2. analog
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What is the actual percentage of people exclusively listening to vinyl vs digital?

I well remember in the ‘80s when we were amazed and thrilled by CD.
Wow, no more pops and clicks and all the physical benefits.
Seems so many abandoned vinyl.
But now, with so much convenience, available content and high SQ seems even dedicated vinylholics have again abandoned vinyl and embraced digital. However, there is clearly a new resurgence in analog.
But I look at, for example, whitecamaro’s “List of amplifiers...” thread and no one seems interested in analog!
To me, it seems strange when auditioning “$100Kish gear, that vinyl doesn’t enter the picture or conversation.
mglik

Showing 3 responses by jssmith

jssmith
298 posts
 
@mglik " To me, it seems strange when auditioning “$100Kish gear, that vinyl doesn’t enter the picture or conversation."

Because, from a capability standpoint, vinyl is technologically inferior to digital.

Additionally,
  • Vinyl has pops, clicks and hiss ( I grew up with vinyl and this is why I dumped it)
  • Vinyl is way more expensive
  • Vinyl players (turntables/cartridges) are way more expensive
  • Vinyl takes up a lot of space, whereas my whole library fits on a flash drive
  • Vinyl isn't portable
  • Vinyl wears
  • And vinyl is obviously less convenient (my digital system is voice-controlled, and starts and plays with two commands)

So it's not a surprise to me that vinyl wouldn't be a consideration. What is a surprise is that anyone would spend $100K on a system when Revel Salon 2s are only $20K.

As for percentages, the most recent stats I saw show vinyl at less than 5% of the market. I think vinyl will follow the trend of other nostalgia and die out when the people who grew up with it are gone.
jssmith
298 posts
 
@dletch2  

in poor acoustic environments (most audiophiles rooms)


If they're spending $100K on a system I'd hope they'd have the common sense to spend $3K of that on room treatments. But judging from some of the pictures I see of high-dollar systems surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and others with wood floors and bare walls, you may be right.
jssmith
298 posts
 
@john1
 There are verifiable statistics to guide us. In Jan. 2021 vinyl album sales were 27% of all record sales. It's only gone up since.

That study also says that vinyl accounts for only 3.6% of music consumption.

Which reflects the problem with tracking album sales the last couple of years - a lot of us who were buying dozens of CDs per year are now streaming and don't buy any albums at all. I even bought 400 Bandcamp albums (including a 200+ Buckethead Pikes set) within a four year period up until two years ago. Now we just rent a service instead. So it's not necessarily that vinyl sales are exponentially growing compared to digital, but that streaming rental is taking away its statistical competition.
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