Is Vinyl Worth It


Great cartoon in this week's New Yorker magazine. Has a caption: 'The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience'. Sounds familiar.
buconero117

Showing 3 responses by oblgny

Recently I was going through my CD library and stumbled across Dark Side Of The Moon.  Realizing that I had not listened to it in decades, yes decades, I fired up the ol' stereo and sat back for a listen down memory lane. 
How about awful?  All caps - AWFUL!!!
I sauntered over to the rack just to make sure something wasn't amiss. There wasn't. 
Turns out that it was one of the first discs I added to my collection, mirroring my vinyl collection back in the day. 
I then dug out my vinyl version and...hiss. Pop. Click.  Wow - they were still there and I didn't care!  In the same exact spots where I remembered they were!
Subsequently I purchased a remastered disc version and all is well on all fronts. 
Lesson learned?  Many of the early compact disc releases were poorly produced in haste to nourish the beast. 
I likes vinyl.  I likes the compact disc. 
Achieving optimum resolution from either format runs into some considerable financials either way so...spend where you feel most comfortable AND what you will use the most!

abucktwoeighty...hahaha!  
Gawd...remember the rumble that the 8track plowed through the speakers when it did that?   Thanks for the memory!
Dogs are vinyl,  cats are compact discs.

Like mapman,  I too am able to share an appreciation for either species and have had both in my house together and apart for as many years that I've been alive.  I think it's utterly groovy - pun definitely intended - that vinyl's recent resurgence as an artificial reproduction medium is bringing younger people into the fold of high-fidelity.  My ten year old niece loves to come over her uncle's house and flip through the LP collection...and yes,  I encourage her to operate my turntable without worry she may damage anything because...that's what uncles do.  She's developed an appreciation for Joni Mitchell early on and prefers to listen to her on vinyl because she can read the lyrics contained inside.

I think a lot of the arguments against the compact disc,  and one that I reserve for downloading,  is the loss of the tangible sense of ownership.  With vinyl you get that big beautiful thing you can hold in your hands,  often including liner notes,  posters,  photographs of the artists inside.  With the compact disc you got/get a shrunken head version of that which is not very huggable.  With downloading you get none of that - you get exxes and zeroes into a diminutive slab of plastic or metal.

My niece can hear the quality difference between vinyl and cd,  the difference between her iPod and my A&K 100 portable player.