Vinyl: Not just for audiophiles?
(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
Vinyl is back, big time, but the fact is most folks, probably close to 99 percent of the under 40-set, haven't heard records.
For them, music is about portability and vinyl is a stay-at-home deal. Vinyl has more of a hands-on work ethic: you've got to cue the tonearm, lower the "needle," and when the side's over, turn it over or play another LP. Digital requires almost nothing from you; no wonder it's dominated the music scene for the last couple of decades.
Me, I'm having something of a vinyl fling right now. I've always owned a turntable, but there were times I played only CDs for months on end. I guess I didn't want to deal with the extra work of playing vinyl. Sad, but true.
As for LP vs. CD comparisons, I didn't do any. Trust me, you don't have to be a golden-eared audiophile to notice the two formats sound very different. Records are "warmer" and sound more like the sound of real instruments and voices; CDs almost always make them more detailed and brighter-sounding than they are in real life.
But if that's all there was to the story, LPs wouldn't have made it this far, more than a quarter of a century after the debut of the perfect-sound-forever CD. No, music seems to draw you in more when it's coming off an LP. It's more engaging. So it's not exclusively an audiophile thing, I know lots of non-audiophiles who play records. They "get it" without any prodding from me. It's not that CDs sound bad, just less interesting. MP3s? Even less going on there.
I recently changed turntables, from a Linn LP12 to a VPI Classic, and the VPI reignited my vinyl fixations. I'm still using the same phono cartridge, a Van Den Hul, but the VPI is more fun to listen to than the Linn. Watch for my full VPI Classic review soon.
When the CD came out I knew it would eventually kill the music business. And so it is: Music now serves as background to other activities, music by itself can no longer hold most folk's attention. With vinyl people actually listen!
Have I made you vinyl-curious? It's your move. If you've recently converted from analog to digital, tell us all about it.
Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
I recently got back into vinyl. I bought a nice mid-level Technics player off of Ebay for $15. It was in perfect condition, some dude just needed to get rid of everything he owned (who am I to argue?) It is pretty amazing. I also like how it sort of tricks you into listening to a whole alblum. No twitchy shuffling like I do with my iPod. Instead I put the needle to the groove and listen to some music with my daughter (who just turned 2 and always says "record daddy??") She is a huge Grizzly Bear fan, so who am I to argue when she asks me in her garbled two year old speak to put on their latest LP?
I have a mid-range audiofphile system, have an extensive collection of both meda, and have found that when I want convenient background music, I turn to my CDs. But when I sit down intending to listen to and enjoy music, more often than not I'll find myself pulling a disc from my record collection. No science involvd, just what I've learned from personal experience.
Too many variables to even mention, please don't go there...I'm so bloody TIRED of going there! Play your ancient format, it will never be better than good digital.
A 25 year old has no nostalgic thoughts when listening to Vinyl. All I hear is pops, scratches, and a bit of a loss in detail.
I still buy CDs, and all my Digital music is in FLAC or HQ MP3 at least.
Is this an age thing? Personal preference? Or just what you grew up on?
I do plan on picking up a turn table soon for collecting reasons, but honestly I think I will always be fond of CDs (and other digital tracks) for my critical listening.
To me the only reason I see Vinyl as a great medium is the album art that the artists have room for.
but i LOVE vinyl. if i had more money i'd probably fill my house with it. since i've moved to the city i've found some sweet little second hand shops full of absolute vinyl bliss.
you're right, the artwork is a bonus, being bigger and all.
but there are pros and cons (like with anything) to analog and digital - some records sound like crap, mostly the mid-late 80s ones, the sound is really thin and trebly. but some cds sound like crap too when compared to their vinyl counterparts. also, is it just me or are the lasers in today's cd players incredibly lightweight? all it takes is a fingerprint or two and you cant listen to your cd. a fingerprint on a record just makes a (i think) cool noise.
there are weird things that vinyl just lulls you into happily doing - like listening to a whole album, let alone song. i find with cds or with mp3s for some reason nobody even seems to get halfway throug a song anymore.
vinyl makes you start looking after your albums, i'd have probably half of a thousand or more cds from my teenage years but only have about <100 these days, most got wrecked. its just amazing that some weird lump of plastic thats twice as old or older than i am can be spun around and a rock put on it and lo and behold - sound. to me, its so much more romantic than 1s and 0s and sample rates etc.
but i enjoy all formats, from the old shellac 78 thru 45s to 33&1/3s thru reel to reels to cassettes thru cds thru mp3s.
i just like music and the recording of it.
also, for some reason i really dont like walking around or catching the train or whatever with music in my ears like everybody else does. dunno why, i just cant stand it. maybe thats got something to do with it
I run a site called called Analog Apartment (http://www.analogapartment.com) for anyone that loves (or is starting to in fall in love with) vinyl records.
Perhaps vinyl records can have a wider range of sound or however you call it, but can you even hear the difference when you are above 40 years of age and you can no longer listen to 20,000 kHz of noise? :P
Anyone who thinks vinyl is not back in a substantial way, is not paying attention to sales figures.
Vinyl is not the conversion of the recording, ie"Sample" of it. It is the true reproduction of the recording.
- by plasticities September 11, 2009 6:31 AM PDT
- i'm a college student who inherited my parents' old sony turntable and started collecting records a few years ago. then i went out and picked up a rega p2, rega elys cartridge, and recently an onkyo receiver. my next upgrade will be speakers.
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