Why are we falling for the great vinyl scam?

Do you agree with the author of this article?

  • Yes

    Votes: 22 31.0%
  • No

    Votes: 49 69.0%

  • Total voters
    71
I think you nailed it .

Not for me, yes, I enjoy the music I enjoy but I also appreciate how things work. I'm an EE by trade with better than average mechanical skills. I understand how digital audio works, I know that even with my tiered ears that MP3s don't sound as good to me as FLAC ( and know why ). When it comes to TTs, I appreciate the simplicity of a manual turntable and the complexity of a fully automatic one. Even things like what was done to keep that LP spinning at the right speed. Then there's the whole stream of what the stylus and cartridge are doing as the needle follows the record groove, the thought given to not enough head mass vs too much ( the science behind the whole tone arm ), all the way to the amplification paths, and reproduction at the speakers.

To me, the art doesn't stop at the music.
 
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Not for me, yes, I enjoy the music I enjoy but I also appreciate how things work. I'm an EE by trade with better than average mechanical skills. I understand how digital audio works, I know that even with my tiered ears why MP3s don't sound as good to me as FLAC ( and know why ). When it comes to TTs, I appreciate the simplicity of a manual turntable and the complexity of a fully automatic one. Even things like what was done to keep that LP spinning at the right speed. Then there's the whole stream of what the stylus and cartridge are doing as the needle follows the record groove, the thought given to not enough head mass vs too much ( the science behind the whole tone arm ), all the way to the amplification paths, and reproduction at the speakers.

To me, the art doesn't stop at the music.

So let me ask you this?

Your in the Twighligh Zone and in the world only 1 type and model of music playback system and medium was available to everyone and everything being the same . And EEs couldn't make any modifications because there would not be any modifications to make.
Would you still listen to music?
 
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Absolutely, I'm just saying in the real world, the music isn't the only source of my enjoyment. There's even the physical aesthetics of the equipment we use, I tend to lean to function before form, but will take both.

So let me ask you this?

If in the world only 1 type and model of music playback system and medium was available to everyone and everything being the same . And EEs couldn't make any modifications because there would not be any modifications to make.
Would you still listen to music?
 
Is it me or the queens English, I couldn't follow that article to save my life. I wonder if he kept having to get up to flip the record?
 
I agree with most of what you just shared. I additionally think the author is saying that sound quality is not the issue or reason for vinyl resurgence. For many that might be true. Most of my friends who are enjoying vinyl are back into it because the lies and broken promises of digital and its stale emotionless presentation in comparison to good vinyl. I hated the idea of returning to vinyl. I truthfully got back into it to "prove" it a hoax. Humility and common sense brought me to recantour. When a $25 yard sale turn table with a $70 needle with worn records from the 80"s sounded better than my $1500 CD player...

I love vinyl first and foremost for its beautiful sound presentation. That is the main reason. The other items mentioned are bonuses at best.
 
I can't agree or disagree with the author because I don't understand what his point is. He is against records because he doesn't like the fact that they make him feel good? Huh?

Spiritual meaning out of everyday objects meant for storing information... huh?

Does anyone else see it this way? Am I being too objective to just say I like how records sound, and that if nostalgia plays a role, it's a small one? I find it kind of patronizing to see someone make generalizations like this.

After all it's not like I also collect dot matrix printers, or other outdated artifacts of the past.. records still do something that hasn't been replaced,
That's why they're stil here
 
I try to stay away from the new 180 gram reproductions as they are very costly. So i basically shop around on ebay for a VG+ original album. Its been working for me so far.
 
Because I fell in love with the spinning music-making disc before I could talk or even walk. It was about the only thing that stopped time for a moment in our busy house when I was a child. Music on the phonograph meant "we are now celebrating life." There was a lot of strife, discord and argument in my house when I was a kid. It was a typical house full of a large family of squabbling kids and overworked and drained parents. When the needle dropped, we miraculously all stopped and began to smile.

That's what it is for me.

Of course, the quality of the sound can't be beat. I haven't found a digital format that sounds as good as vinyl and is as easy to play. I like the object. I like the artwork. I like the artifact. I love the equipment. I like the smell. I love cartridges and speakers and glowing amps. I've loved all this for my entire life, getting near a half century soon. The only other things I have been lucky enough to be able to love for as long and as deeply are my parents, who are both still kicking (and spinning records) and my siblings.

I might add that most new LPs today still cost less than that other big scam that came through when I was a teenager:CDs. I just bought three James Hunter Six LPs for an average of $16 each. One new CD in 1986 was $16.99. Talk about a scam.

I won't consider vinyl to be back fully until we get those record clubs back where you really could get a trunkload of LPs for a penny. Once I got a real job, I joined BMG for the last two years they were a CD club and built most of my CD collection that way. It was pretty affordable. I don't see why that model can't be resurrected for vinyl.

Needlestein, you are my online brother from another mother, both here and at VE.

The only part that's really a scam is the much higher proportion of vinyl today that is defective. Warps happened back in the day, off-center records happened, but the crackly no-fill and other weird damage is a new thing for me.

I too struggle with things such as the 180g pressing I have of Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits which is so oversized and off centre that I cannot run it on my linear tracker.

Records allow me to step back in time, to hold something older than myself, that, if kept properly, sounds as good as day 1.

I love records because they often are the only avenue to certain recordings, but I'm seriously digging the great cd dump. Just like vinyl 15 years ago (about when I got involved....seriously, people were giving this shit away!)

Cds are today's vinyl dump. Get them while you can.

Word, brother. Even picked up a new copy of Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms (on my list of vinyl to acquire as well) at Wal Mart for $6 the other day. $6. And I still get the joy of unwrapping it, and pulling out the booklet to read it, and listening to a great well-recorded CD on a stereo that would seem excessive to everyone except AK denizens.

That's what I used to think. Then I got a turntable and got all hooked again.

Word, brother.

I immediately went to tell my wife I have a lot of records. She didn't seem impressed.

Word, brother. You win the Internet today.
 
Absolutely, I'm just saying in the real world, the music isn't the only source of my enjoyment. There's even the physical aesthetics of the equipment we use, I tend to lean to function before form, but will take both.

Not all of us can be musicians and create our own music so we flock to clubs and concert halls to not only hear, but see the performers in action, it's a symbiotic relationship between musician and listener. A turntable kind of takes the place of the performers. Nobody sits and watches the counter of a CD player change while listening to Beethoven's 9th, but I would say most of us watch our turntables.
 
Not for me, yes, I enjoy the music I enjoy but I also appreciate how things work. I'm an EE by trade with better than average mechanical skills. I understand how digital audio works, I know that even with my tiered ears that MP3s don't sound as good to me as FLAC ( and know why ). When it comes to TTs, I appreciate the simplicity of a manual turntable and the complexity of a fully automatic one. Even things like what was done to keep that LP spinning at the right speed. Then there's the whole stream of what the stylus and cartridge are doing as the needle follows the record groove, the thought given to not enough head mass vs too much ( the science behind the whole tone arm ), all the way to the amplification paths, and reproduction at the speakers.

To me, the art doesn't stop at the music.

:thumbsup:
 
Nobody's wrong. Writing, music, it's all art. I got a lot out of the article, but I think I'm probably very close in age to the author. I connected with most of it, though I'd probably never come home from a record store with NWA or Public Enemy or anything in that genre. I got enough of that secondhand in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

But, he's not against records at all. That's why the title is misleading. It's a little bit sensationalized to hook you and get you to read--much like, well, some of the objects that the author talks about getting hooked by himself.
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I think that you may have a point. I'm right in the middle.. he talks about people under 30, and people over 40..

I'm in my late 30s. I got into records when they were going out of style, and when I was in my formative years, CDs and tapes were the things most people my age had. It was very hard to come by new records in the 1990s, but they did exist as an enthusiast thing.

I don't feel any attachment to them as a part of the general culture of my youth (apart from the DJ scene), although I did use them since I got into music. I also don't believe I fit into the "under 30" category, since I've been into things like adjusting VTA for best sound since I was a teenager, and most people thought records were written off for good. I also never "re-discovered" the joys of records, but rather just used them all along.
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I guess those are the reasons why I didn't feel as though I was manipulated into using them either first, or presently, and the article didn't really resonate with me.
 
I think that the author is more cynical that I am!

Most of the "younger generations" have already damaged their ears with loud ear buds and amps in their cars that can be heard several blocks away. Hopefully the medical technology will have advanced to "ear replacements" by the time they reach my age, or all the retirement homes will be VERY quiet places.
And most of the older generations have hearing damage as well from going to loud concerts. Hearing damage transcends generations.

I hate how ageism affects attitudes towards my generation (millennials). Just like how the author of this article accused the under-30 crowd of playing their records on "£100 stereos". Clearly he is looking at history through rose tinted glasses, otherwise he would acknowledge that older generations ALSO used junky record players (portable stereos anyone?).

Maybe we're (my generation) hipsters who fawn over obscure music and limited editions. How is that any worse than the scores of people who bought Christmas music, show tunes, easy vocal, etc music just to have it end up completely unwanted in a thrift store?
 
Yeah. Baby boomers need to stop acting like they don't also harbor their own fair share of ignorant knob heads and blithering idiots. The only thing that's new about being dumb is that these days it's much easier to broadcast it to the world.
 
And most of the older generations have hearing damage as well from going to loud concerts. Hearing damage transcends generations.

I hate how ageism affects attitudes towards my generation (millennials). Just like how the author of this article accused the under-30 crowd of playing their records on "£100 stereos". Clearly he is looking at history through rose tinted glasses, otherwise he would acknowledge that older generations ALSO used junky record players (portable stereos anyone?).

Maybe we're (my generation) hipsters who fawn over obscure music and limited editions. How is that any worse than the scores of people who bought Christmas music, show tunes, easy vocal, etc music just to have it end up completely unwanted in a thrift store?

Back in the 80's you could walk into any thrift store and pick up an old console for $20.00. Some were gems and would get gutted but most of them were junky 70's era solid state ugly behemoths that never got used much, they were just pieces of furniture that could also play records. The owners of those things probably listened to the Christmas music, etc you mentioned. The consoles are mostly gone to the landfills, but for some reason, the terrible music still finds its way to the thrift store bins.

You're right, this is nothing new. Without the younger generation and the availability of affordable, lower-end gear, this vinyl resurgence may not have taken off.
 
I decided to buy a re-released single I didn't have, from that guy who's really into color and has a last name that is the absence thereof. Both singles I ordered, old Motown songs, arrived pressed off-center and basically sounding like crap. this from a guy who supposedly loves vinyl so much he's opened up a new pressing plant.

it's a marketing campaign that has nothing to do with audio quality. but if new pressings of old records makes it possible to hear something, at home, out loud, that you'd rather not pay $$$ for used, I guess I'm on board the vinyl scam train.
 
Not for me, yes, I enjoy the music I enjoy but I also appreciate how things work. I'm an EE by trade with better than average mechanical skills. I understand how digital audio works, I know that even with my tiered ears that MP3s don't sound as good to me as FLAC ( and know why ). When it comes to TTs, I appreciate the simplicity of a manual turntable and the complexity of a fully automatic one. Even things like what was done to keep that LP spinning at the right speed. Then there's the whole stream of what the stylus and cartridge are doing as the needle follows the record groove, the thought given to not enough head mass vs too much ( the science behind the whole tone arm ), all the way to the amplification paths, and reproduction at the speakers.

To me, the art doesn't stop at the music.
It is amazing how we can each enjoy our music and our systems at different levels .
 
I agree with the part where many people buy certain vinyl albums to reconnect to past memories....because many times people remember what they were doing when they first hear a song. But, I'm just glad that everyone is buying because it drives down cost of individual albums and equipment.
 
It's like anything else. do your research if your a consumer. If you don't like money, then you are easily separated from it. The Web is your friend, if you know how to search, and sort results. Your paying for it...use it.
 
"Of course, I don't- my wife will shoot me. " one of the early posters stated. the key is to get and play music that you both like. after a while, she will WANT you to buy vinyl. and women have more sensitive ears than we do so asking them if they hear a difference and to describe it, you will be stunned at the observations.

as for the original question, that can be settled by playing the exact same music on cd, then on LP. vinyl just represents the music in a more complete and satisfying way, and that's just done with a used technics or pioneer turntable. so 20-30 dollars might seem a lot for new vinyl but think back to the early days of cd, say about 1987. the $17 list price for cd is now $37.

and many of the reissues have had more care producing them now than when they were cranking out LPs for $9 in '87. and even though the dynamic range claimed by CD is greater than those same people say that vinyl has (some claim 40db though is is greater than that), playback from LP has more "jump factor". the impact is greater and can knock you off the couch. all this while providing a black background from which the music emanates.

incremental improvements can be made easily by changing out your phono cartridge, phono preamp, or tonearm. sometimes these incremental changes are so much better than expected that it's puzzling.

don't get me wrong, i don't hate digital but i more like the newer high resolution digital like sacd, dvda, or hi-rez downloads (although i haven't gotten that for home yet). but then the higher resolution formats are also sold at premium pricing. and then there are the very high priced new vinyl products like mofi and more recently the ONE STEP process. two electroplating steps have been removed from the process and the resolution takes you much closer to the music. Santana's Abraxas LP has been released at a list price of $200, and YES i bought one. the percussion on the disc makes you feel that there might be musicians in the room, a large room at that.

well, that should be enough to either entice you or drive you further away.
 
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