

[BurningDog]

112. Dead to the CD, Long live "HD"-audio.

There needs to be a widely supported high definition audio format. CDs are approaching 30 years old. Almost everyone now has a multi-thousand dollar entertainment center in their living rooms, but our music format is still 1980s technology.

Unfortunately, the "Ipod Generation" is more than content with 99 cent mp3s through crappy headphones and today's music caters to that audience. Popular music isn't mixed for sound quality, its made to try to get your attention when put next to all the other crap on the radio. I hate listening to an artist's independent CDs that sound great, then they get on a big label and the sound is compressed to hell and has no dynamic range left.

Record labels that have no respect for the music on them will be the dead of CDs.

[WinkyDink]

120. "Almost everyone now has a multi-thousand dollar entertainment center in their living rooms"

Really?

[Atman]

148. I have an Airport Exteme and play my digitized music through my stereo.

I've ripped most of my 700 CDs onto my Mac (max quality, lossless, not mp3). I can't remember the last time I played an actual CD let alone a vinyl record. The Airport lets me pick which speakers to play through in which room, and it can all be controlled from my desk while I'm working. I use it to listen to internet radio and Sirius Online, too. Why anyone would want to go back to tip-toeing across the hardwood floors and getting up to flip an album every fifteen minutes is beyond me. It's pure snobbery.

.

[Midlodemocrat]

113. I still have all my old LPs. Recently bought a turntable to start listening to them again.

[Pawel K]

117. Maybe I'm too young but I don't get it

I'll take CD or MP3 over vinyl any day. Better sound quality, easier music access, and I can take it on the go.

:shrug:

[Atman]

129. It's just a retro fad

Vinyl is stupid. Why don't you hear these people saying "We need to go back to wax cylinders?" Because this is a trend, a fad, nothing more. So-called audiophiles have always needed something that makes them feel special. Now that every snot-nosed kid and his grandmother are carrying the same technology in their pockets, it makes the audiophiles feel impotent to be using the same lowly technology...but there isn't anything better yet (nothing is released in HD yet), so they're doing this retro bullshit. And it IS bullshit. I've got a huge record collection. 90% of the albums have only been played once, because in my audiophile days every disc got washed and recorded the second I took it out of the sleeve, then never saw the light of day again unless the cassette got mangled. But they were still just vinyl, and the anyone who buys into this whole "they sound warmer" crap is blowing wind up your skirt...and doesn't know how to use an equalizer.

You want that warm vinyl sound? Next time you rip a CD, dub a track of ambient hissing with a few pops and cracks thrown in. It's SO awesome! You'll feel like you were there! Where "there" is I don't know, unless you like the feel of crappy bands in dive bars with shitty amps.

.

[JVS]

203. I pretty much agree, but if you are into Jazz or Classical, then records are necessary

There's just such a large corpus of music already out that is worth having a turntable to listen to. My parents got their hands on a Deutsche Grammaphon Beethoven Bicentennial collection that would cost a fortune to replace on CD, if that would even be possible

[Dukkha]

130. MP3 has better sound quality to vinyl?

:rofl: you're really demonstrating your ignorance with that asinine statement. Vinyl can also be portable with what we in the know call needledropping.

[Pawel K]

150. Mp3 has way better sound quality.

You are denying this simple fact and are laughing at me? An average MP3 encoded at 128Kbit/s will give you much better sampling than vinyl ever could.

And I'll be sure to install that awesome turn table in my new car. :eyes:

You guys are on the same level as all the mac users these days. You think you are so cool because you standing up to the establishment when really you are working on an overpriced piece of crap.

[wtmusic]

153. Vinyl involves no sampling at all

And I won't resort to insults, but yes, vinyl can give you more accurate reproduction of a recording than an MP3 recorded in even its highest bitrate (320kbps), with a few caveats: a high quality turntable, a new record, and a great vinyl master (mastering vinyl is an art unto itself).

That said, vinyl is in many ways a pain in the ass. If people really like the sound they should convert them to CDs and recycle the plastic.

[Dukkha]

154. again you are wrong and totally uneducated

Obviously you've never even heard a true analog recording before, or have any clue as to how mp3s are created. Since you have such a need for portability that alone indicates you never really listen to the music but treat it as background noise. Or are you trying to suggest that virtually every major producer, engineer and artist, some with up to 50 years experience in the field, are completely wrong because some nobody kid loser brazenly declares they know more on the subject of sound reproduction because they drank the kool-aid of mp3s, a formate designed solely for video sound and was never meant for audio. Your unrelated Mac bashing statement also hints to your frustrations that you can't afford quality audio hardware and steal music on bittorrent servers so you simply bash others who can and pretend they only think they hear the difference.

Do yourself a favor and actually do some research before making a complete ass of yourself.

[Pawel K]

156. Do you know any engineers around here with 50 years of experiance that can comment on this?

If so then please, do have them educate me. I am by no means an expert but I have mixed tracks (digitally) plenty of times. I like your argument that analog represents the music accurately but I'm curious as to what century you are living in. You do know that most music now days is mixed and recorded digitally, right? This means when you go to vinyl you go from digital back to analog, not the other way around.

And you sure do make a lot of assumptions about me, you know that saying about assumptions right?

[Atman]

157. Isn't it hysterical?

In the "old days" when CD's first started coming out, they all had a letter code on the back of them..."AAD" or "ADD," whatever, to indicate how they were recorded and remastered for CD -- Analog recording, Analog mixing, Digital transfer" or whatever. But now, you're correct, virtually any new music is recorded and mixed on digital equipment. To say that then down-grading it to vinyl makes it somehow "better" than the original source is ludicrous, and just another way the vinyl-heads like to convince themselves of their superiority over mere mortals.

.

[Pawel K]

159. To be honest thats before my day. I grew up in Poland so I didn't have a CD player until 1996

People that think vinyl is better than CDs have every right to have that opinion. What pisses me off is when they jump all over you like you are some kind of retard when you disagree with them.

[wtmusic]

161. About 30 years here

and I agree that the insults accomplish nothing. I will make a point that there is a world of difference between MP3s and CDs in terms of sonic quality and the two shouldn't be confused.

Hey, the wonderful thing about music is you're free to listen to whatever floats your boat. But anyone who hasn't heard well-recorded vinyl or even CDs, on a good system, owes them a listen.

[Pawel K]

182. I'm a sound freak. Though I can't afford the very best I take pride in the systems I do have

both in house and in my car. In addition I played around a few years ago with digital music production, by no means I can claim I was great at it and I won't be able to match anyone with 30 years of experiance but all I can say is that digital music simply sounds better to me. Clearly there is a difference between CDs and MP3s but I don't think you will be able to notice that difference if you encode the mp3 at 320Kbps.

As you said, to each his own. I probably haven't had enough experiance to appreciate vinyl as much as some here but I just hate people that pick up on a trend, down right insult people that have a different opinion on that trend, and then result to insults and baseless assumptions.

:toast:

[JVS]

204. Wouldn't the best analogue be on magnetic tape anyway?

Those big reel to reels?

[Pawel K]

230. I can't tell you. There hasn't been anything originally recorded on Analog in a long time

way before my days.

[B3Nut]

240. Sure there has, and still is.

Not as much in the disposable-pop realm, but a fair chunk of rock'n'roll and roots music (such as Neil Young's latest) is still tracked to 2" 24-track analog, even though 2" is expensive to run. Even when the bulk of a project is done in a DAW, it is common to track the drums and bass to analog first to take advantage of tape compression. All the work I do is in digital, however, the sessions I do aren't "high-budget" enough to warrant springing for the 2-inch. And proper digital recording (linear, not compressed) can sound superb when done properly.

Oh, and MP3 is NOT an accurate representation of an audio waveform, it is a lossy scheme that determines what it can "throw away". They're better at higher bitrates (128K is horrible), but they still do nasty things in the treble. Linear PCM and lossless encoding are far superior to lossy formats. But most modern pop is so wretchedly produced it doesn't matter what format it's in, it sounds like pure ass regardless.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[mondo joe]

164. Man, that is some Luddite hysteria outburst.

Way to go dude! :rofl:

[Elwood P Dowd]

167. I agree with Neo.

Having worked in the audio and music business for 35 years, I have owned or listened to hundreds of different models of cassette decks, reel-to-reels, CD/DVD players, turntables, MP3 players, etc.. I currently own a turntable that sold for over $3,000.00 when I purchased it in 1996 (I couldn't afford it today though). When I want to do some serious music listening, that's my source. For background music, walking the dog, or driving in my car, I listen to CDs or MP3s.

Most of the anti-vinyl folks on this tread have probably never heard a comparison between a properly set-up high end turntable playing clean, noise-free LPs and a CD or MP3 player. There are some expensive CD players that come close, but the MP3 players or MP3s burned on CDs sound like pure shit in comparison. The soundstage is shrunk, there is no depth, transients are muted, and the dynamics are limited. It's really a laughable comparison.

[mondo joe]

170. I'm not anti vinyl.

At least I don't think I am. Maybe I'll be proven wrong.

While there is an atmosphere with vinyl, and I'd even believe a greater depth of sound, I think for most people it's barely discernible if at all.

Being quite a foodie, I'd say the standards of the general public aren't that great when it comes to food, so I'm sympathetic to the music aesthetic. But I also know that people are what people are, and I don't see a point to lambasting them for differences in purely subjective tastes - y'know, like the implication that if you listen to digital music it's only background noise.

[Elwood P Dowd]

175. The problem is

that many are posting here about a subject they know very little about. When the poster said MP3s sounded better than vinyl, I just about fell out of my chair laughing.

BTW, no one has mentioned the ultimate in recorded sound - the original 30ips analogue master tapes.

[Pawel K]

180. I stand by what I said

thank you very much.

As I already said, virtually all music recorded today is digital. When you record it on vinyl you have to go from digital back to analog. MP3s are digital. If they are encoded from the original source, or even encoded properly from a CD they will sound better than vinyl. Mp3s remove frequencies most speakers wont pick up on anyway, if encoding at 320 you will not notice a difference. With 128 there is some noticible difference between it and the source recording, but I will still go out on a limb and say its better than todays vinyl. And unless you have some actual data to prove my opinion is wrong I don't think you have a right to be throwing out insults.

[Elwood P Dowd]

184. I've been buying music for 50 years

and have been involved in the music and audio business for 35 years. Probably 90% of my collection of LPs, CDs, and MP3s were originally recorded on analogue tape machines from companies such as Ampex, Levison/Studor, and others. You want to limit your argument to what's coming out today in digital form, while I'm listening to music that spans 6 decades.

[Dukkha]

188. exactly, and mastering is really the key.

Why else are music fans willing to pay a premium for CDs reissued by MFSL and DCC. The mastering engineers and producers are highly skilled and experienced who created these masters and using the best in vintage and modern gear. The modern LPs and High resolution SACDs they master now taken from digital tracking and mixed were recorded at 24 bit 192khz rates. These are taken out of the digital realm processed on analog tube and high end solid state processors in the final mastering process. the resulting masters are significantly better than they would be on any encoded format. The real issue here is these self-proclaimed experts think they know what they're discussing when they have nothing to compare it to other that their own music made on POS PCs with cheap budget sound cards and cheap speakers that do not produce a decent sound stage. and for the record I have 20 years experience on everything from 2" analog tape on Studer machines to Pro Tools 192. I'd like to see them jump over to actual audiophile forums and pitch their snake oil there. Particularly one place where one of our members engineer some thing called The White Album and Magical Mystery Tour and he is a big vinyl advocate.

[Pawel K]

191. Thats great that you know all that, it doesn't mean you have to be a total asshole about it

and talk down to everyone.

I've recorded with pro tools, not on very expensive equipment but I was certainly proud of what I had at the time. I never claimed to be an expert nor do I pretend to be one now. I simply stated my opinion, an opinion you seemed to take serious exception with. I will stand by my opinion until someone provides me with real research that proves my opinion wrong. You are saying that your ear is better than mine, fine. If you simply stated that I would simply disagree and move on, next time try not to be such a dick about it. Cool?

[mondo joe]

199. Understood. And I hae to say, despite many intances in which I've felt I might

need to defend my stance on DU, I never expected I'd say "I am not anti-vinyl".

It's a good day.

[mudesi]

198. Oh for crying out loud

You guys are making me laugh out loud reading all these posts about how much better the sound quality is on vinyl.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Some people are so biased that they are completely blinded to reality.

[Elwood P Dowd]

200. How many years have you been in the audio or music business?

How many comparisons have you made between a high end vinyl rig playing clean, noise-free LPs and a high end CD player?
We're not talking about cheap $200.00 Technics tables with $50.00 moving magnets playing beat-up LPs here. The CD will win out in that comparison. My high end vinyl rig beats the pants off my $500.00 NAD CD player and slaughters the sound of MP3s stored on my computer. I bought the first Sony CD player that came out in 1983 and have been trying to find something that beats analogue ever since. Some of the better SACD players are getting close. Playing vinyl is often a pain in the ass with all the cleaning, adjustments, and set-up, but it's the best sound I've heard. You obviously have never heard what a properly set-up high end turntable can do in a serious high end audio rig.

[Coexist]

118. Sirius has a station called Classic Vinyl that only plays vinyl

I love it.

[Atman]

144. I've never listened to it.

Sirius's sound quality is already pretty weak. I figured it would sound like listening to old vinyl on an AM radio. I'll have to check it out sometime (if I can get over my loathing of "classic rock").

.

[theboss]

177. I don't think they actually play vinyl

Everything at Sirius is digitized. That's why Howard Stern can pull up any song that he thinks of on the air at a moment's notice.

[misanthrope]

227. ...then converts it to a digital form to get it to the satellite and back to the listener**nm

**

[ehrnst]

119. Great "Zits" comic on this subject...

[Odin2005]

123. Mr Amory thinks records have better sound quality then CDs?

:rofl:

[rocktivity]

131. I love the smell of vindication in the morning.

Nope, there's no substitute for that warm analog vinyl-y sound!

:headbang:
rocknation

[aikoaiko]

133. I have no love for cds, but I'll never go back to vinyl.

Most of the mass market music on vinyl was on crappy quality vinyl.

Most people don't have the equipment to reap the benefits of high end vinyl recordings.

Most people don't take good enough care of the their vinyl to reap the benefits.

Most people can't even hear the difference between digital and vinyl.

I'll stick with cds, dvds, and mp3s, thank you very much.

[gollygee]

135. I really doubt it

I remember vinyl records fondly, and they were certainly better than cassette tapes.

BUT

I LOVE having every bit of music I could possibly want in one tiny little package I can take wherever I go. That beats whatever nostalgia I feel for vinyl.

And a brand new record might sound better than digital, but I wore out more than a few records. Even the ones that didn't get skips ended up sounding worse as time went on.

[onenote]

136. cds may eventually fade away, replaced by digital downloads

But the "resurgence" of vinyl will have no significant impact on that development.

http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/4146447

[Sabriel]

137. Great! Now I can get my Loverboy and April Wine LPs out.... n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

138. Vinyl is vulnerable

I had hundreds of classical and popular LPs when I moved from a large apartment to a small apartment in 1993, and I decided to play through as many of them as possible during the month I was packing to move.

I was dismayed to find out how many of them had warped (despite being stored upright on a tightly packed shelf), had cracks or pops, or had simply worn down from too much playing.

[CT_Progressive]

140. In related news, I've got a bridge to sell you. In New York. Great Price !

PM me !!!

:sarcasm:

[StrongBad]

152. I absolutely love vinyl

I've been noticing that a lot of new artist releases have been offering digital downloads of their albums with the purchase of the vinyl record. I think this is a great idea because I don't shun digital - I do love my iPod and MP3s.

[lildreamer316]

168. My DJ husband is thrilled!!!

He has stuck faithfully to vinyl for a long, long time.

[Atman]

169. Why is this entire discussion only about MP3?

Are some of you using the term "mp3" in a generic fashion to describe any digital music file? It sure sounds like it. I know Apple doesn't sell mp3's. When I rip my CD's I don't rip them into the mp3 format. My iPod has very few mp3s on it.

The FACT is, there are lossless digital formats, and there are mp4's and there are all sorts of digital music formats. MP3s are just one format, one of the earliest ones. I still have an old Rio 500 that only played mp3s because it used memory cards which only came in 256mb size way back when, so compression was a must. But just because it's digital doesn't mean it has to be compressed and clipped to hell.

.

[theboss]

176. I had a vinyl phase in my hipster youth

Everyone goes through it.

I am 33. I fully expect to go through at least 4 more of these "return to vinyl" phases in my lifetime.

Vinyl sounds fantastic on the first listen if the needle is clean. Vinyl sounds worse on every subsequent listen.

[Elwood P Dowd]

181. That is not always true.

I have albums purchased back in the 1960s that still sound like new. Of course, I've always handled my albums carefully and only play them on high end turntables. Albums will only degrade if you don't take proper care of them or play them on some cheap $200.00 turntable/cartridge combo that's not aligned using proper geometry and recommended stylus force/anti-skating settings. Also, a professional cleaning machine does wonders for older albums. The only problem is the better machines start at over $400.00.

BTW, the proper term is "stylus", not needle.

[...of J.Temperance]

219. You're 33, I'm not 30 yet and I've ALWAYS bought vinyl

I bought my first record when I was 11 years-old, well my Dad bought it for me, but it was MY FIRST record.

I've always been a Vinyl addict, I've never abandoned it....so I've never had any "return to vinyl phases", because I never left vinyl in the first place.

If you keep the needle in good condition, and replace it when it needs replacing, and you keep your records clean....then I disagree that vinyl sounds worse on every subsequent listen.

[Touchdown]

179. In other news...VHS makes a comeback!

Who needs high definition? Give us the bad color reproduction, bulky cartridges, smearing fleshtones and rainbow stretch lines any day over DVD. Who needs to see every crack in Clint Eastwood's face, or every piece of shaving stubble in Jenna James' crotch? :eyes:

Yeah, I'm old enough to remember vinyl. It does sound different than CDs...SCRATCHY! Bring back quadraphonic stereo whiule you're at it.:puke:

[ryanmuegge]

183. Vinyl is too expensive.

Despite romantic notions about vinyl, it's way too expensive in this age of $93/barrel oil. It's not going to replace the CD. The problem with vinyl is its physical size relative to a CD. Much more oil is needed to produce a record versus a CD.

[GliderGuider]

187. I grew up on music, been a serious audiophool for at least 30 years

I have some utterly insane stuff in my big rig, but no turntable.

I started out my audio days with my violinist father's hand-me-down AR-XA, then went to a Systemdek IIX, then to a Sota Sapphire/Alphason rig for a long while. That was a killer combo. These days, though, it's all CD, played through a Level 4 Audio Note transport and DAC. That DAC is the first one that really let me relax and submerge myself in the music. I wanted to make the switch to CD because all the music that interested me was coming out on CD, not vinyl, and I had gotten a wee bit tired of the "vinyl rituals" - especially all the VTA paranoia

My group of audio buddies is evenly split between vinyl and CD, though I've noticed something interesting. The vinyl guys all have mediocre to OK CD players as well, but the CD guys don't even own TTs. I don't really know what that means, except that there seems to be more music on CD that vinyl-heads might miss than vice versa.

For me it's all about the music, so I really don't do that much mental ranking when I'm listening to one source or the other - I take each on its own merits and in good systems both have something musically valid to offer.

But I'll tell ya, a really well-recorded CD, played back through that Audio Note front end, a little Nelson Pass Aleph amp and a pair of 50-year-old refurbished Quad ESL57s in a well-treated listening room leaves me wanting for absolutely nothin'.

Here's to the music, however it makes it to your ears.

[Elwood P Dowd]

190. That's some seriously good stuff you have there Glider.

If I had the money, I would go back to some ole' tricked out Quads.

[GliderGuider]

192. I just bought the Quads this year.

If I'd bought a pair 30 years ago I'd have saved myself a lot of money over that time. They've made more difference to the music than anything except maybe doing up the room.

If you're interested, the full system is posted on AudioAsylum (no pics, though)

[Elwood P Dowd]

194. I used to hang around the Asylum years ago.

Mostly the vinyl, vintage, and tube forums. Also owned a couple of pair of Quads over the years, but they were the ESL 63 original and later the ESL 63 USA. Had to sell them when tough financial times hit.

[FatDave]

189. I don't particulalry buy the argument that vinyl sounds better than CD...

...but I sure do miss vinyl albums. I miss sides 1 & 2. I miss the larger cover art. And the inner cover art. And the sleeve cover art. I miss watching them spin as the needle slowly approached the center. To me, the 33-1/3 vinyl album is the true format of rock and roll.

And yes, mp3 quality is inferior to about everything. I much prefer FLAC for digital music.

[Up2Late]

193. Sounds like a Fad, probably among recent collage graduate without much money.

Or maybe it's becoming a status thing, did they recently raise the price?

Btw, I still have all my 33 1/3s and 45s and my Turn-table, never use it though. I've even bought a few GREAT used records in the last 10 years, found them at thrift stores for about $1.00-1.50.

[killbotfactory]

201. They are starting to sell Vinyl records with links to free mp3's to download

Which gives people less reason to buy a cd. Vinyl has downsides, but it's a unique experience that can't be replaced. And with the way CD's are being mastered, destroying all the dynamics to make it sound loud on crappy speakers, they can sound better despite all the clicks, pops, and surface noise.

It won't replace CD's, but hopefully the market becomes big enough that it's worthwhile for bands to keep Vinyl records in print.

[Up2Late]

254. Where did you see that?

The link to mp3s to download thing, I mean.

Btw, I have an LP v. CD that is the total opposite of what you wrote here.

I bought "Paul's Boutique" by The Beastie Boys back in 1989 and Hated it, because it seems they tried to cram all 53:03 (minutes:seconds) onto a single vinyl records (most vinyl record hold about 45 minutes of music) which caused it to really sound like crap. It wasn't until I bought (and started listening to) the CD version of "Paul's Boutique" that I even began to understand how good that album was.

[ozone_man]

206. I got a new turntable

and cleaned my old LP collection a while back. I was amazed at how well they sounded. I think recording musicians like vinyl because it sounds fuller than digital recording.

And it's the personal experience, of handling the LP's that you don't get with a CD.

[Samantha]

210. Just listen to Janice Joplin's PEARL album and decide for yourself

I bought a new turntable last year, despite having multiple CD players, just for the pure listening enjoyment of some old records. You have to experience this for yourself in order to believe it. But start with Janice ... and you will be convinced.

[Samantha]

213. PS I have a number of original releases by the following artists

Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Janice Joplin, Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison, Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, and a lot of SOUL. Additionally, in the past when friends have told me they were getting rid of their records, I took a lot of them. So I have many who were not my personal preferences.

Oh yes, I have the Platters singing "When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." I guess I better quit or soon I will be itemizing them all. Bee Gees, Temptations, Willie Nelson, Blue Cheer, Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, Mama's and the Papa' (no I didn't misspell that), Jimi Hendrix, Linda Ronstat, Leo Sayer, Carley Simon ....

I have many "treasures" but my vinyls are among my most treasured.

[Danger Mouse]

218. Oh, what a crock of garbage.

I hear disco is making a comeback, too!

[Alexander]

224. I love my vinyls - I have about 150 of them.

They sound so much better than CDs, even though I have about another 200 of those.

[Beerboy]

226. Lots of folks still must have very high qual hi-fi eq;

I have ancient but updated and re-pristine Hi-Fi equipment from '69 and still mint LPs, and it's a sound you just can't get from CD, good as that format is.
I don't see a resurgence of the LP format though; too many logistical drawbacks. The improvements in sound quality will likely come a new format of storage that will be much smaller, yet rendering much higher Hi-Fi than ever.
I think I remember a Sat. Night Live skit about it.

[AX10]

231. Analog recordings take in all the sound that the microphones...

recieve. Digital systems use a series of high and low powered circuts to produce sound, which is estimated by the computer system. If a sound is closer to one side, it is sent through a high powered circuit, if it closer to the other, it is sent though the low powered circuit. Basically, the sound is being "estimated". Analog recordings give back what is put in.

[mainegreen]

232. I buy primarily vinyl.

:D

Records often art not just the music, but art, both in the record and the packaging.
Plus, anyone worth their salt can transfer vinyl to digital, bypassing CDs.

[twiceshy]

234. The lead singer for the Who agrees!!!

Leader
Wednesday September 7, 2005
The Guardian


Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, the guitar-smashing band of the 60s and 70s, has not lost his touch for iconoclasm. While opening HMV's digital music download service this week, he is reported - to the chagrin of his hosts - to have launched into a eulogy for vinyl records, resonant of the heyday of rock, which are supposed to have been confined to history by the digital revolution. He added that if he was a billionaire and had his time again, he would invest all his money in a factory to produce vinyl records since "nothing beats the rich sound of vinyl, it's a fact and you get none of the decrease in quality that you get with other types of modern recordings".

Article continues

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many musical enthusiasts, classical and pop, would agree with that statement. So would those technical experts who claim that the conversion of a digital signal into the ones and zeros of digital code involves a perceptible loss of quality. None of this will worry the iPod generation for whom the joys of downloading digital tracks from the internet and playing them anywhere they want more than offsets any loss of quality that people from a former age can discern.
Mr Daltrey is out of touch, however, if he thinks he would need to be a billionaire to build a factory making vinyl records. In fact he could buy the entire industry many times over for that. Britain is down to its last dozen or so factories. But his timing is shrewd. Vinyl records, far from being confined to some retro museum, have been enjoying a renaissance, albeit from a low base. Sales of seven-inch vinyls increased by 87% between April and June to 288,780 compared with the same period last year, buoyed up by interest in indie and rock bands, and from disc-scratching DJs.

One feature of vinyl often forgotten was that it was easy to tape copies without the music industry getting angry as it does with digital downloads. Companies such as HMV are now selling downloads at affordable prices and people are buying them in vast quantities. The rebirth of vinyl may not prove anything at all - except that, as with Mr Daltrey, you cannot keep a good rocker down.

[Cetacea]

238. "Top Five reasons Vinyl will outlive Cds"

http://puddlegum.net/top-five-reasons-why-vinyl-will-outlive-cds/

Number three is perhaps the strongest point:


Digital downloads are being packaged with purchases of vinyl.

When The Arcade Fire released Neon Bible, they offered a digital download with every purchase of their vinyl. On December 3, Radiohead will ship a “discbox” that will include two vinyl records, one CD, an enhanced CD, and a digital download of In Rainbows, and a digital download of bonus tracks. Vinyl record sales have increased 10% since 2004, and I predict that this trend will only continue.

[ShortnFiery]

256. Sorry but this is some sad-a** crazy B.S. by the Music Industry.

Anyone who grew up with that GAWD AWFUL vinyl that one could not leave in a warm car AND with the most minor scratch music would never fail to repeat and/or skip ... well, we just sort of know, for a FACT that CD is 100 times better than any crappy vinyl.

The article seems right out of a bizarro parallel universe fashioned to serve record company executives. :silly:

[Atman]

245. I like those digital clocks with the plastic numbers that flip over

Hearing that "click" every minute adds such ambiance to any room. I'm thinking of starting to manufacture them again. This newfangled digital clock stuff makes time so sterile. I long for the days of the plastic clicking. That's PURE time, the way it was supposed to be!

.

[mitchum]

249. Neither can hold a candle to Edison wax cylinders