Vinyl records making a comeback?

[EOJ]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/10/vinyl.records.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Interesting read.

I've collected vinyl for the past 10+ years, and I still always prefer to get an album on LP rather than CD.
Any other vinyl enthusiasts here?

[jpj]

i re-bought some of my favourite albums on vinyl, but then my needle needed replacing, and stuff has been in the attic ever since  

i've always hated mp3's, as well as earphones (as opposed to headphones).  at first i thought it was just the sound quality.  but a friend of mine who is more into the recording/engineering side of music explained to me that the different formats have different ranges in terms of what frequencies they can record.  don't quote me here, but it goes something like: mp3 (20k), CD (30k), vinyl (75k).  when you get past like 24k, it starts becoming inaudible to us.  but even though the sounds aren't audible, they still add a presence to the music.  something to do with harmonic tones (?).  plus, artwork looks cooler on an LP

there's a music teacher that comes in my shop, and he's a bit hard work some days to be honest, but he once said to me: "if you don't have a turntable and a 12-band equaliser, don't talk to me"  

[EOJ]

Vinyl can produce lower frequencies than CDs can. This makes them particularly desirable for records with a lot of bass in them. Vinyl also has a wider dynamic range than CDs, which makes the whole recording sound more "spaced" and less compressed. This gives it a warmer, more realistic sound. Depending on the music, the difference between vinyl and CD can be minimal or staggering - some albums I simply can't even listen to on CD after listening to the LP extensively.

I have quite a bit of recording experience myself (about 12 years of it actually, and I'm only 28), mostly DIY projects on 4 and 8 track recorders, sequencers, and laptop recording with ProTools, but also some time spent in actual recording studios. I actually studied recording engineering for a year or so in college before I switched to Linguistics.

MP3s are awful, but I've gotten used to using them on my ipod when I'm on the go. I can't tolerate listening to them at home though. My ears deserve better.

[Deity]

Cool article!

EOJ, is your vinyl collecting geared towards a specific genre, band or anything like that?

I collect vinyls, but I do not have a big collection. I mainly collect records of experimental 70's music, such as progressive rock, acid folk, etc. But I'll also buy the vinyl versions of new albums from some of my favorite bands if they are released on vinyl. Latest vinyl I bought was Meshuggah's ObZen.

[EOJ]

I collect mostly shoegaze/dreampop bands like Ride, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, etc. I also like a lot of electro-ambient/techno stuff like Silvania, AMP, Tomorrowland, etc. Also some indie stuff like Mercury Rev, Mojave 3, Club 8, etc.

[Joe T.]

Along with lots of assorted weird and unclassifiable music, I have a roomful of dub techno, new wave, electro and glitch records I've collected over the years.  Lots of Detroit and early Cologne era stuff.  Basic Channel, Burial Mix, Chain Reaction, Studio One, early Kompakt, Freiland, etc....  I don't follow much of that stuff anymore but for a while I was very deep into it.  I DJed with or opened for a ton of big techno people over the years and so at one point I decided to start recording all of my records as MP3s.  Well, I found the compression basically ruins the recording for anyone that's heard the vinyl version.  I would equate it to the way you feel when you watch a bad signal on tv.  Your mind can sort out what it is you're hearing/seeing but ultimately it's the little bits you don't consciously notice are missing that leave you unsatisfied and frustrated.  An uncompressed wav file is the only way to go if you're listening to music on a digital format.

Unfortunately a lot of independent vinyl distributors in North America have shut their doors for good over the past few years because of the availability of digital media.

I think vinyl is still doing ok for the big distributors in Europe but that depends on what you're listening to as well.  a lot of the independent labels just can't stay afloat because the process is just too costly.  It's really a shame.  What will all these "digital" music collectors do when their hard drives die?

[thegreathopper]

What will all these "digital" music collectors do when their hard drives die?

Buy another one and hopefully have a back up.
I love vinyl and keep thinking about buying a few albums as I stopped buying vinyl back in the 80's

[adverse]

Lots of Detroit and early Cologne era stuff.  Basic Channel, Burial Mix, Chain Reaction, Studio One, early Kompakt, Freiland, etc.... 

You have excellent taste sir.  Picking up the Wolfgang Voight and new Ryoji Ikeda on Raster Noton this weekend in Tokyo.

[innerpattern]

Vinyl is the ideal media for music where "ear-pleasing" sound reproduction is concerned. Nothing else sounds as real and dynamic. It makes sense seeing that a vinyl record actually vibrates to produce sound they way an actual instrument would; not composed of a bunch of 1's and 0's the way a CD is. And then take MP3's which throw compression on top of that you have well and truly ruined the whole batch.

I have about 60 vinyls that I've been collecting over the years. Mostly a select few favorite albums and whatever stuff I could actually find that wasn't ridiculously over-priced. I tend to enjoy ambient, acoustic, and symphonic music the most on vinyl. I love the indie record labels that are still making vinyl. Kranky being my favorite. I have a bunch of their releases on vinyl.

What type of players do you all have? Mine is a Thorens TD 160 BC MkII running through a Kenwood amp to some shitty Magnavox speakers. It still sounds lovely though and with the amp it gets loud as you please.

[EOJ]

I have a Gemini turntable. Bought it about 10 years ago and still works perfectly. I replace the needle every 5 years or so. I'm also a fan of Kranky records, I quite like the Labrador records on vinyl.

[gsl]

I've got about 20 or so vinyl records, mostly 70's and 80's rock like Billy Joel or Queen that I've picked up at garage sales, Goodwill, and the like.  I love the sound of vinyl having grown up with my parents' record collection; it's just that I have neither a decent record player nor good speakers to play my albums on!  I'm intending to put together a pair of my own speakers sometime over this summer from a set of plans I found on a DIY audio website; step two will be putting together a decent little tube amp and then the record player will be the crowning achievement.  That's actually the reason I don't have more vinyl is that I find it hard to justify buying media I can't use right yet.  The local CD shop has a decent selection of newer used albums though, and I think once I have a decent turntable I'm going to head down there with my good friend Mr. Franklin and bring back some goodness.

[Joe T.]

Lots of Detroit and early Cologne era stuff.  Basic Channel, Burial Mix, Chain Reaction, Studio One, early Kompakt, Freiland, etc.... 

You have excellent taste sir.  Picking up the Wolfgang Voight and new Ryoji Ikeda on Raster Noton this weekend in Tokyo.

Ah thanks.  Raster Noton is a fine label.  I still listen to the Sakamoto and Alva.Noto stuff all the time.

Also, Wolfgang Voight under his many pseudonyms is one of my favorite producers ever as well.

[MX7]

Vinyl has been coming back for years  My housemates run an indie record label, mainly Doom and noisy metal stuff, and they're actually going to stop selling CD's soon, as they're making most of their money off vinyl.

The route everyone I know is taking now: download it as an MP3 to listen on your Walkman or computer, and buy the album on vinyl to savour it at home 

[bitkid]

Hey EOJ, are you self-taught in recording? I just finished my education at an audio engineering college in California. I'm hoping that I can get into audio for games at some point.

[Joe T.]

MX7,

What label is it that your housemate runs???

I'm finding myself getting back into metal these days (Stuff like Sleep, old Boris, The Sword, Danava, etc).  I've been out of the loop with that stuff for several years though.

[MX7]

MX7,

What label is it that your housemate runs???

I'm finding myself getting back into metal these days (Stuff like Sleep, old Boris, The Sword, Danava, etc).  I've been out of the loop with that stuff for several years though.

http://www.sounddevastation.co.uk/

Most of their releases have absolutely amazing packaging, and are on proper heavy vinyl as well (which is a bit of a rarity these days due to spiraling oil prices )

[Joe T.]

That's awesome!  Thanks.  I'll have to check out their online shop...  As if I don't have enough records piled everywhere.