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The come back of vinyl records mystifies me Login/Join 
Experienced Slacker
posted
Yes, I am old enough to remember when they were pretty much the only game in town, so it isn't that I don't know what they "sound" like.

I also remember hearing music from a CD for the first time and how it made all before it obsolete...or so any reasonable person would have thought.
No pops or hisses, just clear perfect sound over and over. No fiddling around with finding the particular track you wanted to hear either, just make a couple clicks and bingo! They take up way less space and are much more tolerant of scratches.

Have we seen the return of eight tracks and cassettes? Nope.
Then I think about digital music. Sorry, but it makes everything else even more silly now.

And yet here we are, solidly in the 21st century with all the younguns just gaga over their vinyl collections.

*Sigh*
I'm certain to be burned at the stake for this by sundown. Maybe I just need more sleep.
 
Posts: 7486 | Registered: May 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
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Yeah, it's not "young guns" although that is relative to how old you are I guess.
It's a revival of old-timer Audiophiles and some new found audio nerds too.
Some of us still have a shit load of LP's lying around too.
Mostly nostalgia IMO.
 
Posts: 22857 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:
... a shit load of LP's lying around too.


Yup.

Technology has moved along quite well over the years. Mine runs an ORM-5 needle (there are better ones out there) and I have no pops or hissing on most any album or picture disc played. It doesn't take up any shelf space because it mounts vertically on the wall. I can listen to albums on my headphones, bookshelf radio, main stereo, or outside at the patio because it transmits audio via Bluetooth.

National Audio recently opened a new facility for the manufacturing of audio cassettes.

Still playing '80s metal, Marilyn Manson, & 5FDP, but still like to crank out the LSO every now and then. Cool




 
Posts: 9112 | Location: Somewhere looking for ammo that nobody has at a place I haven't been to for a pistol I couldn't live without... | Registered: December 02, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by smschulz:
Yeah, it's not "young guns" although that is relative to how old you are I guess.

There are a few 20-something DJs who are using vinyl. A lot of hipsters use vinyl, too. It's retro, man! Or ironic. I dunno.



"I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak!" - Calvin, "Calvin & Hobbes"
 
Posts: 18018 | Location: Sonoma County, CA | Registered: April 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Many of the bands I listen to put their albums on vinyl, I have many new vinyl from the last 15 or so years.
If mastered correctly, they do indeed sound better.



"Ninja kick the damn rabbit"
 
Posts: 4611 | Location: Oklahoma | Registered: October 11, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Mostly nostalgia IMO.

It's more of an experience than ear buds and an MP3 player, or a phone, neither of which I have. I usually listen to music like people watch TV, I'm not distracted when I listen. For example, I don't listen to music in my car very often.



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Posts: 4611 | Location: Oklahoma | Registered: October 11, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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The first and earlier CD player for the most part sounded horrible and I stuck with vinyl. These days I am all digital and use my Marantz SA8005 to play CDs or as DAC for lossless audio files. Of course a lot has to do with the quality of the original recording. Though I still have Ariston RD11s turntable with Grace tonearm to play vinyl I have not done such in years. I don't see myself ever buying vinyl again.
 
Posts: 9730 | Location: Northern Illinois | Registered: March 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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In my case, much of what I listen(ed) to is not available on CD and probably never will be. That said, I've had a turntable/phone stage set up all along, but use it only occasionally. So for me it's not a resurgence -- like grumpy1, I'll not likely buy any more vinyl.
Oh, and I still listen to cassettes. Again, some of it is stuff that either only came on cassette or that I recorded to listen to in the car and no longer have the vinyl.
 
Posts: 698 | Registered: February 24, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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What has really spoiled me is the convenience of digital. I use Sonos Connect and run an optical cable from that to my Marantz SA8005. With Sonos I can use laptop, Kindle, or phone to select what music to play either full album, playlists, or search for songs. If there is a certain part of a song I want to replay or get back to, no problem.
 
Posts: 9730 | Location: Northern Illinois | Registered: March 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Music on a CD is compressed so much that you can't hear the true richness of a vinyl record. Even the digital remastered CD's can not compare to what you would hear on a good turn table.


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Posts: 4011 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: December 06, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by rtquig:
Music on a CD is compressed so much that you can't hear the true richness of a vinyl record. Even the digital remastered CD's can not compare to what you would hear on a good turn table.


I wouldn't exactly call it arbitrarily better.
Vinyl too is compressed and also equalized (RIAA Curve) in order to play.

I was in the "Audio" business when CD's came out.
We sold plenty of high end TT enabled systems back then.
The two things that were noticeable right off the bat were the fantastic bass improvements and the incredible lack of "noise" aka increased s/n ratio.

Not to say a good TT cartridge system can't have nuisances because it can but digital was a huge improvement in sound as well as affecting so many other non-sound areas too.
 
Posts: 22857 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Back in the early decade of compact discs, audiophiles like myself considered them inferior to vinyl albums. Neil Young, an analog advocate, once stated that analog was like a fine mist on your face while CDs were like tiny ice cubes thrown on one's face. And he wasn't too far from the truth. CDs were mostly horrible, with record companies not even remastering the original analog tapes to a digital format. Shrill, tinny sound was the norm. But having a high resolution sound system with a high end turntable made the difference; back then, a $100 CD player was still going to be better than a $100 turntable. Good sound from vinyl was and still is very dependent on hardware.

Compact discs have improved quite a bit in later years. I still buy CDs every week, I don't stream or buy MP3s (the dogmeat of the music industry). And I don't buy vinyl anymore, but hell, I own a little over 8 feet of albums. I still listen to albums spinning on my Sota Sapphire turntable, and it still sounds as good as my newer hi-res CDs.

But IMO, the current trend in vinyl has more to do with fad than actual audiophile intentions, since most of these folks are not buying high quality turntables. I remember a young guy playing me a new vinyl album (digitally recorded & mastered) on a standalone record player with a built-in speaker, and then blabbers on about the awesome sound. Like I stated earlier, good sound from vinyl requires really good hardware.



"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
 
Posts: 16612 | Location: Texas | Registered: May 13, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by rtquig:
Music on a CD is compressed so much that you can't hear the true richness of a vinyl record. Even the digital remastered CD's can not compare to what you would hear on a good turn table.


I personally have not noticed this. In the past I did a lot of A/B comparisons with my favorite music (mostly Pink Floyd at the time) between CD and turntable and determined for my needs a quality CD player was just as good plus I no longer heard the pops and hiss noise associated with my experiences with vinyl though I did try to keep my vinyl clean. When my kids started jumping around listening to my music causing the vinyl to skip I became serious about finding a good CD player. Back then I used Hafler DH110 preamp and DH200 amp with Ariston RDs 11 belt drive turntable which was comparable to the Linn Sondek of that era.
 
Posts: 9730 | Location: Northern Illinois | Registered: March 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by oddball:
Back in the early decade of compact discs, audiophiles like myself considered them inferior to vinyl albums. Neil Young, an analog advocate, once stated that analog was like a fine mist on your face while CDs were like tiny ice cubes thrown on one's face. And he wasn't too far from the truth. CDs were mostly horrible, with record companies not even remastering the original analog tapes to a digital format. Shrill, tinny sound was the norm. But having a high resolution sound system with a high end turntable made the difference; back then, a $100 CD player was still going to be better than a $100 turntable. Good sound from vinyl was and still is very dependent on hardware.

Compact discs have improved quite a bit in later years. I still buy CDs every week, I don't stream or buy MP3s (the dogmeat of the music industry). And I don't buy vinyl anymore, but hell, I own a little over 8 feet of albums. I still listen to albums spinning on my Sota Sapphire turntable, and it still sounds as good as my newer hi-res CDs.

But IMO, the current trend in vinyl has more to do with fad than actual audiophile intentions, since most of these folks are not buying high quality turntables. I remember a young guy playing me a new vinyl album (digitally recorded & mastered) on a standalone record player with a built-in speaker, and then blabbers on about the awesome sound. Like I stated earlier, good sound from vinyl requires really good hardware.


Yes. And the age and condition of the vinyl. They wear out.




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Posts: 53117 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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and while we are at it,

with all the new music coming out , for the first time on vinyl.

why wouldn't you release it in 12 inch .45 r.p.m. ?
to get that much more sound





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Posts: 54500 | Location: Henry County , Il | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unmanned Writer
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Neil Young, an analog advocate, once stated that analog was like a fine mist on your face while CDs were like tiny ice cubes thrown on one's face.


That is a really good analogy.

To the OP, I know a younger guy who owns a record store - mostly used, some new. Says he loves vinyl because he feels he "owns" the music, that version. Can't be taken away like apple or other formats.

Four my wife and I; we sit up our loft listening to LPs while working on a 1,000 piece puzzle or just having the music fill the house. We are going to get us a five CD player though. Wink

We're also thinking about buying a 60s/70s stereo console, gutting it, and installing a Marantz receiver Technics turntable with a pair of modern speakers (Klipsch or Elac bookshelf type).







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Posts: 14020 | Location: It was Lat: 33.xxxx Lon: 44.xxxx now it's CA :( | Registered: March 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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We've got a console that was my wife's grandmothers. Big old Zenith.

We've grabbed a collection of modern music to pay on it. There is no denying that music on it does sound different. But lets face it. It's mostly nostalgia.




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Posts: 8837 | Location: Woodstock, GA | Registered: August 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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https://www.bing.com/images/se...cord+SEM&form=hpbap1

colorized scanning electron microscope image of a phonograph needle in the groove of a vinyl record...

 
Posts: 10665 | Location: NV | Registered: July 04, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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You can amaze the children ( <55 years old or so) by playing an old (not valuable) vinyl record with a notebook paper cone and a straight pin.


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Posts: 15841 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 23, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Vinyl will always sound better to me if it is a good pressing and mastered correctly. I can tell you on stage running a ton of power vinyl sounds better. It’s warmer and more rich. Same with synthesizers. I’ll take an analog synth all day over some laptop plug in bs. There are many reasons why analog synths go for good money, especially Moogs. And why solid vinyl is still sought out. In a performance digital sounds overly sanitized. All the gigs I played over 25 years and all the time in the studio make it our own stuff analog equipment and vinyl pressings were favored. I skipped cdj’s, Ableton, laptops, etc for my work. We only use a puter to sequence.



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Posts: 12568 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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