Deutsch
English
You might be under the impression that, nowadays, everything is consumed digitally, including music. Vinyls have been among the first victims of the digital revolution and most press plants went out of business between 1988 and 1995, with their former employees scattering in all directions. At flea markets, entire collections were sold at knock-down-prices as if vinyls were relics from primitive, slightly embarrassing times. To the amazement of many, vinyls aren't dead- and the music industry now has to rediscover how vinyl works.
Perhaps, you can still remember the days when, with a sense of reverence, you took a record out of its sleeve, carefully placed it on the turntable and watched the pickup as it gently touched the black vinyl. Depending on the record's age, there may also have been some promising crackle before the music began playing. For most listeners, this ritual came to an end with the advent of the CD. No more wear and tear, portability, better sound - you're likely familiar with the arguments spread by the media and the music industry back then. And while everyone was in a digital frenzy and tried to drive up prices, they forgot that music was and still is an affair of the heart.
As vinyl supporters were fighting a rearguard battle, a subculture that spanned all music genres began to emerge. It united lovers of the harmonic distortions that created so many great overtones, enthusiasts who valued the gentle audio clipping that took the roughness out of overmodulated live recordings and everyone else who appreciated the warmer sound of vinyl. They also had objectively verifiable arguments like the formerly amazing large-format cover art that, locked behind a thick layer of plastic, was now shrunken down to the size of a beer coaster. Many considered this a sacrilege.
The best way to enjoy music at home?
The whole attitude towards music changed and, thanks to streaming, led to excessive music consumption. If I wanted to, I could easily go through the day listening to a never-ending barrage of songs, e.g. while I write this blog article. I'd simply type "concentration" into Spotify and that would get me a list 229 songs or 26 hours of music. Granted, the article won't take me that long but if it did, the perfect soundtrack to my work would just be a few clicks away. It's this endless supply that, while comfortable, takes away from the value of music. I could easily go an entire day without making a conscious decision as to what song I want to listen to. Songs that were originally meant to be played in succession as part of a greater fabric, an album, are now being reduced to solo experiences. What was meant as a firework has become a (single) flash in the pan. Thankfully, vinyls are no longer being craved by die-hard record lovers alone.
In England, record sales outperform CD sales from time to time, and vinyls are the only sound storage medium that is experiencing two-digit growth. In Germany, sales have increased to 3.1 million in 2016, that's a plus of 1 million compared to the previous year. Customers are surprisingly young and many of them probably bought their first ever vinyl record just recently. The industry quickly responded and vinyls could now have a place in every multimedia store - if only there were enough plants to press them. Investors who made acyclical investments are probably making a killing right now as all record companies depend on just a handful of press plants that survived the exodus. Likewise, technical skills in this area are also a much sought-after commodity with Sony struggling to acquire enough workers that remember the old production methods. I'd love to know whether a couple of Japanese retirees are suddenly being offered high-paid jobs!
Forums run by vinyl lovers paint a less nostalgic picture. It's the physicality as opposed to loading 4,000 songs onto a MP3 flash drive that appeals to so many, along with a more conscious listening experience. People also discover there's an A and a B side that often create a sort of yin and yang music experience. The huge record sleeves are meticulously studied and artistic inlays or particularly heavy pressings are met with unanimous praise. Music becomes tangible in the true sense of the word. Ultimately, it's about the subjective, the mysterious and, at times, the controversial - the sound. Users openly discuss frequency ranges, compression artifacts and dynamics to support their subjective feelings with a technical underpinning. Many also combine records with digital music for a more varied listening experience - a sensible approach. Sure, no-one honestly expects vinyl to reclaim its former glory but one thing has become delightfully apparent: it's still the customer who's calling the shots and neither industry nor marketing can take anything away from the magic of music.
What I would like to know: are you still (or once again) in love with vinyl and do you occasionally play a couple of records or do you consider this passion romantic nonsense?
Vinyl’s comeback isn’t just about nostalgia—it’s about reconnecting with music as a tactile, immersive experience. In an age of endless streaming, that ritual of placing the needle, enjoying the crackle, and admiring album art gives music new meaning and heart.
<a href="https://www.intrasonictechnology.com/digital-music-system/">Digital Sound System</a>
in answer to your question: yes and no
Yo conservo todos mis vinilos y las tornamesas.
Sure do play them. Still have many albums from the 60's and 70's.
Your mind has to be reset to be able to like listening to vinyl again. Higher prices then CD, lots of hicks and ticks even if it's brand-new doesn't make it easier. It's the "I wanna have it the way it was again" effect a lot of people start to experience. Owning a large collection of LP's with big inlays and posters is not only a matter of being able to do without the Digital perfection. For me it is romantic nonsense and I occasionally buy one on flee-market just because I still have an old Philips record player. Never play them twice and always listen to compressed digital stereo music at 24Kbps. So ?
70 years of listening. 100 cd's, 4000 lp's.
NEED I SAY MORE!
No, Sir! :)
Vinil maravilhoso
Yes, I still own a lot of vinyl records (but remember I am 79 years young). I like to get them out in my man cave (or workshop as I call it). it is great just to listen to the good old music I love to hear. I just wish my old film nikon cameras were becoming popular again.
Ken Johnson
I use a mix of formats for my music.
I buy the occasional CD which I rip to my computer and Mp3 player. This I use for general background music and portable requirements (holidays etc)
When I have more time or for special occasions I do play the odd CD and as I have never lost the ability to play vinyl records I still do so a few times each year.
I must say when played through the same system, CD's and Mp3 sound (to me) very similar with a more smooth/mellow sound from the vinyl (very little cracks and bangs on my system)
I nearly always listen to an album all the way through though! call me old fashioned.
Interesting overview. I have always found that vinyl brought out the best for a keen listening music ear. There is presence of music quality that one gets which very few CDs deliver. I think that the stereo separation along with the distinct highs and lows bring a mental presence with it that encourages you to wear a smile, as your heart thumps to every beat, and you sing along like a recording star. The ultimate pleasure comes when you take one record out of its sleeve with no dust particles or scratches on it, holding it gently with kid gloves hands, carefully placing it on the turntable, placing the stylus on the now revolving record, then closing your eyes as you await the first note saying, bring it on home to papa. Let the music play.
I've had my record collection for over 40 years now. I started djing with vinyl. I had quit buying them and converted to cd just for convince. There is no other sound like you get with vinyl. Like you said the cracks and the pops is what makes it so great. Will I go back to it now? Absolutely not! Now it's just a different way to sell a product. We didn't have a choice 40 years ago. We do now and the choices are much better quality. That doesn't mean I still don't sit on my computer and work while listening to Demons And Wizards on vinyl.
And "Salisbury"! Heep rules! :)
I fondly remember playing records growing up. I still have all my mother's albums, both 78s and 33 1/3s. To avoid occasional skips, my brother would tape a coin to the top of the arm. Now if there were only a good quality and affordable turn table on which to play them again!
I still own hundreds of records 45, 33, & 78 rpm and every once in a while I take a few out for a spin and I am just by my self.
Back in the 60s, pops and clicks were mostly apparent on soft musical passages, Led Zeppelin, for example. I had what was known as a "pop and click" reducer, but it actually worked by cutting out higher frequencies that took much prescence away from the source. We learned to just accept the "noise" and concentrated on the music. Back then, the louder the better!
Yes I do occasionally play a few of records.
As a serious record collector, PLEASE do not call them vinyls. They are records, vinyl records, but not vinyls. Thank you.
I'm old enough to have had a turntable/stereo system back in college.
I STILL play many of my records & find the experience much more enjoyable than the "flat" sounds and overwhelming quantity of CD tracks.
Thankyou Sven. Yes, I almost abandoned vinyl many years ago, and believe well-engineered recordings have a more realistic sound from vinyl than CD. There does remain the problem that even with the greatest of care, vinyl is more fragile and likely to accumulate the odd crackle or pop.
As you say, to many, music has become virtually a disposable throw-away commodity with downloads and on-line services, and the concept of a "concept album" has disappeared. My main interest is in classical music, with a background of being a performer and frequent attendee at classical concerts, where the music is (almost) entirely acoustic - so reality of audio is ultra-important to well-trained ears. Canned, streamed music or MP3s through ear-buds have never been for me. And "active listening" is important, really bringing joy to music. Yes, I do have background music from time to time, but not habitually.
For stereo, I agree, vinyl is best (must admit it took me some years to realise this as recording standards have always varied). However, these days, I am very happy that the SACD format has survived and apparently thriving. With the high sampling rates, an analog wave-form as virually re-created, with the benefit of wider dynamics plus the acoustic environment provided by the multiple channels. But this market is mainly classical I don't think it has sparked interest in the contemporary music scene.
I would be interested to know other opinions on the comparison between vinyl and SACD.
I have still got all my 45's when I was 14 years of age, I am 79 now and still play them in my playroom.
I also have a large number off LP's these I transfer to CD's using my computer and programs you can't purchase anymore. I would love to show some young people how to do this but there is no interest all they do is hang on there smartphones.
I still have my collection of LPs and 45s from the 70s and 80s. I currently do not have a stereo to play them, but I am planning on getting one of those turn-table converters so I can save them all on my computer. My preference is single songs rather than listening to a full album. I find that I don't like all the songs on a full album on the average, I do have exceptions to that. As you mentioned that playing records is a physical experience and I believe the same argument applies when it comes to books. Books and records will never go out of style.
I am a few months away from being 80 years old. I began collecting jazz records since I was 13-years old. I began with inherited hard breakable records inherited from my grandfather, 78 rpm discs recorded only in one side, dated about 1903, with musicians as Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Enrico Caruso, and others. I don't really know how many vinyls I have but my guess is about 4,000, about 80% of the jazz, with early versions by King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly roll Morton, Kid Ory, and other great artists. When my elder brother passed away, her wife gave me his classical music collection --about some 2,000 more.
I still use vinyl records with the most advanced Hi-Fi technologies that were available back in the 80s because digital sound cannot compare with analog sound. Of course, I have transferred many of my favourite ones to digital and stored in flash devices for listening while traveling by car... My sons and grandsons love to listen to them, and will keep those records for future generations.
I own dozens of vinyls from the 60's & 70's. I have no intention of disposing of them. I worked as a tech in the Hi-Fi business & installed & serviced custom Hi-Fi equipment, such as Fisher, Bogen, etc., costing hundreds of dollars (big money back then).
I’ve Just bought on Parlophone (heavy) Vinyl St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the 50 anniversary edition which includes the original (multi) track recordings from Abbey Road now in ‘stereo’ with the second disc as sessions. I’m still using the Tecnichs SL1210 direct drive with a F2 Grado stylus the pick up weight is about 1 1/4 grams as is the anti-skating setting. Using a high power amplifier at full volume between tracks there is hardly any background noise, at normal levels with wide stereo separation a truly realistic and purer sound is delivered than any CD I can recall.
i play vinal,i have many elvis records on vinal
I convert vinyl to mp3 or cd's to preserve the contents for customers no longer having equipment to play them. http://preserve-your-memories.info. I use a Technics sl-j92, and I love listening to deep sounds of analog vinyl which is missing in many digital renditions. Being certain the records are clean is essential. There are many effects in Audacity which make it easy to reduce or eliminate clicks and help restore the sound to near original quality. Lots of fun working with vinyl.