Why vinyl?

Viridian,
The studio mastering speed is 15ips.
At speed of 30ips you will finish 2km tape in 15 min which is not suitable to record a long pieces longer than 15 min.
Actually it's not bad if you can walk or run 30ips everytime:)
The thickness of the tape and so the tracks matters for the best channel clarity. I used to have played with Otari MX5050 B2 that plays 1/2" tape with two 1/4" tracks. In order to record a stereo you can only use one side of an open reel.

Please note that among the three sources LP, CD and open reel tape, the tape has the smallest dynamic range and has to be more compressed depending on the type but still never greater than LP or CD. The dynamic range cannot be altered with spead and solely depends on tape design and physical/chemical structure.

As to CD vs. LP I don't mind VTA, cleaning and caring for my records. I don't even mind some clicks and pops.
I only mind about Click-free... Pop-free... Life-free...

I also miss album covers. I was talking to a friend the other day after getting an email about the "Best Concerts" thread. I had been going through my LPs and album covers evoke a feeling that I have never felt looking through my CDs. A lot like the feeling I got thinking about favorite concerts.
I hate jewel cases, they are too small for the wonderful art of the LP cover, they break all the time and its a big pain to remove the tape on the edge. CDs should come in album covers! Somehow I find room for my albums. And they do sound better.

By the way, has anyone experienced LP quality sound from reel to reel? Never sounded that good to me, what ever the cause.

I have just begun a rexamination of my life (which of course means a return to vinyl!) and I am finding that while I still love my CD's, I now am able to over look the surface noise on LP's and just enjoy the music.

Most of the time (recording dependent), they sound fantastic even through the ticks and pops. However,I am not in love with all the work involved, or the (at times)bad distortion from LP's that were mistracked many moons ago.

I'm never going to quit CD and I will likely purchase most new music on that format for the forseeable future. That said, I can go down to my local vinyl store and buy lots of great old music for $2 to $5 bucks a piece! My spousal unit hates seeing them again, but that is a whole different problem... :?)

gb

Viridian, Good Post.

That's an interesting point about "why not tape?". Another question I've asked myself a few times about vinyl is whether the more limited selection of new releases is another form of audiophile I-only-listen-to-certain-recordings. This, of course, is a non-issue for somebody who listens to largely older music, but I like to listen to a lot of new releases.

I not only really like the convenience in terms of playback of CD, I also like the more limited storage space req's as well as the ability to have a complete system with fewer components / space. I also agree that while CD's are not perfect sound, now or forever, that digital is where the focus is going to be going forward, and there's some really neat stuff happening there. With storage becoming cheaper by the second, there will be more cool stuff.

None of this is said to suggest that vinyl isn't what those who have vinyl setups say it is, and certainly not to say they're wrong. I like convenience and efficiency, and to be honest, I never sit here and think, "man that CD playback is full of glare and harshness." In fact, I'm usually sitting here with a big smile on my face. I accept that I quite possibly don't realize what I'm missing, and someday I might explore that, but I learned a long time ago that sometimes you just ride happiness without asking a lot of questions.

When CD's sound can match that of a good analog rig then I am all for it. In the meantime, vinyl still sounds far superior when done correctly, I think most who are comparing first hand would agree.

I dabble in both worlds. I also have an SACD player. Elmuncy, to appreciate vinyl you need to clean the LP's with more than disk-washer. I listened to vinyl again about 6 months ago, after about 16 years of 'perfect sound forever'. In a good system, it immediately sounded better than my SACD and CD's. Sure it had surface noise, but a VPI 16.5 w/ Disc Doctor brushes clean the old albums up very nicely. Surface noise is down over 90%. About the only time I hear pops anymore is in between tracks. As for the sound, listening is believing. The LP's are warmer, lusher, with more soundstage depth. It's more 'real'. That being said, I still do listen to cd's. When I'm busy or just plain lazy. CD's are definitely less maintenance. When friends come over and listen, they kick themselves for selling all of their LP's. My $2250 analog setup (that includes the VPI 16.5 record cleaner) easily sounds better than my $3500 cd player.

I was the happiest person in the world this week when I sold my CD player. Now I can only play vinyl. And that's all I want to play, because when I put my CD player on, it sounded like it was broken in comparison to my TT. I will never buy another CD player as long as I live. I am using the proceeds to buy a large vinyl collection. Hey guys! If you aren't using your classic records anymore, give me a call. I know just what to do with them.

I'm with you. I love CD's and the digital technology. Once the music is numberized, the possibilities are unlimited! The best vinyl may have an edge (over redbook), but the future belongs to digital. I think vinyl persists because digital takes the human out-of-the-loop. No longer are you required to know how to carefully clean, polish, fuss, etc. It's like car guys no longer having the stick-shift option. Living with an automatic just changes the whole dynamic. If the MUSIC is good (and I'm in the mood) I don't care what box it comes out of...