Why do hipsters prefer analog?

kingharold

 " I don't care why hipsters are listening to vinyl.  I am just glad they are since it helps keep a very good format alive"

I guess in the end I agree with kingharold. These guys/gals are keeping the format alive. They are saying, "this older stuff is cool, worth having, worth spending money on, worth enjoying". They are taking a piece of history and preserving it their own way. I can appreciate that.

A whole lotta Judgement going on here...

Mirror anyone...?

Hipsters do not do it because of the way it sounds.  They like the cool brand of athletic clothing,  they like vinyl or cassettes because retro is cool, they need to do cool stuff, so everyone can see how cool they are.  Cool!

What’s the matter with kids, today?
--Paul Lynde from Bye Bye Birdie

You guys are all becoming Paul Lynde.

All the best,
Nonoise

What a dumb thread, even by the almost unimaginably low standards of this forum.

I guess I’m an almost former Hipster. I mostly listen to CD or CD ripped to the Nas, but there are a few vinyl disks that get spun from time to time.

As the father of at least one hipster (he liives in Bushwick, so it's official!) and after spending time with his delightfully unexpected friends, I get the impression that the tactile experience has value for them. Many of my sons friends are musicians, and making music using a physical thing (guitar, piano, sackbutt, ondes Martinot...) is part of their lives and physical medium for reproducing music makes sense to them.

I love the ritual of playing records, everything about it. I have three turntables and they delight me. Thousands of records, thousand of CDs, streaming... it's all good. And I currently looking for a R2R! 

Because it's fun? Yes.

Though the resurgence of the cassette is a little baffling. I suppose it's like pet rocks. Does some of it come down to wearing vintage clothing and buying midcentury modern furniture? I don't know...

Something I've wondered about too.

Have fun! Now I'll think I'll slip in a Minidisc and listen to Hot Tuna. Or maybe an Elcaset...

Peace

I was a teenager in the 70's and grew up listening to records/cassette tapes...wtf is a  "hipster"?!....lol....

Oh relax folks if you can't make fun of hipsters who can you make fun of? I consider myself to be tragically unhip so none of this is about me. 😉

Because they are hip.

Mostly style and image.  If you look at the gear most of them are using, it is not for great sound quality.  

Hipsters?

Is it 2009 again?

It's not a "hipster" thing; it's a sound quality thing.

Hey you kids get off my lawn!

Ive heard this one before.
 

1. To get to the other side?

2.  Because it's ironic?

@cpr267 + 1

The only possible explanation is that analog is hip.   It’s also groovy baby,  yeah!!!

Because it sounds better. 

What the hell is a "hipster"?

I went through the exact tech sequence you mention and I’m anything but a hipster.

In audio, I go where my ears take me...right now it’s R2R, specifically NOS digital.

P.T. Barnum was right...

If a hipster wanted to be hip, he couldn't because everybody else was trying to be hip and it wouldn't be hip.

A take off of Yogi Berra saying nobody goes there anymore because it's too crowded (or something like that).

Less accessibility = harder work = exclusivity = whatever you call a hipster

Maybe they think it sounds better.  That’s why I like vinyl.  Why is someone judged differently if they have the same opinion or taste?

Because is sounds better. Distortions and all. It just does.

The hipster’s not with it man! He needs to be wearing his Levi cordes, Desert Boot shoes and Members Only jacket. :)

I'm glad they are interested in a full music experience. 

@ericvm Desert boots have been back in style for a couple of years man. 

@jerryg123 Ha! I need to get out more in my old age. :)

@ericvm the only reason I know is I went shopping for clothes with my 19 year old daughter and she picked a pair out for me. Feel like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape when I wear them. or maybe Bullet….lol.

@jerryg123 You lucky dude! She’s a doll and daddy’s girl taken care of her pops. Nice story. lol....that would be the time frame alright. I'm going to get some now! :)

I got her in to vinyl and we make trips to the record store together. Going to miss her when she goes back to school. She was by my side when I had my small stoke and found me in my listening room. Good person unlike her pops. 

I have not listened to a tube amp.  I would think the highs and the details would not be as pronounced as a good digital amp.  There must be a reason why audio switched from tube to digital.  Is it the nostalgia and the looks of glowing tubes.  Is it the opportunity to invest in replacement tubes?  This might sound stupid.  Since tubeamps are analog I am guessing there would not be need for a DAC. I have never had this explained to me.

I remember playing a guitar with both a tube amp and a digital amp and I thought the tube amp sounded better.  I also believe a small tube amp put out more volume than a much larger digital amp.  However, that was many years ago.  I wonder if there is a book I could read that would explain this.  Perhaps, this is my new homework.  There is so much to learn.  The biggest thing I haven’t learned so far is how to get the boss to allow me to spend more money.  She will say out of 1,300 homes in our community there might only be two homes with a stereo sound system.  What still amazes me is how 98% watch TV by using their TV speakers.  I think sound is 80% or more of the movie experience.

"Since tubeamps are analog I am guessing there would not be need for a DAC. I have never had this explained to me."

Are you serious Larry?

@larry5729 Just wow. 

Hi, larry.

Amps are neither analog nor digital, the sources of your music are.

If you are sourcing a digital medium, you need a dac.

If they are analog, you don't.

@larry5729 - go get yourself a top shelf tube amp before the apocalypse - which may be any day now the way things are going. 

And what a sunny outlook on life you have...

Is the world about to end again??

I didn't catch wind of that. Better check my spam folder...

larry5729

871 posts

07-02-2022 at 05:35pm

I have not listened to a tube amp. I would think the highs and the details would not be as pronounced as a good digital amp. There must be a reason why audio switched from tube to digital. Is it the nostalgia and the looks of glowing tubes. Is it the opportunity to invest in replacement tubes? This might sound stupid. Since tubeamps are analog I am guessing there would not be need for a DAC. I have never had this explained to me.

Are you serious? You’ve said some questionable stuff here before, but this might be the best of the best……

Life could not go on without vacuum tubes.....

Hipsters love some of the vintage audio gear, the wood and silver ones.  They love tubes also.  I wonder why. 

I hear you're buying a synthesizer and an arpeggiator and are throwing your computer out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Yaz record.

I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables.
I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars.

I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.

A "hipster" has double hip replacement enabling him to flip Benny Goodman.   More Peace and Happy 4th!    Pin

Ever tried to roll a joint on a cd case?

I thought this was a discussion forum designed for people to learn.  I can see why some have dropped out.  

Well, have you? The hipsters know what I’m talking about.

My daily search for intelligent life often begins with this forum.  While I'm not sure this objective has been met today, it's certainly been entertaining.

waytoomuchstuff The day is not over yet....