What are your views on the vinyl s(pl)urge?

[Dankology]

I've always loved vinyl and when I was a teenager it was a cheap way to pick up loads of classic stuff. Still love big covers, two "programmes" per album and the whole ritual of putting a record on.

 

A few months ago I almost gave up on new vinyl after picking up a run of noisy sounding LPs. Even a new cartridge didn't help.

 

I eventually picked up a much nicer turntable and I cannot express how much better everything sounds, even through a middling amp and low end speakers. Even my other half, who semi-tolerantly indulges this stuff, has repeatedly commented on how good it sounds. So I'm fully recommited now and would strongly encourage any waverers to check out a decent modern deck.  Of course, I'm aware that much of what I'm liking will be down to distortion and the limitations of the format but I'm OK with that.

 

In terms of the vinyl revival itself, I'm torn: I love that new music is coming out on the format but the prices are ridiculous, even for nondescript secondhand stuff. I fear lots of nice new stuff is getting wrecked on cheapo pseudo-vintage decks and labels that have always pressed vinyl are now being squeezed out of the production process.

 

On the other hand, CDs are now cheap and plentiful, so I'm filling in gaps in my collection on the cheap again.

 

Jeffrey Lewis wrote a great song about it that I'm sure I've posted here before:

 

https://youtu.be/3urXygZXb74

Edited February 18, 2022 by Dankology

[Drax]

Interesting how nuts the pricing has gone for secondhand vinyl - discogs especially. Albums you can stream for free, or buy £5 CD, going for £100. Not rare Beatles or Zep, run of the mill 90's electronic stuff. It's the sweet spot for those with disposable income. 

 

A 12inch my mate put out in 2003 had sold a few times on discogs, a few quid each time. As an experiment I 'bought' a copy from him for £60, .. and he 'bought' it back for the same. Just on these sales, pricing and demand shot up, people started advertising it for more money, and suddenly people wanted to buy it, copies were going for up to £100. It's settled down now, 12 people currently selling, cheapest £36.

 

But this is record that no one wanted to buy before, and no one thought was expensive or rare until discogs told them it was. Kind of like 70's P Basses were once. Fascinating herd mentality at play. 

 

 

[Len_derby]

9 hours ago, casapete said:

 

All our kids ( in their 30’s) don’t possess a CD drive at all, preferring not to own hard copies of music in favour of streaming. It’s just how things move on, but I’m hoping CDs will become retro and hip again at some point like vinyl has.

I’ve still got some of my vinyl (which doesn’t get played) including a vast amount of singles (45’s) which I don’t know what to do with. 

A mate of mine who frequents car boot sales and similar looking for vintage clothing tells me that over the last year-or-so he’s noticed men (always men) hoovering up the cds on sale. A lot of them are dealers in his estimation. This is in York, where there’s plenty of disposable income around for hobbies. 

[fretmeister]

I never had a good player but in my teens I had a lot of LPs.

CDs are far more convenient and they solve a problem that LPs and cassette both have - no more need to change get out of a chair to swap sides!

 

That being said - a big old gatefold sleeve with great photos is lovely. First one I got like that was Iron Maiden's "Live after death" with the massive Eddie stage picture on the inside. Awesome.

[BigRedX]

Specialised CD transport mechanisms are a complete con. All the data off the CD gets read into a buffer first to allow for the error correction, so any talk of minimising digital jitter and the like is bollox. So long as the drive spins at approximately the correct speed and the DACs are decent you won't hear any difference between a cheap CD player and an expensive one. 

[neepheid]

Happy to watch it from the sidelines with a smile on my face.  Records were my Dad's thing, when I was a kid I had cassettes and moved to CDs from tapes so I never had my own vinyl (save for a couple of singles).

 

The smile on my face is being happy to see a supposedly dead format enjoying quite the resurgence.  Has it ever happened before in such a big way?  Can't see it happening for VHS, or 5 1/4" floppy discs...

[leroydiamond]

IMO older classic and prog rock vinyl LP'S still sound fantastic, but you need a very decent well set up turntable and the vinyl needs to be in very good condition IMO such recordings, have not transferred well onto the digital domain remastered or not.

 

CD can sound brilliant, but the 'loudness war' has given the format a bad rep. I find the sonics of CD's recorded by lesser known artists often trump more established artists. 

 

I have jumped on the streaming bandwagon and love the convenience of playing everything and anything from the comfort of my sofa, so much so that I have ripped my CD collection onto an Innuos hard drive which is just so convenient . Getting lazier as I get older I guess. 

 

The best sounding album I have heard regardless of format is the Porky vinyl cut of Deep Purples 'Made in Japan' . Listening to this, recorded 50 years ago at a cost of $3000 IMO begs the question, where did it all go wrong. A sonic delight.

 

 

 

 

[leroydiamond]

IMO older classic and prog rock vinyl LP'S still sound fantastic, but you need a very decent well set up turntable and the vinyl needs to be in very good condition IMO such recordings, have not transferred well onto the digital domain remastered or not.

 

CD can sound brilliant, but the 'loudness war' has given the format a bad rep. I find the sonics of CD's recorded by lesser known artists often trump more established artists. 

 

I have jumped on the streaming bandwagon and love the convenience of playing everything and anything from the comfort of my sofa, so much so that I have ripped my CD collection onto an Innuos hard drive which is just so convenient . Getting lazier as I get older I guess. 

 

The best sounding album I have heard regardless of format is the Porky vinyl cut of Deep Purples 'Made in Japan' . Listening to this, recorded 50 years ago at a cost of $3000 IMO begs the question, where did it all go wrong. A sonic delight.

 

 

 

 

[ezbass]

I gave my, fairly large, vinyl collection to a friend (it was just sitting in the loft) some years ago. I don’t miss the crackles, the jumps and skips, the potential for worn out sections or the space required for storage, at all. What I do miss is the package they came in. Big enough to sit it on your lap and read the notes or get lost in the properly sized photos or some of the more complex artwork (Roger Dean, etc).

[leroydiamond]

I am a classic/prog rock fan and IMO older albums of this genre recorded in the analogue domain do not transfer all that well to digital. The thing is, in order to hear vinyl at its best, requires a very good turntable that is well set up, together with the record being in very good condition. If I was starting out now, I would give vinyl a miss. The format is way too expensive, not to mind the cost of a decent turntable

 

I also love CD, although 'the loudness war' has given it a bad rep. I find CD's recorded by lesser known artists can sound sublime when compared with releases of more established acts

 

I have jumped on the streaming bandwagon and love the convenience of playing everything and anything from the comfort of my sofa, so much so that I have ripped my CD collection onto an Innuos hard drive which is just so convenient . Getting lazier as I get older I guess. 

 

 

The second best sounding album I have heard regardless of format is the Porky vinyl cut of Deep Purples 'Made in Japan' . Listening to this, recorded 50 years ago at a cost of $3000 IMO begs the question, where did it all go wrong. A sonic delight

 

As for the best well pride of place goes to an LP I picked up many years ago. Live in London on the ACE label. A live recording of various acts in Dublin Castle in Camden from back in the day.The sleeve notes refer to it being recorded recorded onto 'the 2 track 'valvemobile' a low budget recording then, but outstanding.

 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by leroydiamond

[Grahambythesea]

Vinyl is a waste of space, but I do miss decent cover notes.

[NancyJohnson]

I'm probably too far down the thread for this but here's my opinion.

 

Back in the 70s, never really had a huge vinyl collection, but what I did realise early on was how fragile it was, so whatever I bought was immediately recorded to cassette (even home taped cassettes sounded clearer than official ones).  I embraced CD, MiniDisc, MP3/FLAC, streaming services and right now I'd say that I'm more interested in convenience and listening to the song rather than getting into protracted arguments about the whys and wherefores of the format it's derived from.

 

Concerning the uptake of vinyl amongst the younglings, the siblings of friends are buying records like they're buying clothes, if that makes sense.  They don't seem to care about what they're buying, it's just about 'buying some vinyls', like it's a fashion statement; also an observation from said parents, once bought, they're never played again ('they just use Spotify').  There also seems to be this thing that they'll avaoid certain records if they don't come with some kind of download code as well, which leads the question of, 'So what's the point?' 

 

One last thing, do records made now sound the same as the same ones made 30 or 40 years ago?  I was played a Led Zeppelin album from the 70s, the old vinyl was big, loud and full-sounding, the same album from a recent reissue was quite thin and considerably less robust.  This raises the question of mastering and what new albums are mastered from.  A couple of years ago, there was a lengthy thread on a Japan Facebook page about the Abbey Road half-speed masters of Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum.  I think these may have been on heavier vinyl too.  Many posters were berating the pressings (surface noise/warpage/general quality control/sound generally), but aren't these bumps, crackles and pops the facets of vinyl that people love as much as the  music thereon as it provides character?.  There just seems to be this thing (ignorance/stupidity?) that because Abbey Road is associated with the mastering process it's got to be good, hasn't it?

 

[Edit]  In the last few days I've worked out that I can integrate a turntable with a Bluetooth output into my Sonos network without having to fork out for a Sonos Amp or a Five.  I was thinking about getting a Pro-Ject deck to facilitate this so I could have a listen to some records that aren't up on any streaming platform; I have no desire whatsoever to start buying records, new or used.  I'm not a sap.  My wife kindly offered to get me one for my birthday (ten months off in December), and didn't actually baulk at the cost (£400).  I don't know.  It's a lot of money just to listen to a handful of records.

Edited February 18, 2022 by NancyJohnson

[Skin Lewis]

21 minutes ago, leroydiamond said:

 The best sounding album I have heard regardless of format is the Porky vinyl cut of Deep Purples 'Made in Japan' . Listening to this, recorded 50 years ago at a cost of $3000 IMO begs the question, where did it all go wrong. A sonic delight.

 

Porky was a legend, I sat in with him at Olympic back in 1980 as he was cutting a 12" for our band on his amazing Neumann lathe. Nobody else could get the bass end as big and the top end so clear and airy. Porky prime cuts!

[Stub Mandrel]

After about 10 years, I've just resurrected my fairly basic hifi, although with my brother's NAD2030 as my old Panasonic has volume control issues. Rotel turntable and Goldring Elektra cartridge, Kef Coda 7s. Pretty much the best budget setup of the early 1990s 🙂

 

I've got about 200 lps to enjoy. Every last crackle and pop 🙂

 

Sounds good enough to me, certainly better than what i've been hearing music through for a long time.

 

Records are like old friends, and the ritual of placing the vinyl and dropping the needle is a pleasure in itself.

 

I have also sourced a Phillips CD player for the modest CD collection I've accumulated.

[Stub Mandrel]

6 minutes ago, Skin Lewis said:

Porky prime cuts!

 

I must remember to check each LP as I work though them  all for Porkies!

[mikel]

A mate of mine said back in 2012 that he believed CDs would die out and people would either download music or listen to vinyl. I laughed at him. But it seems he was correct. There is something about vinyl. The ritual, the cover and sleeve notes. The fact you listen to a whole side, in order. Also, I think, that on music recorded from the 60s to the 80s it just sounds better because it was produced to sound good on that medium. Luddite, me?

[leroydiamond]

21 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by leroydiamond

[RhysP]

I've never stopped listening to vinyl and I still occasionally buy new stuff on vinyl, though the prices are pretty steep.

I'm unusual in that I don't use any kind of streaming service, I just don't have any interest in it.

I like the "clutter" of my vinyl albums & CDs, they make me happy. 🙂

[BigRedX]

Getting vinyl to sound good (if that isn't an oxymoron) is mostly down to mastering and cutting. When vinyl was the only delivery medium (compact cassettes very never really taken seriously) all the mastering and cutting engineers knew exactly what they could and couldn't get aways with to the best quality signal onto the records. Remember also that in order to press records the cut acetate goes through at least another process to create the stamper(s) and often two more for high volume runs. Because it is a mechanical process there will be a slight loss of quality with each process, so the cutting of the acetate has to be done with these losses in mind.

 

While there are some new good cutting engineers about these days, they don't handle the sheer volume of work that was being done in the 60s and 70s (backlogs are mostly in the pressing plants rather than the cutting rooms) and there are no well-known names like Porky (George Peckham) and Bilbo (Dennis Blackham) who back in the day were probably as important as the musicians and the producer of the records that they cut. When I looked at my record collection in the early 80s nearly every disc was either a "Porky Prime Cut" or a "Bilbo Bopper".

 

There is also the problem that masters for vinyl, CD and digital downloads (and cassette should you be hipster enough) all require different techniques, and there is no "one size fits all" master that will make the best of each delivery medium. I think also that for a lot of consumers vinyl is an artefact rather than a music delivery medium, and will never get played. I have on a couple of occasions toyed with the idea of releasing an album on vinyl, which would simply be cheap second hand records with new sleeves and labels. I wonder how long it would be before someone complained that the record didn't contain the music it was supposed to?

 

[Rich]

I love vinyl and have still got all my old stuff from my yoof. My missus has got a whole load of her old vinyl too, plus some that her first hubs CBA to take when they split up -- lots of old prog, Budgie, Yes, early Genesis. His loss  I have two nice turntables including one with a USB connection so I can rip them to mp3 if the mood takes me. I can't imagine that I will be buying any new vinyl, especially at those prices. I'll stick with what I've got and live in the past.  

[Skinnyman]

I’m constantly amazed at how easily the music industry is able to find new (or old) ways of selling us the same stuff.

 

Over the years I have bought multiple copies of the same albums across different formats.

 

LP.

Quadrophonic LP.

Cassette.

Eight-track cartridge.

CD.

Digitally remastered CD with added bonus tracks.

CD box set Steven Wilson Surround Mix.

Streamed version from Spotify.

Lossless digital stream Amazon Music.

Ditto Apple whatever theirs is called.

180g Japanese pressed Vinyl reissue

 

I daresay there will be more “definitive” CD reissues over the next few years as the assets are sweated yet again

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Skinnyman

[tegs07]

There was always something special about listening to vinyl in company, selecting the records and holding the covers that scrolling through an iPod or iPhone can’t replicate. Then there is the ease of skipping and just getting the best tracks and never appreciating the body of work in its entirety.

 

Vinyl is far from convenient but I totally get it.

Edited February 18, 2022 by tegs07

[Cat Burrito]

Along with my basses, I have always liked my records. Around the time they suddenly became "vinyls" the prices shot up and I became accidentally fashionable. I kinda wish that hadn't happened, purely because it now costs me more. I don't really care about being in fashion or out of fashion - I'm 49 next month and I think I have always just done what I please for me. I like supporting the artists direct on sites like Bandcamp and the one plus side is that there have been some really colourful packages on recent releases. I still stream stuff when I work out and I like CDs in the car. I never really went in for snobbery. I like the ritual of putting an LP on. If your mega expensive Sonos reveals me to be a cloth-eared idiot, I can live with that. 

 

[Rumple]

[Boodang]

Spotify and the like is great for discovering new stuff and play lists, but nothing quite like vinyl to make you listen to an album the way the artist wanted you to hear it, in order with an A & B side.