The Vinyl Revival

[acute]

Vinyl records are now more popular than they have been for decades, and I think I know why.

Since music downloads began, they have rapidly overtaken CD's as the major medium for purchased albums. As the physical copy is plainly not important anymore, I believe the resurgence of vinyl is solely down to the quality. 

MP3 is not a lossless format. Even at maximum bit-rate, it lacks bass and fluidity. Even worse when it's reproduced through tiny earphones, a Bluetooth speaker, or budget headphones.

Vinyl, on the other hand, is played mainly on hi-fi systems, because record players disappeared from midi systems in the eighties, and (with a few dreadful exceptions) have survived as audiophile separates only.

My theory is that youngsters listening to vinyl these days would be totally blown away by a tastefully-mastered CD reproduced in the same quality, such as 'Dark Side Of The Moon' without the surface noise and clicks of vinyl.

 

What say you?

[Stiff]

My 17 year old son asked for a record player and 'vinyl' albums for christmas just gone. I was quite surprised as my 2 stepsons (17 & 21) wouldn't even entertain the idea. He's obviously waaaay cooler.   

[acute]

1 minute ago, Stiff said:

He's obviously waaaay cooler.  

It's obviously... all in the DNA. 

[Kismit]

15 minutes ago, acute said:

Vinyl records are now more popular than they have been for decades, and I think I know why.

Since music downloads began, they have rapidly overtaken CD's as the major medium for purchased albums. As the physical copy is plainly not important anymore, I believe the resurgence of vinyl is solely down to the quality. 

MP3 is not a lossless format. Even at maximum bit-rate, it lacks bass and fluidity. Even worse when it's reproduced through tiny earphones, a Bluetooth speaker, or budget headphones.

Vinyl, on the other hand, is played mainly on hi-fi systems, because record players disappeared from midi systems in the eighties, and (with a few dreadful exceptions) have survived as audiophile separates only.

My theory is that youngsters listening to vinyl these days would be totally blown away by a tastefully-mastered CD reproduced in the same quality, such as 'Dark Side Of The Moon' without the surface noise and clicks of vinyl.

 

What say you?

For me the surface noise and clicks add to the experience of Listening to an old Stranglers album or very early Rolling Stones. It adds atmosphere and appeal. And I have always been cool

[acute]

16 minutes ago, Kismit said:

For me the surface noise and clicks add to the experience of Listening to an old Stranglers album or very early Rolling Stones. It adds atmosphere and appeal. And I have always been cool

Yes, but..... If you are used to downloads, those clicks and rumbles are bugs not features. The millennials are experiencing vinyl first time around.

 

(The Stranglers' Black and White album. Great on CD! )

Edited April 30, 2019 by acute

[+ouija ouija]

My son was nearly tearing his hair out when I first played old LPs for him. He said he couldn't understand how I could listen to them with all the crackling and popping going on .... "Just wait till I start on the 78s, son!!" I told him I had grown up thinking that background crackling was 'normal' and it certainly didn't interfere with my listening pleasure.

He has since made some money out of buying and selling vinyls online.    

[L.A.T.1961]

2 hours ago, acute said:

Vinyl records are now more popular than they have been for decades, and I think I know why.

Since music downloads began, they have rapidly overtaken CD's as the major medium for purchased albums. As the physical copy is plainly not important anymore, I believe the resurgence of vinyl is solely down to the quality. 

MP3 is not a lossless format. Even at maximum bit-rate, it lacks bass and fluidity. Even worse when it's reproduced through tiny earphones, a Bluetooth speaker, or budget headphones.

Vinyl, on the other hand, is played mainly on hi-fi systems, because record players disappeared from midi systems in the eighties, and (with a few dreadful exceptions) have survived as audiophile separates only.

My theory is that youngsters listening to vinyl these days would be totally blown away by a tastefully-mastered CD reproduced in the same quality, such as 'Dark Side Of The Moon' without the surface noise and clicks of vinyl.

 

What say you?

 

A reasonable hi-fi and a CD should impress the youngsters and if they have a vinyl set up it's not a big step to play CD's.

Having said that I think the younger generation also appreciate the large vinyl format and the advantage this brings for the art work on albums. Something that was compromised in the switch to CD and lost altogether with downloads. 

[+Hammerclaw]

It's a retro experience, flaws included, like playing Gran Turismo on a PlayStation hooked up to a CRT television. It's a nostalgia kick on how the old folks did it.

['Walt' E. Kurtz]

The sound is more dynamic on vinyl yes and that without the clicks and pops. 

[toast]

I have to admit that I still have a Thorens lemon turntable and a collection of vinyl records as well. And I remember when the first CD players came to the market, for 6500 Deutschmarks per device. At these times the fight between the vinyl heads and the CD heads started. I remember one guy who gave the final statement on the fight, by cutting off the audio cables of his Thorens Reference Turntable and placing the unit in his hallway to be used as a key deposit for his car keys (no, I will not say how this guy made his money).

I by myself was HiFi addicted somehow, spending more time in adjusting the systems like my (idolized) Dynavector DV505 tonearm, than to listen to music. Fortunately, when CD players became cheaper, I ended the madness and switched to CD and stopped my fetishism. I sold all the high-end stuff and invested the money in something totally different, in a red Alfa Romeo Spider 2.0.

Of course, vinyl has some retro charm but I`m done with it. Quality CDs beat vinyl in every sense and for less money and without mechanical issues.

[+Pettytalk]

 

[acute]

7 hours ago, Impedancer said:

The sound is more dynamic on vinyl yes and that without the clicks and pops. 

On most new releases, the studio mastering of Vinyl and CD is one and the same.

One good thing about the Vinyl Revival is that it has brought (or is bringing) an end to the digital 'loudness wars'.

Edited May 1, 2019 by acute

[Stiff]

21 hours ago, acute said:

It's obviously... all in the DNA. 

I did say "Carry on my wayward son" 

[little_dreamer]

Vinyl for me was mostly about the collectable value.  If you wanted to own a larger version of the CD with more visible artwork and readable lyrics. More about the sight/touch than the sound. 

Anyway I have gotten rid of my remaining records and record player.  CD's only and MP3 now for me.  I moved quite a bit and was tired of carrying bulky records. If I moved into a forever home I would like to have some of my favorite records again, but it is not urgent now. A lot of the records I had were scratched or warped so they didn't have much resale value.

[+joc]

While all of the above 'reasons' for the revival of vinyl are valid...there is ONE reason....one HUGE reason for the Vinyl Revival...and I'm really surprised no one has mentioned it. So, I mention it now.

One man is behind all of this ....one man!   No, not Donald J Trump....his name is Jack White.  Jack White started this revival.  Jack White is on the cutting edge of the return of the technology.  All of the above reasons are valid...and they are all reasons Jack White has given for his deep love of vinyl.  

His thinking is that music is more than just an audio experience.  He wanted people to interact with his music.  Get up off the sofa and go turn the record over...do something...it's just to easy to push a button for everything. 

The first album I ever bought in the last several decades since the death of vinyl was Jack White's Lazaretto.  He offered it on vinyl and a free mp3 download when you bought the album.  It was Jack's interest in vinyl and his love of the art of making vinyl that started the movement.  He bought a vinyl press and started making his own albums because no one else was doing it.  Now he  has a record plant in Nashville. And of course...large corporations jumped into the game so now...vinyl is everywhere.

The Billboard Cover Story: The Vinyl Revival -- The Curator of Cool, Jack White

White's fascination with the pre-digital, mechanical world -- from the Voice-o-Graph to $400 reissues of blues, jazz and gospel in handmade boxes -- has marked him as a retro eccentric. His goal, he insists, is to learn from what has come before, "to take what's beautiful and soulful and feels like it's etched in stone" and "see how it applies to what's happening right now."

White speaks with the rush of passionate conviction, and when he says or hears something funny he erupts into a chesty cackle. But behind that flush of sincerity is a wariness, and at times he stops to clarify that he doesn't want to be seen as a braggart, or negative, or retro. "I don't like feeding off the past. I don't live in a hopeless notion that amplifiers or records were better in the '60s."

Edited February 18, 2020 by joc