Vinyl Comeback

What souce do you prefer?

  • MP3 (or similar) -- I don't need hard copy as long as I have tunes on my HDD

    Votes: 5 31.3%

  • CD! Why wouldn't anyone want that sound quality?

    Votes: 7 43.8%

  • MP3 (or similar) -- I don't need hard copy as long as I have tunes on my HDD

    Votes: 3 18.8%

  • I have 100,000 cassettes and a boom box.

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Total voters
    16
Wästed The Great

Wästed The Great

Minister Of Chicks, Metal&Beer; Cool & Froody Dude
Staff member
I just read this article in the LA Times, about vinyl making a comeback.  Now, I recall Albie making mention of regretting getting rid of his vinyl when getting his CD collection, and had been thinking about that.  Audiophiles (from magazine articles that I have read) think that vinyl has the highest quality of sound (better than a CD!) but it requires a very high end turntable to get that sound. 

I like vinyl, I would love to have a collection of rare and interesting stuff to listen to on occasion.  I love my itunes, cause I can just load up a play list, plug it into the stereo, and listen for an entire day of messing around the house.  However, all in all, I just really like CD's.  Easy to use, don't require high dollar equipment for use, I can take them anywhere, and there is no sound quality problems with them at all. 

Just curious as to what everyone else thinks??

Here is the link to the article about the 'Vinyl Comeback':  LA Times
 
I voted for cassettes ... partly because I'm a wiseass, and partly because I do have a metric assload of cassettes and a boom box. However, most of the material on my cassettes I have since purchased on CD or downloaded as mp3.

Having said that - mint condition vinyl and a world-class turntable is unbeatable for sound quality. But it's damn near impossible to get a turntable good enough, and even harder to keep the vinyl perfect.

But the superb advantage of vinyl is the square foot of space for album cover art. I have some of my Maiden vinyl (TNOTB and LAD) on display as art in my house, and I know others who do the same with their vinyl. That's what we lost when the world went to CD - the hours of looking at every detail of album covers. (And de-seeding weed on the double albums.)
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
I voted for cassettes ... partly because I'm a wiseass, and partly because I do have a metric assload of cassettes and a boom box. However, most of the material on my cassettes I have since purchased on CD or downloaded as mp3.

Having said that - mint condition vinyl and a world-class turntable is unbeatable for sound quality. But it's damn near impossible to get a turntable good enough, and even harder to keep the vinyl perfect.

But the superb advantage of vinyl is the square foot of space for album cover art. I have some of my Maiden vinyl (TNOTB and LAD) on display as art in my house, and I know others who do the same with their vinyl. That's what we lost when the world went to CD - the hours of looking at every detail of album covers. (And de-seeding weed on the double albums.)
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That's funny!!  Mostly because a buddy of mine and I had this discussion the other day and he said the same thing about de-seeding weed.  Also, as far as the 'art' part goes, that is one of my goals, to collect vinyl album covers for art display in my downstairs.  There is a record store that has hundreds (if not thousands) of albums that they put on $1 sale a couple of times a year.  I use the 'abc's of rock' thread to help me find cool covers.

@LC, were you serious there or slightly joking?  I do dig it, and know there have been discussions here about sound quality and bps and all that, but I was looking in walmart the other day and they are selling flash drive albums now in mp3 format, for only a couple dollars less than an actual cd... just didn't seem like a good deal to me.
 
Digital format is the way we'll be doing things.  Quality is the current issue, but I can encode my own CDs into MP3s at 356kbps, or find downloads of the same, and that is just as clear as a CD is.  iTunes doesn't (yet) offer a wider range of qualities, but I expect it eventually will.
 
I used to have a world-class turntable. My granddad gave it to me when he got rid of all the stuff he had no use for anymore. It was a real beauty, and playing The Wall or Wish You Were Here on it was sonic orgasm.
However, it broke during moving chaos (more precisely, the sound arm broke while it accidentally got banged against a CD shelf, how ironic) and as a replacement, I got one that is OK, but nothing like my cherished old one. I still have my old stereo amp and speakers though, and I always get the feeling that this is true German precision work- it's old, but it kicks everything that is out there today and buries it five miles deep in the ground. If I ever lose that, it will be a very sad day for my ears.

So, I don't play vinyl as often as I did anymore, which is also because the needle on my "new" (bought used four years ago, mind you) turntable needs to be replaced, but when I do, I always notice how warm and authentic it sounds. I mostly play MP3s, because it is convenient, although I often enough get a fit and pop in a CD. And I still have a few of my favourite albums on vinyl only.
 
LooseCannon said:
Digital format is the way we'll be doing things.  Quality is the current issue, but I can encode my own CDs into MP3s at 356kbps, or find downloads of the same, and that is just as clear as a CD is.  iTunes doesn't (yet) offer a wider range of qualities, but I expect it eventually will.
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I think you are right, in the mainstream that is probably the case.  I've had lots of discussions with friends that a record store in the future will be a little kiosk in the mall, and you will walk up with your flashdrive or what not and they will just download whatever tunes you want. 

I've seen a few threads/convos here about this, but I think that parts of albums will suffer greatly for that.  The ability to download/purchase just the pop-hits off the album will kill the second half of many albums-- those that we, on here, have taken years to learn and love.

... and I think there is something to be said for holding something in your hands, be it a cd or an album (like SMX said, album covers rock!)

But, as the quality of downloads increases, more and more people will be purchasing them.  Tho, just like vinyl, I think there will always be that niche where records/cd's will be available for sale.

@per, that is a drag on the old turntable!  This may be a stupid question, but did you look for replacement parts for that?  I'm sure they are hard to find, but well worth it!

A question to all:  The reason that Per says the vinyl sounds more 'warm and authentic' is because vinyl doesn't have to be 'compressed' like a cd, or even farther compressed like an mp3 does, correct?  If I understand, vinyl will produce the higher 'highs' and the lower 'lows' better than a cd-- the cd and mp3's must compress the bandwidth and you lose the top and bottom more? 
 
Wasted CLV said:
@per, that is a drag on the old turntable!  This may be a stupid question, but did you look for replacement parts for that?  I'm sure they are hard to find, but well worth it!
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There was nothing that could be done, the arm literally broke and would have had to be replaced completely. Alas, even if I'd find one now, it'd be of no use, I had to throw the good thing away...
 
MP3. It takes much less space.  :)
And it would be funny to watch a man in train trying to change LP in his iGramaphone
 
Dead Boss said:
And it would be funny to watch a man in train trying to change LP in his iGramaphone
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That's actually not as ridiculous as it sounds. My dad has an USB turntable which can among other things convert vinyl to MP3. I'm planning to make extensive usage of it one day, although that doesn't mean I'd dispose of my vinyl once I'm done.
 
Dead Boss said:
And it would be funny to watch a man in train trying to change LP in his iGramaphone
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Back when I was in high school (the deep dark 1980s), a good friend installed a turntable in his car. He had it set up on springs - its own suspension to keep the record from skipping. He did it because another friend suggested it couldn't be done.

It should not surprise you to learn that my friend went on to obtain two engineering degrees (bachelors in both electrical and mechanical engineering).
 
I buy cds, because I don't have my own turntable (the parental unit owns that one), and I like listening to my music in my room. I immediately convert them to mp3s so the cd and booklet can be stored and safe from harm. i burn MP3 "collections" of artists I have 3 or more cds and keep those in my  car. I don't care if those are stolen, scratched or thrown away as i dispose of them as soon as I update them. they usually become coasters :D
 
CD.

Besides the obvious sound argument:
With buying the CD I can pay my full respect to the artists. Especially new bands can’t survive long if they don’t sell their product. People who don’t pay a rat’s ass for music are in my eyes a poor bunch of profiteers.

Another reason: I can enjoy the packing and lyrics (thus the whole product) the most when I have obtained an album on CD.

I also own some LPs but don’t play them that often.
 
Wasted CLV said:
Now, I recall Albie making mention of regretting getting rid of his vinyl when getting his CD collection, and had been thinking about that. 
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I did have some nice vinyl's but I also had a shed load of cassettes - most of which has gone to some charity shop, second hand shop or ebayed. I do regret not keeping the vinyl's mostly because of the artwork and such, but keeping them in good condition was a nightmare. They scratched and warped too easily. Anything, however, that I had on vinyl that was never released on CD I still have (like Metallica's 6 1/2 year Anniversary EP) but CD's are my thing now and that it what I will vote for.

And like Onhell, it's all ripped to my HDD and copied onto a CD-R for the car - I can never understand why some people keep original CD's in the car.
 
Albie said:
And like Onhell, it's all ripped to my HDD and copied onto a CD-R for the car - I can never understand why some people keep original CD's in the car.
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Why?  Are you afraid of having the CDs stolen?
 
Invader said:
Why?  Are you afraid of having the CDs stolen?
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If my car is stolen, they only steal my car - not my CD's as I have them indoors. Yes, someone can break into my house and steal them, or my house could burn to the ground, but it's more likely that my car would be stolen than my house broken into. I don't want to loose my CD's as I do have some real rarities that can't simply be replaced - but my car can be.

So yes, you could say that I am afraid of having CD's stolen.



However, if I had a decent and expensive car, then having that stolen would cause me a lot of grief. But I don't.
 
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