Well then, it stands that we have one person who owns both formats and says that LP is superior, and one person who owns both formats that says digital is superior. I say lets take it to Florida and get a recount. But remember, the analog gets a hand recount, and the digital goes into a machine for the total. I just hope for your side, that the digital is in a "1" mode and not a "0" mode when checked. |
Albert,did you do a stand up on The Tonight Show the other night? I swear it was you! :) |
Now Now, let's try not to forget the all important absentee ballots. Those who use there portables, I know if they get in the vote is sure to swing.... Then I guess we'll need to know the best headphones for under $10. |
One more thing, thank you for the peace offering, I do want to make friends here. We all have one goal in common and that's to enjoy listening! How we get there will always be up for discussion. I just love music! |
Myoussif is asking a rational question to those of us that are slightly obessive in getting the best sound. From his post it reads that he knows he will spend a lot to get into to to another format and is asking for our advice. Myoussif, if you can afford it then go for Vinyl now. The new format wars aren't done yet SACD, DVD-Audio or what. It time to wait. However, Vinyl has the great library of the best performances and recordings of the stereo era. Most people agree that there was a period (roughly) from 1954 to 1968 when the great labels were carefully doing stereo recording. Tons of used records are available and the re-issues are so damn good that it would be a same to pass up this opportunity. Personal side bar is that I have never regretted pursuing what I like and the vinyl vs cd discussion is fun but pointless. Get the music and enjoy it. If you like several different medias so be it. I prefer vinyl like Albert Porter. Someone can like MP3 and I could give a rat's ass. Thank God we are different in our tastes - that leaves better pickings for all groups. Vinyl vs CD makes for a passionate discussion in sharing views, and we learn by usually picking up good music suggestions from the other person's opinions. BTW: having friends over for music sessions usually gives us a chance to share our music finds or compare several different artist or performances of the same works. We always enjoy the music and our discussions on our music preferences. Usually, preferences on equipment or media is never discussed. Myoussif, go for the vinyl and have some fun. |
Hey Albert here is one "hand" for analog from sunny Florida. |
And another from 'rainy' Oregon. Our votes almost counted this year !
I agree with david99 that you don't have to spend really big bucks to get good sound on vinyl. I bought my mint condition rega 25 w/super elys from a local dealer for $850.
The real value is access to interesting and new recordings. Especially classical recordings. I just bought a bunch of good quality rca red label and gramaphone records for fifty cents a piece. Quality sh*t like Perlman and Starker. I seem to recall having to spend fifteen bucks for their cd recordings. It also introduces a whole new realm of old recordings that you simply don't have access to if you have cd only. I just bought the Duanne Allman anthology vol II. A weird collection of songs that i would have never paid $15 for. I did pay $4. Discovered a few real gems (like duanne and herbie mann (flute) swapping leads on "push push".) That one's getting played at parties! Also bought a collection of Everest recording Gregorian chants - 4 albums for $1. Never would have bought this on cd. Tried it out. If I don't like it I can use them and save on paper plates. Hauntingly beautiful music. On the 25th, they will go well with my new Supremes and John Denver christmas albums. (50 cents each - did you have to ask?) |
Excellent point John, and not unlike some of the bargains I have found. I suggest those of you that have decided to give LP a try, keep your eye open for Public Libraries that sell out their analog collection. There are some rare and incredible items in these public stores, and many have seen very little or no use at all! add to that fact, much of this excellent material is not available in other music formats, at any price! I know of one person who bought multiple London Blueback LP's at .50 cents apiece. These albums are not only some of the finest classical music ever produced, they have increased in value to the point where resale of them could furnish your shelves with hundreds of lesser pieces of material. |
If you don't already own a bunch of records, then gravitate to SACD. Sony Sacd1, will give you not only the sacd format, but is an exceptional cd player as well! |
I stopped by Goodwill in Sandy, OR on my way home from skiing yesterday. I found an original copy of Dave Grusen's 'Time Out' for $1.99. A little high, for Goodwill. Great Record, and the sound is terrific. Part of the fun of records is finding cool stuff like that.
I think SACD will be a great format, but the media is $25/each. In other terms, that's 40 records for $1000 ! There is just so much great stuff out there on vinyl that will never surface on SACD. That being said, I will probably buy an SCD-1 within the next year. I hear you can get them for under 3K new now. That's a $2000 upgrade over my already excellent XA7ES CD player. |
I am certainly one of the most dedicated analog guys at this site, but the new Sony 9000ES, that will play DVD movies with progressive scan output, CD and SACD for about $1100.00 puts real pressure on me to buy one. The opportunity to purchase a top end DVD movie machine and get SACD, almost for free, really tempts me. If I do take the leap, I do not have expectations of it competing with my high end analog rig. However, it would be nice to have a state of the art movie machine that would also provide good playback from CD and SACD formats. If, eventually the SACD format fails, I can wear out the player with titles from Blockbusters Video, and my existing CD library. Meanwhile, I will continue to browse the discount stores for the millions of great titles available on LP, best to you all! |
I love my digital gear, but my Vinyle will always be there. |
I happen to own both a very highly resolving digital, as well as very renowned analog front end. I listen through electrostats, coupled with subs. It so happened that the electronics in my Goldmund arm went bonkers and I had to wait to have it repaired for exactly a year. It was not the fault of Goldmund, but one of their distributors here in Switzerland went bonkers as well, ( no joke )so the arm had "disappeared". So I listened only to digital through the excellent Purcell upsampler and quite enjoyed it, I was even thrilled sometimes. But I was compeletely flabberghasted, when I could play LP's again: The music bloomed, the soundstage opened up, the air between instruments became alive and vibrating, not this deadly void, this black nothing, which CD presents and which is so unnatural. I could listend to big orchestral works again, which I found on CD mostly uninvolving and flat in their presentation, so for me its vinyl for sure. However I have not had the chance to listen to any of the new formats. Anyway, after a one year hiatus, I had forgotten how much better that old technology is MUSICALLY in comparison even to the best presentations which CD can offer. |
I have SACD, 24/96 and upsampled CD setups. I have chosen the equipment (Forsell, Audio Logic, Purcell) based on its musicality and how close I can get it to sound like real music. But when I want to be moved fully by the music, I still will always choose vinyl. SACD comes close, but still appeals more to the logical side of my brain (I have heard it said, and think it's true, that SACD doesn't sound like analog or digital, it sounds like the master tape). I agree with many of the above that you don't have to spend a fortune on a good arm, table and cartridge to enjoy vinyl, and there are plenty of old records and excellent reissues available. I'd say go for it! |
Detlof, I'm with you on this one. A live example. I have an ancient Zarathustra 4 w/ Pluto arm (both still working -- no servicing) & Clearaudio Victory exhibition model. PCM digital is Symphonic LIne Reference, exhibition modell again.
Listened to Mahler 1 on CD (Bruno Walter, NYSO) on sony: powerfull stuff. Found an OLD vinyl of same (not 1st edition...). Listened to same with mmusician friends. No comparison... to give one example: musicians picked out 2 short-comings in the string section beginning part2 on vinyl; couldnt do same on cd. Other examples abound esp on voice recordings.
Myoussif -- pcm digital is the problem. Wait till something better is standard (SACD?) |
In my opinion, vinyl provides an unexplainable quality in reproducing music vis-à -vis digital. I feel that there is a noticeable “blending” of instrumentation and voices with vinyl – including much smoother transients. If your purpose, however, is instrument discrimination, digital might be your bread and butter… but, if you don’t mind a little extra attention to your “software” and simply enjoy music, then vinyl is the way to go. Additionally, I don’t really believe that one must spend excessively to reap the benefits of either vinyl or digital. I would contend that more emphasis be placed upon amplification means (I prefer vacuum tubes to solid state), speakers, quality of the LP or CD, and the inter-relationship of all your components, including cables. |
I've been in analog since the intro of LPs. I don't have a vast collection---in early years, I simply couldn't afford to buy lots of records, and my taste in music is rather limited to classical, and even then, to more modern stuff (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Ravel, etc.), but it's one I still enjoy. More recently, I've become partial to piano trios, quartets, quintets, and small chamber orchestras. In brief, there is now, and always has been, a limited amount of software available that I enjoy. For this reason, I've been reluctant to get into SACD---of the few SACDs available, I've found only about six, maybe eight, that I would want. I hope that will change soon, but only time will tell.
I recently upgraded speakers, pre- and pwr-amps, phono preamp,etc., and have ordered a better cartridge to replace the BPS on my Rega P3. So it's obvious that I'm seriously back into analog. My Wadia 830 is great, but I still hear the dreaded CD grit/grain on many disks. I think SACD might be the answer to many prayers.
As far as the monetary outlay is concerned, look at what you can buy in vinyl, compared to the cost of an average CD. I know of at least two stores in Atlanta where there is a great selection of used/new vinyl at a fraction of what a CD costs. I'm sure such a selection exists in most major cities. RR, Classic, Chesky LPs are all excellent, but their prices are comparable to CDs, or maybe even higher in some cases, although I feel sonics are superior to CDs.
So I plan to keep the CDs I have, add to them when the notion hits me, and do the same with vinyl. I recently dug out some of my LPs---ones I couldn't/didn't listen to before---and with the new equipment many are better than any CD I have.
I'm gonna wait and see what happens. Certainly one, or maybe both, of the new formats will make it. When that happens, prices of machines will drop, and the selection of SACDs or DVD-As will multiply, also with diminishing prices----best of both worlds.
Vinyl is here now,it's good, and it's affordable, even if you have to start from scratch! |
You will never regret having the classic experience of vinyl. I still enjoy throwing an old "disk" on the turntable and relaxing with music from the 60's on up! |
best mactching, best set up analogue still the best. |
We have recently gotten back into vinyl. Yes the cd's are more convenient... but there is something very satisfying about cleaning the LP and placing the tonearm on that vinyl. Even my wife was amazed at the sound, she loves the MFSL recordings. The funny thing was, that after quite a long session of farely loud playing, we never felt like turning down the volume. That harsheness never materialized! And you know what the funny part of that was, I hadn't noticed the cd's harsheness, until we started playing our LP's again. My advice is... don't wait. You really don't know what you're missing! |
Availability is a huge concern. Is the music you want to listen to available on the "next new format?" SACD ond DVD have extremely limited choices. Virtually anything is available on vinyl. Somethings are just harder to find than others. CDs are convienient but lots of things couldn't be obtained. Most new releases are available on vinyl but only as imports so you still have the choice to buy if you want.
I've been getting back into vinyl recently after doing turntable/CD comparisons and am very happy with the results.
Nate |
a guy could wait til hell freezes ovrfor the new formats to proliferate. in the meantime, a guy can have a load of fun assembling a decent LP playback system and acquire a mountain of black vinyl. i have around 7k of them and still buy nearly weekly, and sometimes more (too) often).
meanwhile, conventional cd and the LP format will satisfy the need for music and quality playback.
the immediacy and solidity are readily detectable. the spaciousness and solidity with LP is quite reassuring and changing cartridges shows you the different strengths of these devices. a lot more fun than changing d/a convertors. i have about 9 carts mounted and ready to swap.
.......regards.....tr |
My response has a historical turn to it, because I think the question is the product of its time.
Vinyl was brutally attacked and discredited with lies by the CD's promoters when they needed market share to survive. The CD was only just good enough at that point to replace the vinyl LP for many listeners who had poor-quality turntables. Ironically, the Linn Sondek had only just come onto the market and started to convince a small number that the problems of music reproduction should be addressed at the source. We were not source-oriented before this.
The Linn was expensive. Cheap CD players replaced background noise with distortion in the highs and loose rhythm but these failings were of an order we were not used to. This unfamiliarity was enough to allow many to believe the hype and dump the LP for CD. However the attention that was paid to the source had the result of opening ears to the CD's problems and consequently CD media and playback have improved. Again ironically, if the CD had not appeared the way it did, it might have failed on the market and something with higher sampling rates and longer words, something genuinely competitive with vinyl, might have appeared five years later and convinced many more listeners the LP was dead. Recycling was not then in vogue, so much vinyl which might have been useful for raincoats would have wound up in landfill.
Vinyl and the CD have thus helped each other. The CD was introduced when digital technology was only borderline, barely ready as a music medium. Vinyl has preserved some wonderful music and served as a reference, showing us the promoters were lying. Perfect sound forever, for Pete's sake !
Vinyl and the CD complement each other. One gives more natural music, the other gives us performances we can't get on vinyl. CD is also more convenient to use, and that's good. I think it only makes sense to get into high-end vinyl if you already have a lot of records and you know you want to hear them. However, if you are not satisfied with your CD system and you have bought it using your ears ; if you have looked into room treatment, cables, power supply and component synergy ; if you have heard vinyl do it so much better that you know that's what you want ; then you are condemned to spend a lot of money on a turntable setup and a record collection.
But no reproduction system is perfect and you could instead rest where you are and concentrate on finding software you want to listen to. When there's a critical mass of good software available in another format, you can make the move. In the meantime, if you need to spend more money on music, you could, if you don't already do it, support live music in two ways : go to concerts, and subsidize young musicians to study and purchase instruments. |
tobias, while i tink there's much merit in what ewe say, there's a major glitch - the linn sondek was awailable for 12 years prior to the introduction of the 1st commercially awailable cd-player. and, *many* less expensive players would smoke the cd-players, not yust the linn. and, as far as being "condemned" to spend a lot of money if ya wanna listen to winyl, i disagree - a prudent shopper can get a way-musical winyl rig for ~$1k - yust ask bigo, from a recent thread in the analog section of these forums... his rig will smoke most any cd-rig at *any* price, imo... getting a nice winyl rig will condemn ewe only to listening to *music*, & wishing yer favorite cd-releases could be found on winyl! ;~) doug s. |
Fun to read your reaction, Doug S. ; I have to say it was a bit of a chore reading through the spelling quirks but I understand it helps not to take all this too seriously.
No commercial CD player for 12 years after the Linn, you say ? I don't know. When I was selling in Canada in1974-5, we hadn't heard of the Linn yet. The Ariston RD-11 was the best we had ( and it was miles ahead of the rest and cost an astronomical $ 800 ).
Hi-fi was last on my hobby list in the early 80's but surely there was a commercial CD player by 1984 or earlier ?
My point is still pertinent in any case--the Linn being costly, relatively few people had heard it and could compare it to the new CD medium. It took time for Linn-type technology to influence the industry enough for people to try to duplicate the essential points for less money than the LP12. There just wasn't enough lead time for the LP playback revolution to establish itself firmly enough to counter the CD lie campaign.
That doesn't mean there's no point in finding out, by listening, if vinyl is what you really want. I wanted to point out that the CD's premature ascendancy in the market was what kept vinyl an interesting listening experience in comparison. Vinyl can undoubtedly be surpassed, and perhaps will be in the next technological cycle. Right now, it has something the other medium doesn't. The other medium knows this and is still trying to reach its full potential. |
hi tobias, cd-players became commercially awailable in 1984. i double-czeched the linn website to werify its introduction of the lp12 in 1972. there were plenty of excellent-sounding, reasonable-priced turntables around at this time - both prior to, & after the intro of the lp12. the venerable ar-xa (correct model #?) is *still* a respectable piece, tweeks awailable to this day allow this humble 'table to perform up there w/the best of 'em. i guess, bottom line is i must disagreee w/the point yure making. imo, good turntable technology was entrenched even *before* the linn intro, and the audiophile end of the audio industry was *extremely* cognizant of the lp's superiority over the cd, when cd was 1st introduced in 1984. in fact, most audiophiles know it's only been in the last couple years that cd-playback has been able to even approach winyl as an ultimate software playback medium. cd overwhelmed winyl not cuz no one was aware of winyl's superiority, but cuz cd was aimed at the mass-market, & the audiphiles were yust overrun by the sheer number of folks who tink the latest-n-greatest is what's adwertized in rags like stereo-review, and sold in stores like circuit-city. ;~) i *do* agree that the cd's "premature ascendency" is what's kept winyl around as a wiable playback medium, tho - there *are* enuff folks out there that are interested in the quality of the *sound*, regardless of what the mass-media sez! :>) i'm sure winyl *can* be surpassed by another "technological cycle". but, i'm not sure when this may occur - certainly i don't see it happening anytime soon. there's no incentive for the music industry to push a higher-resolution digital format for audio, as the masses tink redbook cd is as good as it gets, awreddy. the sacd/dvd-audio wars will be fought more over the multimedia/surround-sound mass-market, & audiophile-quality audio-only software will be yust an afterthought. yust my opinion, of course! regards, doug s. |
Why not look at "L" cassette, or 8-track, or any one of the hundreds of formats that have come and gone, or will go as soon as they cook up some other inferior media. I have 30 year old vinyl that I will never trade for shinny bits of smoke and mirrors.
If you wish to get into Vinyl, you MUST get a record cleanner and invest the time to care for your records. My personal fav. is VPI 17F, and the Last products. If you want to start w/ a cheep entry to try it out, Look at the offerings from Music Hall, a music:$$ ratio that can't be beat.
Happy listening |
Several years ago, my kid and I did his science fair project on "Vinyl Vs. CD." We had 4 LPs and CDs with the same source material, both classical and rock. Front ends were VPI HW19 Mk III with Benz Glider and Marantz 65 SE playing through a Musical Fidelity X 10D. Rest of system was the same. We had 10 listeners do A-B comparisons. I carefully matched the sound pressure levels.
Result - Vinyl smoked the CDs in all respects. Everyone preferred the vinyl sound.
Now, a more expensive CD player might have been a different story, but those were the results.
Besides, where else can you get great music for only a few bucks a pop? Get a good record washer and replace the inner sleeves after washing and you get great sound for alittle money.
Joe |
It seems silly to post this to a thread that's almost a year old, but...I can't resist. I've had the great pleasure of comparing top flight digital and analog front ends. Hi-end digital smokes low end digital by a long shot. Makes the unlistenable actually pleasureable. But a mid run turntable setup outperforms a top notch CD rig even worse. A top tier turntable you ask. Fuhgedaboudit! I suspect this lies mostly in the crappy software the record companies feed us, but that's a discussion for another day. The harmonic structures, decay, ambiance, musicality, fluidity and engaging nature of the analog disc has yet to be replicated, even by SACD. One day, somebody will have the b*!!s to spend $40 or $50 grand on an ADC and put out some decent CD's and maybe we can find out what digital is really capable of. Till then, vinyl will be king. Long live the king! I hate to admit this, but the ritual of putting on a record really makes listening to vinyl all the more involving. If you're finding that life is making more and more demands of your time and the treasured moments you spend in front of the stereo are being whittled away, shouldn't you spend those moments listening to the best medium there is? Well, as Forest used to say, "That's all I have to say about that". |
tfta,great post and dont feel silly bringing back an old thread.....Now,as you are "new" here,please visit WHO R U in the "Best of" and tell us ALL about you!
WELCOME tfta!!!
Dave |
If I hadn't had several hundred LP's that I never got rid of, I would not have gotten back into vinyl. New LP's are expensive. Selection is good, but not great, and the care and feeding of the whole thing is a bit of a pain.
I do prefer the sound of vinyl when everything is right. |
Jphilips, bravo for doing your comparison and telling us the results. As you know, you are not the only one to have done such a thing--UHF magazine comes to mind, and also a German researcher who additionally used tubes vs transistors as a parameter. And many of us have done it too.
These comparisons are all needed, because of the snap judgements we humans like to impose based on what we think is consensus. In other words, we don't trust our own ears, and the proof needs to be demonstrated. I am sure nobody who has heard such a shootout goes away unchanged, but you have to hear the difference, not just hear about it.
Bravo for doing such a public demo.
If I were newly dissatisfied with CD ( maybe after Jphilips' demo ), I would be looking into vinyl and SACD as alternative sources. I would like to say that my own experience with hi-res digital, both SACD and DVD-audio, has not convinced me to add yet another source.
What surprised me the most was the relatively small difference between first-class CD and hi-res. I conclude that vinyl can remain a priority for me, because it's better than both when all three are done right.
Two questions arise about high resolution digital audio, of course.
First, is hi-res digital being done right, that is, to or near the limit of its potential? Both vinyl and 16/44 digital needed twenty years to reach theirs.
Second, if it is not yet being done right, what should be corrected? Perhaps the recordings chosen for issue on SACD don't offer genuine high-res, or higher-res than what you can get on vinyl and CD. Perhaps the playback technology has trouble extracting part or all of the extra info.
I have been told that both are quite likely. And this, plus my small listening experience, plus my own nature which is excessively prudent, leads me to conclude that I should not bother yet with SACD. |
Myoussif
I was in your shoes a year ago
I had a good digital fronend but wasn't there yet
I went two routes - a mid priced dvd-a
mostly for my movies and a few dvd-as
it was compariable or slightly less resolving to my redbook on the same material
then I went with a Nottingham spacedeck
a whoile world of difference and more musicality
opened up everything
now it's mostly vinyl at home and cd's at work and in car
if you like older music (sorry I'm in a rush and didn't read the whole thread)
take the plunge, you will thank yourself immensely
audiotom |
I have what I consider to be a very good digital front end. Sony DVP-NC555ES into a Genesis Digital Lens into a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 Tube DAC. I just bought my first TT last week. A Music Hall MMF-5. I have to admit, even with a cheapie audio technica cart (I got the table used) I am having loads of fun. Already have approximately 300 records. Tons of stuff I have never heard before and ohh what fun it is to browse :)
I wouldn't give up my digital for the world but the TT bug has definately bit. Looking at a cart and other accessories already.
Good luck and have fun |
I'd wait for the new stuff. That way you won't have to wade through tens of thousands of analog titles trying to decide what to buy for music. You simply purchase the few titles offered in the new format, everybody needs another copy of Kinda Blue and Diana Krall on whatever the new format will be.
Besides, another cool thing about all the new digital stuff is the players don't last long so you can upgrade as much as you want. Those pesky TTs tend to last for decades. |
Definately go Vinyl! - If you wait for the new stuff you'll be waiting a long time. There is nothing on the horizon that can match vinyl. SACD may be better than CD but Vinyl is better. I won't even argue about it with anyone. SACD, DVD-A both have that CD edge which makes it sound mechanical. Something will sound better than records one day IMHO, but we're talking about years. DVD-A and SACD still haven't really taken hold yet, and they've both been around for years now. CD (redbook) still sounds excellent. I have vinyl (best sound) and redbook CD player (biggest selection of recordings) why would I want something in the middle (SACD & DVD-A)? |
In simple science, you hear in analog. The instruments emit a wavelength that is analog, people speaking and singing are first detected in an analog waveform. The concept that the LARGER the storage medium, the more information is stored, the more spacious and deeper the soundstage is true. and lastly, getting off the couch every 20 minutes is good aerobics. |
I dumped SACD more than two years ago, probably three. I went back to CD and vinyl. I went through a complete tear down a year ago and now am back in SACD(EMM Labs) and Vinyl (SME30). I don't think it will get much better than this for a while. I hope to be alive when the time comes.
Bill |
This doesn't really move the conversation on much, just to say that I have a CD front end that retails for around $5000 and a Universal disc player that sold for $1200. This weekend a picked up a scratchy dirt-bag of a TT, an original Rega Planar 3 with the most basic of everything. (I'm not saying the P3 isn't a good TT, just that this particular one is in dire need of upgrading).
Anyway, the point is that this $400 (used) TT comes mighty close in sonics to my CD setup and even closer to my SACD player. As a previous LP12 owner, I know that good vinyl can blow away the best CD players. If a $400 TT can come close to a $5,000 CD player.....well, I think the point is made.
The only downside to vinyl in my opinion, is maintenance, storage and the whole convenience thing. When playing vinyl, if I want to switch a track I have to get up and walk 20 feet across the room, and whilst I could do with the exercise, it is a pain in the rear.
I guess it comes down to what is most important to the individual and what you are prepared to put up with in pursuit of your goals.
Rooze |
Unfortunately, I think vinyl isore of a personality issue than a format, as stated above. My feeling is, if you get good tube gear for digital repoduction, and wait out the bugs in format issues, you will be very satisfied with the tonal accuracy and lifelike quality. |
Go for the vinyl ASAP....I don't see anything good coming out from the future. |
Nothing will beat vinyl. It's been 100+ years and it is still King. |
" Nothing will beat vinyl, its been 1200 years and its still king " Maybe true and I am a analog freak but there is another forn of analog that I have been consistently been mentioning and nobody has responded accordinily. That is 4 track open reel tapes, factory pre-recorded. It has to be experincied to be beleaved. Truly amazing |
NO QUESTION. VINYL.
IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT MUSICAL REPRODUCTION, VINYL.
period. |
Friend
I have heard both DVD and SACD; and vinyl simply gets closer to the emotion of the performance. DVD and SACD on the other hand sound like great performances. So it becomes a matter of taste....real or great performanes.
Studio1 |
New formats are going to come and go ... digital is about convenience and transportability, which means that we're headed toward a non-physical-media digital world. On-demand and downloadable entertainment will be the norm sooner than you think.
Moreover, I'm looking at CDs of mine that I've had for 10 years or so ... the substrate is decomposing somehow. My Kieth Jarret "Sun Bear" collection is totally unplayable! Scratches on CD are way more annoying than on LP, and CD seems to be more easily scratched. YET ... I have 60 year old records that sound FANTASTIC.
More and more new vinyl is being released, there's plenty of old vinyl to enjoy, and it doesn't take much to get back in. The rewards FAR outweight the risks. |
Buying old vinyl is a bit like gambling on the horses. You remember the good recordings at bargain prices (wins) and forget the unplayable junk (losses). In reality LP's cost more than CD's when you take the real costs into account. The situation becomes worse when you start buying new release on vinyl. I would still go for a turntable though. CD/SACD/DVDA do not cover all the bases. When you take into account that there are only a limited number of great recordings of the sort of music you like to listen to, you need to broaden the search as much as possible. |
I've read a lot of good responces and thought I'd add mine. I do have CD's....but I use them in the car only. When I listen to music at home, its vinly all the way baby!
There is a warmth that digital just does not "reproduce" well to my ears. Not to mention the vast aray of historic recordings that will never make it onto a newer format. I'm 47 years old and theres something about playing a record that was pressed when I was a child...or my father was a child...and I'm the first in many years to hear music come from that disk....Its like opening a time capsule every time I listen. I don't think anyone could say that about a CD. I for one would HIGHLY recomend going vinly....skys the limit as to what you will find and hear. |
Vinyl IS the new stuff. Any other question? |
I just recently began to sort/archive my 400+ vinyl's, and find it quite stimulating to revisit my formative years. (more like hell-raising)
Tough decision, as I am also at that crossroads of having a good mix of CD and LP material. Personally, I am just filling in the gaps on my "favorites" list, and replacing those that are no longer "playable".
You may also want to consider finding those vinyl products that ARE NOT available on disc. |
