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390 Comments
- Lucas123, on 01/02/2009, -16/+249There may be another reason for the explosion of vinyl sales -- no DRM.
- roebeet, on 01/02/2009, -2/+135Vinyl is still a pain in the neck to maintain. It was always my biggest issue, even when I was young.
But, as the article stated, there is a different feeling with vinyl - I think it's because you can't just sample and shuffle songs around, between artists. When you put on a record, it's more of an event. You've committed yourself to listening, at least for a little while. - bradallen18, on 01/02/2009, -2/+128I have started building up a fairly large vinyl collection with my roommates. We love it because you can go to used record stores and spend $20 and come out with 4, maybe 5 records. We found Abbey Road for $4.
- tavallai, on 01/03/2009, -3/+98Vinyl is back? It never went away, bitches!
- granolajoe, on 01/02/2009, -2/+68The vinyl industry can thank me for the $4000+ in vinyl I've spent since I started spinning in 2006, and at least $1200 in 2008. Love its sound and the look and feel of it. I haven't bought a CD in years and I don't plan on it. It's just not the same.
Also, as others have pointed out, it's cheap (well, old records are), and it's very easy to record your music and convert to MP3 for traveling. - fmaxwell, on 01/03/2009, -8/+72Translation: You find the noise and distortion to be euphonic -- which is fine. What drives me nuts are the people who actually claim the fidelity is better than CDs when, in fact, it is grossly inferior. I don't care if you measure frequency response linearity, signal-to-noise ratio, total harmonic distortion (THD), wow and flutter, transient intermodulation distortion, channel separation -- the CD just blows it out of the water.
Of course, there are people who relied on the coupling and feedback of a turntable in order to fill in a dip in the frequency response of their system/room, but that the LP sounds better than the CD in their system is a sad comment on their system rather than a positive one about the LP. - dieboldcracy, on 01/03/2009, -5/+63no, it's a tangible product that makes you feel like you're investing in something again. Artwork, a turntable to look cool spinning it for your friends on. It's brought a little culture back into listening to music. I haven't bought a cd in years but if I see a vinyl of a record I like I'll snatch it up. I'm not saying I called this, but a lot of people have felt that vinyl could save music. It sounds better, it keep's it album formatted, it's just cooler and collectable.
- metapop, on 01/02/2009, -2/+56if you can't get a digg from a guy named Lucas123 with a cat as an avatar, i'm not sure anyone will digg you up.
including me. - inactive, on 01/03/2009, -3/+56I was never that much into the opinion that "vinyl sounds much better" because I can't really tell the difference, but I do love vinyl for one reason: The actual waveform of the music is present, right on the record itself. Now that's badass.
- HamNCheese, on 01/03/2009, -1/+39Best DRM ever: Impossible to make an exact copy for your friends.
- MrSwap, on 01/03/2009, -16/+54I hate the argument that analog (vinyl) sounds better than digital. It's the vintage style that makes it desirable. You can easily record the imperfections that make vinyl sound "warmer" with high quality sound equipment to a high bit-rate digital file. The digital copy would be so accurate that no one would be able to tell the difference. For anyone who says otherwise, I have some $20,000 audio cables you may be interested in. New music coming out on vinyl will never make any sense to me, except that there's a market for it from misguided, brainwashed people that see it as superior because of the very imperfections that make it inferior. It's kind of ironic.
- Drazzim12, on 01/03/2009, -2/+37VHS is the only format I buy. It has a much more natural and "warm" look to it than those digitally sterile DVDs.
- SillyRabbits, on 01/03/2009, -4/+37In theory you are correct, but the problem is that CD's have been horribly remastered to destroy the dynamic range. LP's tend to do a better job. Here's a link that gives a quick example of what I'm talking about.
http://www.cdmasteringservices.com/loudnessvideo.h ... - Atario, on 01/03/2009, -1/+32And don't forget the Loudness Wars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
RIAA shooting themselves in the foot in yet another way, surprise surprise. - cadmiumpaint, on 01/03/2009, -2/+32Best Buy sells Vinyl and there is some real decent stuff available. I was shocked the last time i was in the store, and suddenly found myself drooling over some Radiohead records that i already own on CD...its just so much cooler when its that LP size...
- BeShirtHappy, on 01/02/2009, -4/+33I think this is cool... what's old is new again. I remember my first 45 was Rod Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night'. :)
- Lucas123, on 01/02/2009, -4/+33My cat's name is Qicho (pronounced: Keeko) or as the small forest animals of my neighborhood know him: the Grim Reaper. My name is Lucas.
- inactive, on 01/03/2009, -4/+30Wow, no drm. Just like a CD...
No, records are just way nicer to hold and look at and far more satisfying to own. - Tyedunn, on 01/03/2009, -3/+28Vinyl is great. I dont buy cds because its way too easy to download, but there is nothing sexier then a vinyl. You sometime get freebies inside too, like posters.
- MarkusX, on 01/03/2009, -4/+27Is VHS coming back, too?
It's also analog.
...I'm just asking, because I still have my $12.000 VCR, that I bought last year - I was told it's the best of the best.
;-) - BossKey, on 01/03/2009, -1/+24I dugg you up. Most of the reasons I hear for the superiority of vinyl are somewhat elitist in nature, or rely on the CD being mastered wrong. When both are done correctly, there shouldn't really be a difference on the equipment that 90% of people own. If there is, maybe it's because the CD standard itself is aging (almost 30 years old) and need to be upgraded to something beyond 16-bit 44.1KHz.
I have a decent amount of vinyl. I don't enjoy that I have to stop whatever I'm doing every 15-20 minutes and flip it over or change the record, otherwise it's silence. If a record gets a scratch that skips, you'll never enjoy playing it again. I love how shuffle mode on my digital music collection has reminded me of great tracks and albums I forgot I owned, and lets me fill an entire afternoon or day with music.
I'll never let go of my old vinyl, but I refuse to think that was the best we could do. That would actually be somewhat depressing. - borez, on 01/03/2009, -0/+22The warmth is just harmonic distortion, run your cd deck through a tube amp with the gain up high and the output low if you want the same effect.
/a sound engineer. - Scrooged, on 01/03/2009, -0/+21Dugg for "transient intermodulation distortion". Don't know what it is (and don't care), but plan to use the phrase often. Sound geeks are funny :)
- HamNCheese, on 01/03/2009, -0/+17Most vinyl has the same "not for public performance" warning printed right on the label. There's nothing in any copyright law text I've ever seen that treats one format any different than another.
You hear much more about CDs because they can be copied 1:1 - but the law is the same either way. - vroom101, on 01/02/2009, -1/+18Article on one page: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com ... (www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Storage&articleId=9124699&taxonomyId=19)
- BoneStamp, on 01/03/2009, -15/+32Vinyl sounds so much warmer than a CD... especially if you've got some decent speakers and a tube amp.
- d3sapar3cid0, on 01/03/2009, -0/+17Do you realize how many times The Wall and Abbey road have been repressed? This is why record collectors are incredibly specific about which pressings they buy. The majority BELONG in the $1 bin, while the 2 or 3 specific pressings that matter and that actually sound very good, go for $100s
- ethanfahy, on 01/03/2009, -7/+23But almost everything recorded now is recorded on a DIGITAL audio workstation, so converting to analog is fundamentally pointless. Comparing LPs to ***** bitrate MP3s is one thing but you can't tell me that a lossless digital audio track made from a digital recording is somehow inferior to an LP. You just can't.
- fmaxwell, on 01/03/2009, -1/+17There are some CD remasters that suck while others greatly outshine the original vinyl. I know that, in one case, a respected audio engineer remastered a vinyl album and the high-end was so overpowering that it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Listening to his earlier vinyl mastering, I came to the realization that his hearing was going and he used EQ to make it sound the way that he remembered it.
The point of all of that is that the engineer and studio determine the quality of the pressing. If they go back to well-preserved master recordings and mix with care and skill, the sound can be phenomenal -- something that only a recording studio professional would have heard prior to the CD.
But for LPs, they have to reduce the dynamic range as well as mixing the bass to the center so that the stylii can track it. They typically have to compress it to boost it above the noise floor. And it doesn't matter how good a turntable, tonearm, and cartridge you get -- the LP that you're about to play is engineered to work with a $60 turntable with tonearm sporting a $10 cartridge. So they can't release an album that will truly take advantage of your investment. - Rikkochet, on 01/03/2009, -14/+29That's a myth that continues to be propagated by people who wax nostalgic for the early days of audio.
Vinyl is inferior to digital technology (assuming the digital sample is lossless) - it has to be. You have a metal needle SCRATCHING against a sheet of plastic. Friction creates interference that damages the intended sound output. It's minimal, but it exists.
Obviously a nice vinyl player on expensive audio equipment will trump a ***** iTunes MP3 on an iPod, but swap out a digital player for a vinyl player and you will get better sound.
..not that anybody realizes this, considering how *****-awful most MP3 bitrates are. - rick2k, on 01/03/2009, -3/+18Guy has a 100% valid point and you digg him down becuase of what? you are the very idiots he is speaking of!
Vinyl while it is great has had its time and that has passed. Whats the point in recording digital and then going analog for the final product.. makes no sense
If we were all still recording in studios to tape and mixing it all down on analogue equipment then maybe it would be of some value to still use vinyl. - inactive, on 01/03/2009, -2/+16A lot of stuff has escaped your brain, dude. What you wrote makes zero sense and is entirely untrue.
- cyclopssmiley, on 01/03/2009, -17/+30Also vinyl has the best quality i have ever heard when recorded properly.
- dronesixtyten, on 01/03/2009, -4/+17Got an original pressing of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma for $25. Well worth it and the gem of my collection.
- MrSwap, on 01/03/2009, -1/+14Haha. No, I'm just an engineer who's had this same conversation too many times in the last 2 weeks.
- smokesteam, on 01/03/2009, -0/+13As a very very small part of the "vinyl industry", I personally thank you. It doesnt matter if you bought records off my label or not, just the fact that you supported music makers and those who work hard to get the music out to fans.
Lets hope 2009 brings you lots more good tunes to spin! - SillyRabbits, on 01/03/2009, -1/+14The unfortunate problem is that vinyl probably does sound better these days. CDs are a far superior media, but most music on CDs has been remastered in a way that completely kills the dynamic range (to make it sound loud all the time). Vinyl is probably the only place you can find properly mastered music today. Even though it won't be as clean/clear as a CD, it will at least have the proper dynamic range. You won't notice it using IPod ear buds, but it's a night and day difference on any reasonably nice stereo system.
- Tyrghast, on 01/03/2009, -1/+13postage stamp. cheap, portable, and if you lose a few along the way it wont be a pain to pick up some more.
- malibusurf, on 01/03/2009, -0/+12this is the reason why Vinyl sales are up. music is now essentially free given the mass availability of torrents etc. when people decide to pay for music its because they want something tangible. with vinyl you buy something that is more product that the cd version, is more collectable than the cd version, and has some old world feel to it.
il be honest tho, i torrent my music first then buy it on record if i enjoy it. - username7410, on 01/03/2009, -2/+14You need really good equipment to benefit from vinyl. What's funny is most people are probably listening on some POS turntable they got at Urban Outfitters.
- drgmdp, on 01/03/2009, -1/+13meh, engineers... what do they know about warmth........
- prplnrpl, on 01/03/2009, -2/+13I have gotten into vinyl over the past year. The sound, like many others have mentioned, is incredible and seems more natural. There's more to it than sound though. In a world where almost all music is accessible within a few clicks, its fun to go into a run down record store and spend time digging through stacks of unsorted records and finding something extremely rare or something you just cannot leave the store without for less than $5.
New vinyl is fun too... I haven't bought a CD in years and have spent a decent amount of cash at the local record store on new/re releases. The packaging is great and many are even offering mp3 downloads with album purchase - metapop, on 01/02/2009, -6/+17i've been wanting to get some old vinyl for some time now, specifically some old prog rock and mid-century jazz. vinyl is an amazing phenomenon... hasn't been utilized on a large scale, but it has trumped modern technology in some ways because it has a warmer sound to it. time to raid eBay!
- BossKey, on 01/03/2009, -0/+10That's why I'm actually afraid to buy the "remastered" CD versions of some of my vinyl. I'm afraid I might find out that they've overcompressed the dynamic range.
- tiberone, on 01/03/2009, -0/+10Awesome info about a man who can actually tell exactly what songs are on an album just by studying its grooves:
http://www.snopes.com/music/media/reader.asp - Chaindrop, on 01/03/2009, -2/+12My dicks name is Crazysticks.
- hamishcduncan, on 01/03/2009, -4/+14Hisses and pops are from dirty vinyl.
Ever played a scratched CD?
Clean vinyl > Clean CD
Derr - Darkicewolf, on 01/03/2009, -5/+15I have never really understood the Vinyl sounds better argument. It really shouldn't from a technical perspective. DAC works you only need to sampling at twice the rate of the highest frequency that you are recording to have a DAC reconstruct the sound perfectly.
In CD's that 1411.2 kbit/s that covers up to 22.05 kHz so your good for a frequency perspective. And EFM encoding on CD's is a RLL type code iirc so your good that on compression induced error.
And quantization error from the ADC is a non issue since everything now days is digitized for mixing so any new vinyl will have this error from the recording phase. Even so at 16bits per sample i'm not sure the human ear could pick that out.
To boil my argument down a CD isn't an inferior storage medium. if anything Vinyl is by simply playing a Vinyl record induces noise into the music from mismatch contact of the needle to the record. To intrinsic degradation of the record from physical contact with the needle which with each play changes the record ever so slightly - BenBenMan, on 01/03/2009, -0/+10Dugg for clarification of DVDA
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