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What is it about spinning vinyl?

I just turned the system off several minutes ago. I had been listening to a great, high res file of Tower of Power, best horn section ever. As many know I have been sans turntable for 8 months. I sold my old one and ordered a new one but you know the story. Covid delays. It is under construction now.  Anyway, as I turned the system off I got this real urge to play a record. The wizard inside did not feel like turning the computer back on. It wanted a record. Grumpy, I decided to hit the sack. 
Think about that. I have a terabyte and a half of digital files sitting there in a hard drive.  Everything from Bach to Captain Beefheart. It had to be a record. No record, bedtime. It was not about the music. It was about the mechanical act of playing a record. I've been doing it since I was four years old. My dad got me a Zenith portable for my fourth birthday. You know, with the black cobra tonearm complete with eyes! Is it just repetitive behavior. Perhaps there is some sort of psychological explanation. Happy associations? Platter hypnosis? Maybe it is that we get emotionally attached to certain behaviors. 
128x128mijostyn
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,542 posts
 
You guys are funny.  And so repetitive.
realworldaudio
174 posts
 
We tend to forget that listening to music is a 100% subjective experience, and the state of mind is the key component that dictates the experience.

As with many things in life, the returns are commensurate with the effort we put in. With LP, we are actively engaging ourselves in the process of listening to music. With the LP ritual we leave the world and our worries behind, and we prepare our minds to listen to music. If you are healthy and able and complain about it (legitimate health reasons are exception!) shame on you - are we so atrophied as a species that taking a black disc out of its cover and laying it flat down on a spinning surface defies our abilities and endurance?
With digital we miss this step of concentration. The modern smartphone user can only handle the push of a button, and whines when he is forced to take five steps. So, we start the playlist and our brain continues in "this is usual background listening" mode and it's unwilling to zone on the experience. Our lifetime habit with playlists is superficial listening, and your brain will not forget decades of training simply because we upgraded our streamers or got a better DAC....


speakermaster
738 posts
 
There is a lot to the physical act of playing vinyl that makes it interactive and fun there is no soul to a digital download or file on a computer.
jollytinker
213 posts
 
I think “what it is” with vinyl is the sound. It’s better.  Not to sound like the brain police or anything (who?).
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,824 posts
 
We tend to forget that listening to music is a 100% subjective experience, and the state of mind is the key component that dictates the experience.

I find that adding 2+2=4 to be a 100% subjective experience.

Oh wait. I don't. Because I don't make up the meanings behind the numbers or the plus sign operator.

Similarly, I do not make up the sound of a violin vs. a tuba, very loud vs. very soft, etc. 


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