When the CD was introduced in 1982, everyone thought the LP's days were numbered, but it's still here. Now it's starting to look like the LP might outlast the CD.
(Credit:
Steve Guttenberg)
Of course "record stores" are also on the endangered species list; here in NYC, Tower, Virgin, and Sam Goody are long-gone, but J & R Music World in lower Manhattan is the last remaining full-size outfit. Smaller shops are hanging in there, too.
You can still buy CDs and LPs online, and vinyl's selection is getting better and better. So if you're a music lover, what should you buy, CD or LP? First, it depends on whether you can get the music you want on vinyl.
Sound quality issues aren't black and white. CD wins in terms of noise-free listening, though clean records, played on a decent turntable can sound amazingly quiet. But even then, there will be occasional clicks and pops. That's a deal breaker for some, but if you've never heard records played on a decent turntable, you don't know how quiet records can be.
LPs can sound warmer, fuller, and more natural than CDs, and way better than low-bit MP3 and AAC variants. LP sound seems to engage listeners in a very different way than digital recordings do. It's not that digital sounds bad, but vinyl is more fun to listen to. Music on LP seems more immediate and realistic than digital. Oh, and it's worth noting that most people who use vinyl actually listen to music, while digital listeners rarely do. Digital makes do as background sound. That's just the way it is. If you can't see yourself ever really listening to music--without talking, reading, working on the computer, etc--sure, CDs and MP3s are perfectly fine.
... Read more
My second Linn LP12 turntable.
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)
CNET.com Poll
Audiophiles have been known to develop unnaturally strong bonds with their gear, but civilians also have their faves. It might be a type--a speaker, an MP3 player, a car audio system--or a specific product. For me it was my first Linn LP 12 turntable I bought in 1979. I told my wife I wanted to be buried with it. That 'table rocked my world.
Or are you just hung up on 8-track players, or maybe it was a radio your father gave you? In other words, I want to know if it's a type of gear, or a specific product you've owned. Please tell us about your favorite piece of audio equipment in the comments below, and also be sure to vote in the poll.
The Boss' new CD costs about the same as two large Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccinos?
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)You could down a $5 Cinnamon Dolce Frappuccino in ten minutes, and it's gone forever. How many Cafe Mochas do you buy in a week? Tasty as these frothy concoctions can be, it's a fleeting satisfaction, isn't it? An album's worth of music is a repeatable pleasure, something you may enjoy dozens of times over the years. A CD is still a lot cheaper than a week's worth of Starbucks.
Sure, it's a matter of how you want to spend your disposable income, and whatever puts a smile on your face. But when I hear people going on about music being too expensive I'm mystified. Compared to what?
Oh, and by the way I noted that Springsteen's latest, Working on a Dream, goes for $9.99 for an Amazon MP3 download, but my local record store is selling the Springsteen CD for $7.99 (and the LP, which includes a free MP3 version for $14.99!). Hey, I'm still playing LPs I bought more than 40 years ago. Music is a repeatable pleasure--what you eat/drink turns to, well, you know...
So for the price of a couple of Frappuccinos you could own an actual CD, with cover art and liner notes. Oh, remember too that if you have any sort of decent hi-fi or headphones, the CD will sound better than the MP3.
Why pay more for music and get something that doesn't sound as good?
Sure, it looks like everybody's doing it, but you've never downloaded music. I understand, downloads, be they iTunes or MP3s, even some of the DRM-free varieties sound awful and you're an audiophile, or just really care about sound quality. Downloads are "good enough" for most folks, but they're not good enough for you.
Enter HDtracks, a sound quality oriented download "store," where you can get 100 percent uncompressed, DRM-free, bona-fide CD quality downloads and burn them to CD. HDtracks also supplies each CD's full liner notes and cover art as a PDF.
I wrote about HDtracks before, but now that they're offering a free eight song sampler you don't have plunk down any dough to find out if their UNcompressed AIFF files, lossless FLAC files, or even 320kbps MP3 downloads would work for you. Burn the FLAC files to CD and play 'em in your car, or the boombox, or if you're hard-core, over your hi-fi. If you're so inclined you can put the music on your iPod as well.
... Read moreDownloads cheat you out of most of the music. Blame it on the way MP3s and the other lossy codecs work--they "throw away" as much as 90% of the original recording's information to squeeze the data into smaller files. The fuzzy logic behind this musical abomination is the missing information isn't audible, and if you never plan to listen to the music you love over anything better than a set of $29 plastic computer speakers or the freebie ear buds that come with your iPod, I'll concede the point. So sure, if you don't know what you're missing, compressed music can sound good enough.
But then again, if there's a chance you would ever want to really hear what the artist intended, and/or listen over a decent hi-fi system, go ahead and buy the 100% uncompressed CD. Throw into the mix a (used) DRM-free CD will be less expensive than the iTunes version and you'll own something that, with any luck, will be in your life for a long, long time. Rip the CD's tunes to your iPod, compress the hell out of them if you want, but at least you'll have the full resolution copy on hand.
The Audiophiliac checks out Spoon's latest
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)Spoon's "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" goes for $10.99 brand new on Amazon and $9.99 on iTunes. Ah, but the CD comes with a 23 minute, twelve track bonus CD, and iTunes gives you one measly bonus tune, "Deep Clean" which clocks in at three minutes and forty four seconds.
Yes, with the CD you have to pay Amazon's shipping costs, unless you put together a $25+ order, and then it's free. I bought the Spoon CD with bonus disc from my friendly local record store for $11.99, and they tossed in a free (!) Spoon 7-inch vinyl single. It features a demo of "The Underdog" on one side, and "It Took a Rumor to Make Me Wonder, Now I'm Convinced I'm Going Under" on the other side. How cool is that? All I'm trying to say here is, if you're laying down hard earned cash to buy music you love, why not buy it in its best sounding form?
Ooh, the vinyl soounds sweet!
(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)I'll close with a theory of mine--crappy sounding music is killing the music business. MP3s are subversive because they have apparently stopped people from really listening. Music has become a background soundtrack to other activities. It's just not important anymore. So if the music isn't moving you, maybe, just maybe, it's the sound that's turning you off. The Audiophiliac is here to help.
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