Has vinyl peaked?

[uofmtiger]

It is interesting. I bought a Project Debut III at the beginning of 2005. People have always had questions about it and those comments and questions continue by just about anyone visiting my house for the first time.

I still don't think it is typical to have a TT...at least in the living room.

I think it will remain a niche market. Many prefer the sound of vinyl...I am not saying it is better or worse than digital, but I think it sounds different. As a result, I keep a TT in my system for the variety. I still mainly listen to digital out of convenience (Airplay) and choice (MOG), but it is nice to have the option to spin a record on occasion.:thmbsp:

 

[Poultrygeist]

About a year ago I was at Best Buy and bought some LP's. Today I was there and was told they no longer carry them.

 

[JohnVF]

Always be cool? No way. It will turn back into a geek format, like it was in the late 80's, and the 90's.

My vision is skewed, where I went to college the geeks and artsy kids were the cool ones. No football team and the frats were kicked off campus.

 

[jeremyjustic]

My vision is skewed, where I went to college the geeks and artsy kids were the cool ones. No football team and the frats were kicked off campus.

John geeks and the artsy kids are the cool ones at every school, only the lame kids think otherwise.

 

[nd4speed]

Speaking about uber high end audiophiles, I think that vinyl playback will go the way of cameras (transitioning from film to digital). There's going to eventually be a break point where the best DACs are decisively better than the best Vinyl rigs. My sonic memory still has it that the best I've ever heard was a mega buck vinyl rig (mega-buck as in +$30K table and other accoutrements of unknown $$$ cost).

I don't think we're quite there yet though. One area where computer audio is in the stone ages is in playback software and control interfaces. I'm currently using a '13 Mac Mini with Audirvana Plus (which hijacks the iTunes audio layer jfor quality purposes) and the Apple remote app through an iPad. It's a bit buggy if I'm honest (especially with DSD ISOs), and the control interface is clearly inferior to an iPeng / Squeezebox setup of yore. Not to mention that setup of all of this crap is daunting to say the least to the non-computer saavy audiophile (although I suppose the uber heeled will just hire this work out to an audio/computer consultant). That said, even at this stage of the game, when it's working it's sublime; sit in chair, press playlist, enjoy some of the best music you've ever heard. It's a compelling proposition.

If and when this type of transition happens, you're going to see some lofty vinyl playback equipment on the market for cents on the dollar. I think we're seeing some of that already, I'm seeing a lot of SOTA really expensive tables (relatively new ones) going for half price. The bright side is a lot more audiophiles will be able to afford really high end vinyl rigs.

I still think vinyl as a medium isn't going anywhere thankfully.

 

[JohnVF]

I was playing with a $50,000 Burmester server/DAC/pre controlled seamlessly by an iPad that came with it and regardless of what I think about the price, it was the best sounding and easiest to use component (vinyl or DAC or otherwise) that I have ever heard, when playing high-res digital. At home, my DAC rig assembled around a Berkeley Alpha DAC beats my vinyl setup for most recordings. That's what broke me on vinyl. When convenience and sound quality intersected I started to come up with no reason to be that into records given what a pain in the ass I've found them to be. I just have gotten sick of cleaning, aligning, cleaning, tweaking, raising the arm, lowering the arm, flipping LPs, adjusting azimuth, adjusting anti-skate, hearing sibilance, starting over, cleaning more records. I just don't see the point anymore except to have a physical connection to the music, which isn't as important to me as it once was, especially as I've struggled with moving a few thousand records across town more than once.

 

[Dukiedook]

This Berkely DAC sounds interesting. The only problem I would have with buying something with a decent pricetag like that is how long until that DAC is outdated?

 

[JohnVF]

This Berkely DAC sounds interesting. The only problem I would have with buying something with a decent pricetag like that is how long until that DAC is outdated?

I bought mine used at less than $1000. It's a few years old but I like it as much as any of the new DACs I have auditioned at any price (haven't really heard that many, though, but its beaten every CD and SACD player I've tried), but it won't do DSD. It needs a good USB converter if you're running it that way, though. I use a Stello U3, which is excellent, into the AES/EBU input on the Alpha.

 

[Dukiedook]

I really meant a peak in high-end interest. But words weren't on my side when I posted this. I do think we're at or near the hipster peak, though. As in, everybody that was going to get in, is already in.

OK, yeah, it is inevitable. As digital gets better and closer to the source unless some new technological discovery is made in LP playback it will eventually fade away and just be left to collectors and nostalgia buffs. I guess that peak is now or like you said has already passed. Once the hipsters start getting straddled with families and kids or real life and jobs the fad will pass for them if it hasn't already. Or they will determine 8 track or DAT is the new hipster thing to acquire.

 

[ohiomike]

OK, yeah, it is inevitable. As digital gets better and closer to the source unless some new technological discovery is made in LP playback it will eventually fade away and just be left to collectors and nostalgia buffs. I guess that peak is now or like you said has already passed. Once the hipsters start getting straddled with families and kids or real life and jobs the fad will pass for them if it hasn't already. Or they will determine 8 track or DAT is the new hipster thing to acquire.

Noooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[uofmtiger]

I don't think we're quite there yet though. One area where computer audio is in the stone ages is in playback software and control interfaces. I'm currently using a '13 Mac Mini with Audirvana Plus (which hijacks the iTunes audio layer jfor quality purposes) and the Apple remote app through an iPad.

I use Bitperfect and it simply takes over iTunes output. I use the Remote app on my iPad or iPhone and it works like a charm. I can play music directly from the mini or send it to Airplay devices around the house. I can't imagine how it could get any easier...other than having the Remote app implemented with Siri. Siri already works with iTunes Match, so maybe something like that is in the cards.

I don't have very many DSD files and I have never tried to play them through iTunes, though. The number of people that need DSD capabilities is so small right now that it is makes the vinyl market look huge. If ripping SACDs or a DSD music services became extremely popular, I think the software would follow.

 

[Tim64]

Sadly in my neck of the woods I have two record/cd shops that sell mostly used. Both are having trouble, one more so. It seems around here people are mostly into digital downloads than obtaining the cd or record. One I was talking to the owner and he said sometimes he wonders why he bothers to stay open business has been so bad. I frequent both shops and both have reasonable prices most lp's and cd's are 5.00-7.00$ priced right in my book. I hope they can hang on and the trend will change.

 

[JonL]

About a year ago I was at Best Buy and bought some LP's. Today I was there and was told they no longer carry them.

I wonder if that may be partially due to the poor QC of new pressings, and the reported inability to return defects to the manufacturer. Perhaps the hassle and cost of eating returns made it a bad deal for Best Buy, who as I understand aren't in the best of financial shape to begin with.

 

[steelglam]

Vinyl may have peaked, but holy hell does the new My Bloody Valentine record sound glorious on vinyl. It took forever and a day to finally arrive at my doorstep, but it was well worth the wait. That being said, it is recorded and mastered in all-analog.

This gets at a problem that someone mentioned earlier in this thread, though: not a lot of music is recorded these days via an all-analog process. And some of the digitial-recorded/mastered vinyl sounds like poo.

 

[hypertone]

About a year ago I was at Best Buy and bought some LP's. Today I was there and was told they no longer carry them.

I think it's only a matter of time before Best Buy closes its doors for good, or goes to an online only model. They closed the stores in Canada and I had a feeling for quite some time that they were planning to do that. The store just went down hill. They stopped selling car audio, started carrying RC car parts, but not RC cars. It was weird.

I have some coin reserved for RSD 2013 and I plan to come home broke. :yes:

 

[JohnVF]

Vinyl may have peaked, but holy hell does the new My Bloody Valentine record sound glorious on vinyl. It took forever and a day to finally arrive at my doorstep, but it was well worth the wait. That being said, it is recorded and mastered in all-analog.

That may be the last vinyl release I buy for awhile. Though I'm also tempted by it being available as a high-res download. If I like, maybe both for whatever mood strikes.

 

[matteos]

I think it's only a matter of time before Best Buy closes its doors for good, or goes to an online only model. They closed the stores in Canada and I had a feeling for quite some time that they were planning to do that. The store just went down hill. They stopped selling car audio, started carrying RC car parts, but not RC cars. It was weird.

I have some coin reserved for RSD 2013 and I plan to come home broke. :yes:

Best buy stocks all the wrong things, as a computer store their parts are outdated, the GPUs they sell are mostly a generation old and they are overpriced. The speakers they sell except in their Magnolia section are generally crap.. They do however sell good TVs at a pretty good price, last two TVs I bought from them.
I'd hate to see them go under even though I don't like them too much... They need to cut down on their staff, they are overstaffed and few of them know anything about the products they sell.

 

[steelglam]

That may be the last vinyl release I buy for awhile. Though I'm also tempted by it being available as a high-res download. If I like, maybe both for whatever mood strikes.

Yeah, if you buy the vinyl directly from their website, you get a free hi-res download as well.

Otherwise, all copies of the vinyl (incl. the ones sold at a retail store) come with a CD as well. It's really why I sprung for it...best of both worlds.

 

[deeezy]

I think it's foolhardy to say that interest in vinyl has peaked, when it is still a niche market. In other words, the turntable owning group is a small minority of music buyers (which is itself becoming a small minority), and so the growth potential for vinyl is enormous. I suspect that as digital downloads become the norm, the horrible sound quality of them will drive more of the younger kids to vinyl. I have seen this in my own experience. In my family, the church I attend, and the college at which I work, I know several 18-22 yr olds who have just acquired turntables (some as gifts from me) and love the sound. They haven't given up their silly smart phones and I-whatevers, of course, but the interest is there and seems to me to be growing. Let's not forget that more and more young people are being created every day.
So, if the older audiophiles want to switch to digital, more power to them. If changing a record is too much of a pain in the ass, then by all means, go running to your DACs and FLACs and Spotify or whatever the new fad may be. Just be aware that when those technologies become obsolete in a few years, you may start to miss your vinyl again.

 

[steelglam]

If changing a record is too much of a pain in the ass, then by all means, go running to your DACs and FLACs and Spotify or whatever the new fad may be. Just be aware that when those technologies become obsolete in a few years, you may start to miss your vinyl again.

DACs have been around since the 1980s. Every CD player has a DAC in it. If it's a fad, it's lasted for 30 years!

Spotify isn't a technology. It's an online music streaming service (free or paid, depending on what you want). It's a great way to check out new music, and then you can decide if you want to purchase the album. You should look into it.