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Why is vinyl still around and being sold? We've gone from records to 8-track to tape to cd to digital, so why has vinyl managed to hang around?

Becuase it is nuanced and all classicy

It has a physicality which is missing from digital products.

This is not just the ability to drop the needle in exactly where you want to sample some phat beats, it's also the feeling of the record and the sleeve art. That gives it an emotional aura.

It's cheap to manufacture.

It produces a more lifelike tone than digital.

I collect vinyl there's just something classy about it (as Frazzled rightly said). There's somthing inherintly awesome about a full, well-made gatefold.

Plsu the diversity in Vinyl is also attractive to collectors. I have quite a rare Sunn 0))) split ep that is see-through and limited to 200 hundred copies which I think is just awesome!

Coupled with that, I think Vinyl gives a slightly warmer sound than digital mediums do don't get me wrong, I love my CD's as well, but if an album is extra special I'll try get the Vinyl

Digital recording does not capture the full sound wave - thus it does not capture the same range of frequencies. When played through a stereo, the CD recording is transferred from digital to analogue in order to play, resulting in further sound-quality loss. An analogue recording captures the full range of frequencies, and does not need to be converted in order to be played on a stereo, giving a bit of a 'warmer' sound. Plus vinyl LP's smell like 'old book' - my favourite smell ever.

I don't have any but my best friend does and they do sound pretty good. Of course he also has a 300 dollar sound system hooked up to his player so that can't hurt either. The other thing about vinyl is the large cover art and the fact that a signed vinyl album is so much cooler than a signed CD booklet. The other thing that killkrazy brought up is that its cheap, you can melt down extra pressing and turn them back into usable albums.

It also makes listening more of an active experience than a passive one. You are a participant in the listening having to flip or change records. You apply a lot more attention to it. Digital in a way lessens the importance of music because it makes it so much more available and marginalizes it. I am by no means a vinyl collector...I just get a few important albums by bands that I like. On the other hand though I will not switch to digital distribution until I absolutely have to. I like buying CD's. I want the tactile experience of flipping through the booklet that comes with them.

Now... if some of the stuff I did want on vinyl weren't so fething expensive.

Dark Lord Seanron wrote:I collect vinyl there's just something classy about it (as Frazzled rightly said). There's somthing inherintly awesome about a full, well-made gatefold.

Plus the diversity in Vinyl is also attractive to collectors. I have quite a rare Sunn 0))) split ep that is see-through and limited to 200 hundred copies which I think is just awesome!

Coupled with that, I think Vinyl gives a slightly warmer sound than digital mediums do don't get me wrong, I love my CD's as well, but if an album is extra special I'll try get the Vinyl

I probably agree most with you Dark Lord (may your name be forever held on high). I've been picking up vinyl for several years now. It was started when I found an first run White Album complete with posters etc. The whole gatefold aspect is awesome. The artwork is much more visible and the whole experience of pulling the album out of the sleeve and dropping the needle on is one of a kind. I was just curious as to others' opinion. gracias hombres.

Worth noting some Japanese turntable manufacturers make decks which use a laser instead of sapphire pick-up.

Kilkrazy wrote:Worth noting some Japanese turntable manufacturers make decks which use a laser instead of sapphire pick-up.

As do some swedes. Too bad everyone that I've seen is $10,000+. I suppose it would kinda hard to justify that on a $900 sound system.

It's a great excuse to buy a 10,000 system though!!

Absofreakinlutely

Kilkrazy wrote:It's a great excuse to buy a 10,000 system though!!

That clicking sound you hear is the sound of your wife cocking back a hammer, or in KK's case your wife quietly drawing a sword from its case.

The first thing about vinyl is the sound quality. Digital media suffers from a loss of range due to sampling and compression rates. Apparently most of us plebians can't hear the difference, but some folks can. I can only presume its like being a professional sommelier for sound.

The second thing is that its cheap to produce. The raw material is easily recyclable, and pretty simple to manufacture making it the medium of choice in poorer markets.

Note: I was completely thinking shiny PVC like Uma Thurman in 'The Avengers'. You made me a sad panda.

Pfft! I rip CD's onto my windows media player and put them back in the case then they collect dust. I have a playlist now that's so long, I couldn't stay away to hear it from beginning to end no matter what drugs I took. I put it on shuffle and hit play, and I don't miss the "interactive experience" or the scratched vinyl crackling noise.

warpcrafter wrote:I put it on shuffle and hit play

Oh yes, a true "album" experience.

The ability to detect a difference between analogue and digital recordings partly depends on having listened to lots of both. Younger people are unlikely to have listened to much vinyl. I don't think my daughter (10 years old) has ever seen a record. I've got records but no record deck.

It also depends how much classical or jazz music you listen to. Modern pop, etc. tends to be normalised very high, this compresses information out and reduces the dynamic range.

youngblood wrote:

warpcrafter wrote:I put it on shuffle and hit play

Oh yes, a true "album" experience.

Pfft!!! The "album experience" is overrated.

Obviously not a YES fan, then....

What is it about vinyl? Well it allows people to act pompous I suppose and pretend that it is better when it is a load of hooey. It feeds ones own inner need to feel unique and special.

That being said, if you have never listened to the Muppets Motion Picture soundtrack on vinyl you have never lived.

warpcrafter wrote:Pfft! I rip CD's onto my windows media player and put them back in the case then they collect dust. I have a playlist now that's so long, I couldn't stay away to hear it from beginning to end no matter what drugs I took. I put it on shuffle and hit play, and I don't miss the "interactive experience" or the scratched vinyl crackling noise.

This is pretty much what I do. By having a huge music collection (12,000+ songs right now) and playing it randomly, it's like having your own radio station, where what gets played always surprises you, but there's no commercials and none of the music is crap.

However, I can vouch for the "album experience". For some music listening to individual tracks is almost like listening to short segments of a single song; you aren't really getting the full experience. This is especially true with classical music.

Ahtman wrote:
That being said, if you have never listened to the Muppets Motion Picture soundtrack on vinyl you have never lived.

Ahtman, on Life, the Universe, and Everything

I'm a near music addict, with my music library spanning 35,000 songs over 3 hard drives (one is man down right now, lame) but they only get played as background music or when I'm in the car. If I really want to listen to music, vinyl comes out. There's something to be said for being forced to listen to a song from an Artist's perspective. For many artists, an album isn't just a collection of songs from a series of recording sessions, but rather a snapshot of a place and time. The arrangement of songs on an album can convey a natural movement through that place and time.

That's why I would never give away my Britney Spears LP's

Ive got quite a few vinyls and I just love them. Im a huge "classic rock" fan anyways so it just sounds better

I grew up on vinyl records - don't miss them one bit.

I love Vinyl simply because of the album art as well as that lovely sound of the needle coming into contact with the record, the sound of a record playing always feels and sounds warmer than say that of an MP3 or CD, I have a quite a few Vinyls at home one of my favorites has to be Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction as it has the original artwork on the front and not the crucifix artwork.

What is it NOT about vinyl!!!

Oh, right, records.

Admittedly, I don't hear or care about a difference (of course I never bothered to try, either). I have a couple of friends that would beat me for that comment. I do appreciate that people care about the difference, however. I think the difference is primarily, "Classy-ness" but then, like someone said, it may be like a sommelier of sound. That, I get. I suppose it goes hand-in-hand why some of us need glasses and others don't. No two people are the same in regards to sensory sensitivity.

Now, if I had the cash to buy the $10,000 system, I'd damn sure have the vinyl to play on it.

If you add a valve based sound system into the mix as well it's supposed to be awesome.

Okay, I'll bite.

What is a valve based sound system?

They are those glass tubes that were used in early tv's, radio's and sound systems. They were the reason why your TV took so long to turn on and display a picture. When used in sound systems they are supposed to produce a "warmer, deeper, richer" sound.