Vinyl, It looks better, it sounds better.
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AnalogDigit
Realistic fan.
It's a good thing and I don't see this as just a fad or something to get into because it's the "in" thing at the moment. Found out the record store in town is selling records again.
math-geek
New Member
Great! I have two turntables and both are over 25 years old and work perfectly. I did have an ipod that was hardly ever used and it died after less than three years.
I love the look, feel and sound of a nice LP. A well mastered CD or LP exhibits real dynamic range. Dynamic range is the difference between the quietest and the loudest passages. CDs and SACDs have the capability for huge dynamic range but it is 99% wasted by poor mastering in the studios. Most of today's music is very loud, clipped and lacks any semblence of "dynamic" range. It is mastered this way to sound "good" on ipods and in automobiles.
We have to have the best HD picture quality, the best phones, the fastest computers...our most human traits such as voices and musicianship can sound like crap though, just for convenience sake. I remember going into a local shop (now long gone) that carried Carver, NAD and McIntosh! The owner was very accomodating and let me roam (within reason) around the store. The quality of sound reproduction I heard there is the reason why I own what I do now. The hefty investment was worth it to me.
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Interesting article indeed. Here's the link:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/03/03/134204727/slow-and-steady-vinyl-survives?ps=cprs
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/03/03/134204727/slow-and-steady-vinyl-survives?ps=cprs
tylerparrott
Active Member
If I am not mistaken the Drive-By Truckers are very into the sound they produce when they release an album and record specifically for vinyl. Later they make ones and zeros out of it for other releasable formats.
The interest is there and people are recording music again strictly avoiding the digital approach to the mastering and mixing processes. I remember when I was in college at MTSU (known for it's music business major program among others) I knew people who were taking pro-tech courses where you recorded that way.
I saw it was mentioned above some where that vinyl is a finite point in modern times, but it's there. Maybe it'll even grow with some sun and happen more.
The interest is there and people are recording music again strictly avoiding the digital approach to the mastering and mixing processes. I remember when I was in college at MTSU (known for it's music business major program among others) I knew people who were taking pro-tech courses where you recorded that way.
I saw it was mentioned above some where that vinyl is a finite point in modern times, but it's there. Maybe it'll even grow with some sun and happen more.
whoaru99
Epic Member
Well, it sorta did with the thread title "Vinyl, ... it sounds better".
It's a quote from the article referenced by the OP.
stereofanboy
Addicted Member
Kids these days and their retro tastes ... garumph!
I have a friend who has made his living selling records for twenty-five years, most of it owning an independent record store. To help push records out the door, he has taken to carrying a small selection of gear. This is because many of his younger customers don't even have the equipment to play records.
We were talking recently and his experience is that the kids will pay $40-$60 for the crappiest 2lb table from the early nineties without a quibble, yet won't buy a Dual or Technics with a nice cartridge for $75-$100. I asked him why they would bother with the hassle of records if they won't spend an extra $30 for a much better sounding setup. His answer was "cool factor".
If the focus doesn't shift to the sound, this trend toward records won't last. If they won't spend an extra $30 for a table that is at least five times as good, then I can't imagine they are spending anything for keeping their records clean. Someday the irritation of the crackle and pop will outweigh the coolness of records; this will probably occur on the same day that they realize that most of the girls don't think that records are cool.
Sure, us old farts will like records until the day we die, but that's the point isn't it? Unless they replace us, it will be over. Sure, there are some kids here that care about high fidelity, but what percentage of their age group do they represent? What percentage do they represent even of the kids who are "into" records?
whoaru99
Epic Member
That may be, but that's what drew me in to see where it would go this time.
MunkeyQ
Super Member
Note that a prerequisite for music on vinyl is to have lots of space. 600 albums needs a wall and lots of shelves, whereas that amount of music stored in a lossless CD-quality file format can fit on a single hard drive. Most young people (including me!) simply don't have the room for a full collection.
For that reason I'm never going to own a turntable and switch to vinyl. Too much space...I'm moving from flat to house to flat all too often. It's easier to pick up a couple of drives and put them in a box than crate up a room of records. I'd imagine that it's a similar situation for many, but owning a turntable and small collection is manageable.
I care very much about high fidelity and have a decent outboard DAC stage to reproduce the lossless files at a very good resolution and quality level. With my current setup, I can't tell the difference between a good turntable/pre (people have tried to convert me!
) and my DAC + lossless. Therefore, there's no reason to want to switch right now.
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RadShak1251
Super Member
I've read stories like this over and over the past five years, which reinforces my belief that the present resurgence of vinyl IS a fad. More proof of that is seen in the increasing (but still tiny) number of releases in the cassette format!
bullittman28
Active Member
Cassettes?!?! I thought cassette tapes were out dated the day they were released. Why would they release something on a cassette?
DaWoofer
Super Member
Funny
progger7
Active Member
I use all formats and enjoy them all. CD's probably get played the most since I'm in my car more than anywhere else. I love listening to my ipod with high end headphones and a preamp when I'm traveling. sounds great. I even enjoy listening to my ipod with the little white ear buds when sitting on the train or sometimes in bed at night.
But I really love playing vinyl. When I have the time nothing is more enjoyable than spinning discs on my vintage mid-fi system. nothing could sound better to my ears and I thoroughly enjoy the whole ritual of it.
I've collected albums since middle school, I'm in my 40's now. In the past 10 years I've accumulated more than ever, acquiring all those albums I didn't have the money to get back in the day and exploring the lesser known bands of my favorite genre - progressive rock. Can't believe how many near mint or mint copies I've found for next to nothing at yard sales, thrift stores and the annual Record Man parking lot sale. I also enjoy the hunt. But I have also paid good money for many of the harder to find albums (eBay, local shops). totally worth it for me.
For some of the harder to find albums that are way to expensive I've just bought the remastered CD's. I do have a limit on what I'll pay.
At this point though I have accumulated so many albums I have enough to keep me happy for the rest of my days. So for me I could care less if the prices have risen too high. I rarely buy new vinyl anyway.
I will never get rid of my albums even if 90% of my music listening is with other mediums.
But I really love playing vinyl. When I have the time nothing is more enjoyable than spinning discs on my vintage mid-fi system. nothing could sound better to my ears and I thoroughly enjoy the whole ritual of it.
I've collected albums since middle school, I'm in my 40's now. In the past 10 years I've accumulated more than ever, acquiring all those albums I didn't have the money to get back in the day and exploring the lesser known bands of my favorite genre - progressive rock. Can't believe how many near mint or mint copies I've found for next to nothing at yard sales, thrift stores and the annual Record Man parking lot sale. I also enjoy the hunt. But I have also paid good money for many of the harder to find albums (eBay, local shops). totally worth it for me.
For some of the harder to find albums that are way to expensive I've just bought the remastered CD's. I do have a limit on what I'll pay.
At this point though I have accumulated so many albums I have enough to keep me happy for the rest of my days. So for me I could care less if the prices have risen too high. I rarely buy new vinyl anyway.
I will never get rid of my albums even if 90% of my music listening is with other mediums.
Echoes Myron
Active Member
I agree to an extent. It definitely begins as a fad, but, from what I can tell as a member of a younger generation of the AK community, it moves pretty quickly into a practice and a way of listening to music that is direct and tangible. I teach college kids, and I can tell you that they have few things in their life that feel direct or tangible, and few instances where they entirely "unplug." Vinyl is definitely filling some kind of other void in these kids' lives too; it's certainly filling a void in mine.
The beauty of this, for this younger generation, is that they will find sites like AK and will find a whole network of music blogs and stereo blogs (Stereophile, Twittering Machines, Pitchfork, etc) that focus on good sound and even some on the culture of listening, with friends or alone. With the internet a little interest can take someone a long way.
bullittman28
Active Member
Edit: some how reposted. Ignore
goldwax
dozy ming-mong
This is really the main point, isn't it? Younger people I've spoken to like records BECAUSE of the surface noise--they think it makes the music-listening experience more authentic. Some don't even mind skips and pops. I'm no high-end audiophile--and I certainly wasn't back in the '80s and early '90s, when I was originally buying records as my main format--but even as a kid, surface noise was a problem for me, something I avoided.
I think in general even appreciation for even mid-fi sound is vanishing. Overly loud CDs, lossy mp3s and poorly manufactured records, plus the overall lower quality of mass-market gear are all contributing to this trend.
Eventually most kids are going to get bored with records--either because of the hassle of lugging it around or else the realization that it doesn't sound all that great. The sad thing is that they will be giving up on it because they tend to use super-crappy TTs and don't know how to look for good-condition records, so they won't know what the medium is truly capable of.
With that argument, vinyl was ALWAYS a fad, as most people throughout the history of the format have played records on crap turntables.
The best way to learn about what these kids are doing is not to guess what they are doing, or their reasons for doing it, but to actually spend time with them and hang out in their social circle. You will find that you can't assume anything.
Sometime ignorance isn't bliss, its passed around audio forums. You might want to listen to the difference between the resolution of digital used in mastering as compared to 16/44 redbook CD. It isn't the same, and the vinyl format is actually quite good at retaining this high resolution in comparison to CD.
You can slam these kids all you want. It would be no different than me saying anybody that uses a Dual turntable is deluding themselves thinking they're at the peak of vinyl playback. Its snobbery and ill-informed as to the reasons for doing so.
For the life of me I don't understand what happens to people when they reach a certain age and begin to think of their generation as the peak of all humanity.
