“Actually its kids that are driving vinyl sales these days- not older audiophiles.”Just go through the record bins of new LPs and look at the titles. The store is buying titles that keep them in business. Who listens to all that stuff? I have pretty eclectic tastes and love to buy current titles, but there is way more stuff out there than I have any idea about. I have a preset on the FM radio in my truck, set to the UofM radio station (KUOM), which is run by and for college kids. I have to assume they are playing things that people of their ilk listen to, so when I see those LP titles in record stores its a pretty good indication that kids are driving LP sales. Of course, anecdotal evidence on my part is nothing so go look at Billboard or the like. LP sales have been driven by kids for a very long time, even if you aren't there at the time to see them doing it :)
I respectfully disagree, I have yet to witness ‘kids’ buying the vinyl.
Vinyl vs high def audio i.e. 24bit / 96 or 192khz
I was born to the world of cassette tapes and soon digital music. My only experience with Vinyl was the one rather audition I had recently. It wasn't feasible at the time for us to try a blind fold A/B test. So my question for anyone has experienced both, is that is it worth it to buy a turntable?
The entry level ones are not really expensive compared to the gears I currently have. However, it's my habit to not keep things that I would not use. That includes thing that is a hassle to use or requires a lot of maintenance. The shop owner where I auditioned a Rega turntable kind of insinuated it falls into both of the aforementioned categories. For instance, the Vinyl doesn't hold many songs so swapping is pretty much a necessity. Upon some research, I also found that vinyl albums recently issued are likely produced from a digital master anyway, some are even just slightly above CD Quality. I have a large library of songs from HDTracks that are at least 24bit / 48khz and honestly I cannot tell a difference once they hit 24 bit / 96khz.
With the above said, what's so great about Vinyl in your view? Thanks for the feedback.
The entry level ones are not really expensive compared to the gears I currently have. However, it's my habit to not keep things that I would not use. That includes thing that is a hassle to use or requires a lot of maintenance. The shop owner where I auditioned a Rega turntable kind of insinuated it falls into both of the aforementioned categories. For instance, the Vinyl doesn't hold many songs so swapping is pretty much a necessity. Upon some research, I also found that vinyl albums recently issued are likely produced from a digital master anyway, some are even just slightly above CD Quality. I have a large library of songs from HDTracks that are at least 24bit / 48khz and honestly I cannot tell a difference once they hit 24 bit / 96khz.
With the above said, what's so great about Vinyl in your view? Thanks for the feedback.
Showing 5 responses by atmasphere
However, given the lack of willingness pursuit for quality products exhibited by today's younger generation, I fear less and less recording studio will be willing to spend time and effort to create a pure analog master tape. If you tell my sister, who's 23, about Vinyl, she will give you a quizzical look and just ignores you completely.Actually its kids that are driving vinyl sales these days- not older audiophiles. And vinyl has been doing quite well in the last few years. The years of least production of vinyl was actually 1992-1993. Its been on the rise ever since! |
I've been reading a lot of chats between modern-day vinyl users. The final "nail to the coffin" that made me decide to continue my digital path is exactly what @atmasphere mentioned: the master file isn't even being used. I read that in many modern-day LP production, the source is actually already digital, often time already "lossy". The inability, or at least limited ability for me to get authentic vinyls in the future is definitely a "no deal" for now.@angelgz2 , You might have missed my point- which is the often the LP uses a digital file that is closer to the original than the file used to make a digital release. IOW if you want to get closer to the original, the LP might be the ticket. |
From all the response so far, it seems like turntables are really for people who have a predisposition to love records, either because you guys already have a large collection, or because you could relate to it. While there might be some level of sonic differences, a larger part appears to be personal preference and the emotional aspect of it.@angelgz2 In most cases a turntable will sound better than anything streamed. This is because streamed files, even though 192KHz, may not have any more information than the 16 bit CDs because the master file was not used. LPs are far more likely to have used a file closer to the original than even a commercially released CD! This is because CDs and other digital formats have the expectation of being played in a car and so are compressed as a result. LPs don't have that expectation. I run an LP mastering operation, and when working with a digital master, we always make sure its not the file mastered for digital release. We get the one that is unprocessed- it sounds better. LPs have a number of advantages over digital formats even to this day. Since the late 1950s, the record side has always had bandwidth out to well past 40KHz. That helps improve the perception of the soundstage due to reduced phase shift. LPs have less or no aliasing at all. This is important- aliasing is a form of distortion which the ear/brain system perceives as a brightness - 'crisp' is of then term when its really bad. This is a major reason why LPs are so much more relaxed. So these things are not taste issues. Digital just isn't there - yet. BTW- one of the better deals in turntables these days is the new Technics SL-1200G, which looks like the SL1200s on Craigslist but is actually a whole new design from the ground up and is one of the most speed stable turntables made anywhere. |