Vinyl sales are still growing at double-digit pace more than 10 years after they started rebounding.
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/10/01/vinyl-records-2018-sales/
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/10/01/vinyl-records-2018-sales/
Is the Vinyl Revival well and growing?
I never gave up on vinyl. October 1988, I bought my LP12. We were being told CDs were perfect sound forever. People were dumping their vinyl. Thankfully, I cleaned the best that I could find. Now, TTs at all price points are coming on the market. Is the the vinyl revival real and where will we end up?
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The good news is there are a lot of used LP's out there. The bad news is many of them are damaged beyond repair. I was in Music Millennium last week, and the sounds of a familiar late-60's/early-70's album (try as I might, I just can't recall which one) came over the store's system. I went up to the counter and saw that it was an LP being played, a used one priced at $60. I didn't ask to look at the LP to evaluate it's condition, but it was being played on a not-so-hot turntable, possibly to it's detriment. |
As bdp24's reflected, the low-hanging fruit of quality 50s/60s/early 70s vinyl have been mainly picked over. I'm constantly searching for 1st pressing jazz LPs (mono especially) from mainly the 50s/60s in near-mint or better condition. Not so easy to find anymore, and when you do it's priced at a hefty premium. |
I'm dabbling in it now. Not real sure why. Nostalgia maybe? One reason that compels me a little toward vinyl is that the quality of CDs by newer artists can be poor while the vinyl seems to have better production quality. For the first time in probably 35 years I recently bought a couple of used albums. One was $20 and the other was $30. Both were listed as VG+....for what that's worth. Anyway, both have audible clicks and pops. Very mild and not constant. I don't know enough about vinyl to know if this is acceptable or not. When all we had was vinyl some of that was to be expected at the level of equipment I had available so I never thought anything of it. (Would cleaning help that? I don't know.) My point in all this is that if that is not acceptable I would be reticent to buy more used vinyl at those prices as it seems like a gamble. As a side note, my wife picked up two LPs out of the discount 80's bin for $10 each. They have fewer clicks and pops but they are newer than the ones I bought (early 70s) and look like they were never played. |
Seeing a common LP (one that I own) priced at $60 in who knows what condition, lead me to conclude my LP collection (somewhere around 3500-4000 titles) is worth a fair chunk-o-change. My CD's (around 3500), not so much. In preparation for my major move a couple years back, I went through my Classical CD's, pulling out 1,000 titles I decided I could live without. Amoeba Music didn't want them, at any price. I then took them to Atomic Records in Burbank (a great little two-brother-owned record shop), who gave me a buck apiece for them. And they were good titles! |
bdp24, that's part of the reason this new audiophile is buying CDs like crazy. I'm getting good recordings of good titles for an average of about $5 on eBay including shipping. That's half what you'd pay for MP3 stuff on iTunes. I realize they are cheap because not many people want them anymore. It takes more financial commitment to get into vinyl. New vinyl is selling between $20 and $35 as long as it isn't a special release or special pressing. |
Unless they start recording in analog again, there will be no true and long lasting revival. Most likely vinyl will disappear in a couple of decades. Of course, there will probably always be people who are into it, and tape, and tubes. Just like in other areas. Digital does sound better on vinyl, but it's all BS, nonetheless, computers should be able to overtake in terms of sound quality soon. But they will not overtake good analog. In any case, talented musicians are more important than all that. |
Wax cylinders? .....nnnnNo 'Good' vinyl LPs'.....will last as long as the entity playing it on a Decent TT with a cart that's not running major grams & miserable compliance? ...and knows how to handle an LP with a certain level of TLC? Yes. Some recordings ought to make it into the 24th Century....in fact, deserve to. (Ex., "Star Trek:Beyond"; the 'Beastie Boys' segment made me laugh... "Is that music?!" My response: "Oh, 'ell, No. A weapon of mass distortion..." *volume to 12*) |
When all we had was vinyl some of that was to be expected at the level of equipment I had available so I never thought anything of it. (Would cleaning help that? I don't know.) My point in all this is that if that is not acceptable I would be reticent to buy more used vinyl at those prices as it seems like a gamble. @n80, Typically a thorough cleaning, specifically inside the grooves, removes noise plus many of the clicks and pops. Since these are used records with unknown history, results will always vary. But cleaning is a must and will make a record sound better (unless it's damaged). Years ago I also thought that clicks and pops were part of the vinyl experience. I was led to believe all I needed was my trusty Discwasher brush. |
@bdp24 Sounds like you're in Portland. Check out Crossroads Music...82nd and Foster. I've found some pristine condition gems there. http://www.xro.com/ I never buy records online. |
Thanks sejodiren. Yeah, I'm just over the river in Vancouver, but there's no serious record stores over here. I learned of Crossroads just recently, but haven't made it there yet. Soon! Millennium's pretty good as far as stock, but not as far as prices. Full list price on new, over-priced on used. $60 for an LP copy of Something Else By The Kinks?! |
Thanks ff, I’ll check them out too. I had all my regular places in L.A. to find LP’s: Record Surplus, Atomic (only a couple of blocks from my house in Burbank. They have a VPI HW-16 RCM), Amoeba, a bunch of others (as well as thrift stores, etc.). I haven’t explored Portland much yet, but I already know it’s an LP kinda town. Every time I go into Music Millennium, more of it’s floor is devoted to LP’s, less to CD’s. I still buy CD’s, but they can be had on Amazon for real cheap. I prefer, if possible, to buy LP’s in a storefront. |
Happy to read that the Pacific Northwest is still a great area for vinyl. I lived in Juneau, AK (1989-1993) I am told, there was a record shop that specialized in Audiophile Vinyl in Juneau. I believe it. I cleaned up All the MoFi (JVC) vinyl that I could afford, UHQRs, Nautilus, CBS Master sound, Japanese, that I could find. Put a flyer on poster boards around town and got to pillage private collections, Two (2) Record Fairs at the Mall in two different years and (2) used record dealers in town. Juneau is a transient town. People come with everything when they move there. They leave a lot behind. ( Greatest |
I have 3 used record stores nearby. One is a High end dealer who has a nice selection. They also let me demo the records before purchasing. Many times they let me use the big room which has a $250,000 system. I have to laugh here I am w/a stack of used LP's worth about $7 each and I'm listening on a mega priced system. They've also cleaned some records after purchase for free. |
@n80 - hmmm, last time I was in the store I purchased 15 LPs for $80 ... I don't need a return policy at those prices On the other hand in another store I purchased a $100 LP (first pressing early 70s folk) -- that one I had them play for me! I'm not aware of any store offering no question returns -- but I've had eBay sellers who sold me records that looked EX but played VG, they (9 times out of 10) would refund me part of the purchase price if the quality wasn't as described |
What are return policies like in stores that sell used vinyl? I’m sure it varies but it seems like a liberal return policy would make for a more robust used market.I buy from https://www.ebay.com/str/timecapsulez. I only buy albums rated VG++. All but one was and it was replaced with a VG++ copy no questions asked. I highly recommend this vendor. |
bdp24, I live about 0.6 mile from Music Millenium and I've concluded that the records there are "overpriced". However, the store does need to pay overhead and it's bordering Laurelhurst, an expensive area so that likely accounts for the costs (not to mention the trendy aspect of vinyl sales). As for Crossroads, it has a pretty good selection and fairly reasonable prices, too. Re: the OP, I won't buy a vinyl album unless it was recorded in analog form originally. A conceit, perhaps. My collection though (culled repeatedly to only a few hundred albums) dates from the 1960s. I continue to buy, but (given the costs involved for reasonable condition original vinyl), only with discretion |
I'm not sure about the return policy for either Crossroads or Millenium. I figure you're buying 'as is'. Most of the time I can get about 8-10 records for $100.....ranging from $5 to $20. Just depends what you're looking for. I only will buy records that look perfect or almost under the store lighting. Got a perfect copy of Joni Mitchell-Court and Spark the other day for $5. The jacket had some wear but the record was spotless. And a MoFi copy of Little Feat-Waiting for Columbus for $20...what a score. Both from Crossroads.... |
The OP's question is a valid one and goes well beyond the local evidence of healthy record shops and - perhaps unhealthy - vinyl record prices. In our current 'on demand' society, where everything offered as a 'service' is just one screen touch away, the vinyl record is a peculiar anomaly that exists on the 'lunatic fringe'. It's just a nostalgic hobby in an age of music streaming, just like oldtimer classic cars in an age of transport 'as a service' (from Uber all the way to automated vehicles). So this 'Vinyl Revival' should not be taken too seriously. It has somehow managed to reinvent itself from a 20th century mainstream music carrier into a 21st century lifestyle 'object', being made 'cool' again by a 'post-vinyl' generation of DJ's and hipsters. So it is unlikely to go away entirely, but growing back into a mainstream product category? Forget it. At the same time the last generation who grew up with vinyl records is becoming of age. Retrospective nostalgia sets in and - possibly - fuelled by the 'coolness' of vinyl with their offspring they have returned to it as well. So that's at least two generations showing a - new and renewed - interest in vinyl records. That might go some way in explaining the 'revival', both of the number of new vinyl records being (re)issued as well as the amount of playback equipment put on the market today. But as yet I don't see market forces creating a vinyl 'bubble'...... |
The lifespan of spherical/conical and elliptical styli is very short on conventional SPU cartridges with extremely high tracking force up to 4g. Do you guys sending your SPU to re-tipper every 500 hrs ? Just curious. There is only two SPU models originally designed with the most advanced modern prfile (Replicant 100) which can serve you up to 2000 hrs. I'm talking about Ortofon SPU Royal G mkII with Replicant 100 and special coil wire. The tracking force also reduced to 2.5 - 3.5g range. Replicant 100 Stylus will read the musical information in the grooves of a record with a greater degree of accuracy than any other kind of needle! Also less record wear than with Spherical/Elliptical. |
Hm...What advertising will do to the young and impressionable! All this vinyl rage is the latest fad and advertising scam. After growing up with earbuds and mp3 files, anything would have to be an improvement. Can you remember about 1980 when CD's were first introduced? We were all astatic about the new medium that promised nothing but perfect sound. No more click, pops, limited dynamic range, stylus jumping out of the groove on loud passages.OH JOY! OH RAPTURE! It was a dream come true for us audiophiles. There were only three major events in the history of recorded music. The original acoustic horn method on cylinders 1880's, later followed by electrical recorded records 1925 and the next audio improvement digital recording approximately 1978. Arguably, many early digital CD releases leaved something to be desired but as the technology grew, many magnificent sonic recordings became available. Those made by Telarc continued to sound a step ahead of the major labels. Had the other followed in the same steps and used the Telarc digital recording setup, there would be no need for SCAD, DSD, DVD Audio and Blu-ray audio disc. None of those techniques every got up off the ground because most audiophiles couldn't notice much if any improvement over the original compact disc. And here again we have the usual advertising BS telling us these new methods and extra bits are going to give us the ultimate audio heaven listening experience. So, what did you here, that's what I heard! Us older folk know better and the young and uninitiated will have to live and learn. Vinyl will continue to click, pop, jump, etc. Vinyl sales have dropped this year and most likely will contiue do so in favor of a more technically superior medium. |
A lot of good thoughts posted. I think vinyl will never become main stream again. The vinyl revival will be short lived.Guys like me, picked the used record stores, garage sales, record fairs, private collections,years ago. I am surprised that used sale prices have skyrocketed as per reports on this thread. Reissues are: some good, most just OK. Young people are still the same. Few will be serious, Most will lose interest and fall away. Taking care of records takes added time and costs. Not acceptable in the world of today. Rare that they have the room for a stereo system while they share an apartment with 1-3 others. Vinyl is almost antique now. The thirty somethings that will stay serious need to wait for guys like me to pass and hope They will get a chance at my collection and that my wife will sell at reasonable prices. Good Luck with that ! I am starting to look at ebay, discogs and probably visit some record stores and start putting price labels on the plastic outer protection sleeves. I only buy 3-6 records a year now. 3000 plus records in MINT condition.If you seek original pressings. Specialty collections. Rare and great audiophile pressings. My wife will be the one that they will want to find. My 93 year old neighbor just donated his 9,000 to 10,000 Jazz collection to the local Jazz Museum. I knew of the collection and was waiting for the Estate Sale weekend. Two days before the sale, I saw 2 guys loading box after box of records into a truck. My heart sank. Vinyl is still alive but Analog Recording is gone. Soon our generation will pass too. It is,What it is. Enjoy what you have. |
YES! I got more heavily back in to vinyl around 1 year ago, and especially about 9 months ago when I bought a really nice high end turntable for the first time. I had been using a micro seiki turntable that I'd had for years, bequeathed to me by my father-in-law, and I'd play some of my old albums now and again and enjoy my visit to vinyl-land for what it was. But then I started becoming aware of ever more new vinyl releases. These weren't just re-masters of old albums, but just new albums. And they kept coming...more and more BRAND NEW albums on vinyl. I was especially smitten by many of the soundtrack releases, many of new movies, or first time releases of older soundtracks (or re-mastered). I couldn't help but purchase some of those and receiving them was a complete thrill. It wasn't just the fact I was actually receiving shiny, pristine new vinyl....whereas before all I'd ever played was my old dusty, well-played records with all their hiss and scratches. But the packaging and aesthetics were just fantastic. They really did feel like special objects in of themselves to just hold, open, look at. But listening to pristine new vinyl also helped hook me. And when I saw that the floodgates were opened and I could spend my days as much listening to new music on vinyl as old, it pushed me towards updating my vinyl system - new turntable, phono stage. And now vinyl sounded incredible! I was never one to pooh-pooh digital, and I still don't. But I surprised even myself by the fact that I was buying so many records that just to keep up it became my main source of listening. (And I won't even go in to the rabbit hole I've gone down in terms of Library music - my new obsession - and getting in to buying on discogs...) This has also made me take notice of all the record shops popping up in my city and there are so many now. Within a mile or two of my own house there are 4 record stores. And all seem to be thriving. There are far more throughout the city now. A number of my son's (16) friends who see my turntable mention they, or their family, have a turntable and LPs as well. Beyond personal anecdote, for whatever reason I've also developed the habit of just searching the news on the vinyl revival over the past 10 months or so. And it certainly seems to be continuing upward. Literally every single day there are new stories about the vinyl revival, about vinyl records, vinyl record production, and new record stores opening up. Almost every story is positive on growth for vinyl. This was one recently form Forbes: "Vinyl Is Bigger Than We Thought. Much Bigger." https://www.forbes.com/sites/billrosenblatt/2018/09/18/vinyl-is-bigger-than-we-thought-much-bigger/#... For me, personally, I frankly doubt I'd have anything like the vinyl fever...and fun and collection I've gathered...if it weren't for the vinyl revival. Just playing my old records could feel a bit too much of a dated activity before, like going back to the graveyard of an old format. But vinyl has been revitalized for me as something exciting and "new," and with so much music offered on vinyl it's now my preferred format. When a new vinyl LP arrives at my door I'm giddy. When a (very rare now) CD shows up, I just get no kick at all. It's just something to rip to my hard drive and put away. It just doesn't offer all the things that make vinyl an "experience" for me. Anyway, that's my take. |
I would like vinyl to continue at a sufficient level of popularity to maintain production, but don't really care if it continues to increase in popularity. There are a ton of used albums available - enough to supply needs for any foreseeable future. I once lucked out and bought around 100 classical albums from an elderly lady whose grandson had worked at a classical college radio station, that had unloaded their vinyl and gone to digital. She never played them and while some had been played a few times for on air play, many were sealed promotional copies (which I promptly unsealed and listened to). But that's classical - good luck trying to find an Iron Butterfly album that doesn't sound like it spent a year as the bottom of a hamster cage. |
Looking for great vinyl at cheap prices? Look for them in the wild, i.e. thrift stores. I found about 3 dozen in the last week. $1 to 1.50. Amazing stuff. Doesn't happen all the time but they show up all together in one place at the same time as a donation. Takes patience. Also you'll find stuff so rare you never see it anywhere else. Lots of mono stuff as well. |
terry1229 Hm...What advertising will do to the young and impressionable! All this vinyl rage is the latest fad and advertising scam. That is merely naive cynicism masquerading as insight. And it already puts you as out of touch. Cynics were yelling "fad, it won't last" 10 years ago. And it has only grown for 12 years straight, often by double digits, with still more pressing plants opening up, and planned to open. The time is long past to be able to call it a mere "fad." I have used digital as my main delivery system since CDs came along, and continue to use a digital server, so I'm quite familiar with digital sound quality. I also have a great turntable and a lot of old and new vinyl, and vinyl can offer not only superb sound but also a different ownership and interaction experience that many find valuable. When I receive a vinyl album, beautifully designed in terms of feel and artwork, and which produces sound quality that I absolutely love, that is hardly being "scammed." It's actually getting something I value for my money. To think that the only options are your view on sound reproduction...or that someone is falling for a "scam" is to say the least, blinkered and unreflective thinking. But I know many people like to think this way as it is ego-stroking; it casts themselves as "seeing behind the veil" and others as mere sheep being fleeced. |
Well, I sold my SOTA Sapphire vacuum TT several months ago and it now resides in an all analogue system and the owners is over the top with it. My audio pal gets all the new Blue Note LP reissues and they sound very nice on his new Technics 1200, but to my ears, no better than the sound from his Modwright-modified Oppo CDP. My most valuable upgrade was to an Ayre QB-9 DAC, through I play my digitized music from an external HD, plus I stream Tidal Hifi. The music now sounds analogue to my ears. I personally think this resurgence of interest in analogue is a passing fad. 20 years ago, I would not have said that, but the new DAC's are incredible. Buy what you want is my best advice, there is no wrong path to audio nirvana. |
I personally think this resurgence of interest in analogue is a passing fad. Why do people keep throwing around the word "fad" so loosely? What, I wonder, would actually, reasonably constitute a "fad?" Take DVD. It only became available around 1997. It finally overtook VHS in 2002. And then it hit peak in 2005 or so and declined afterward. That's an upward trend of only about 8 years. Were DVDs a "fad?" No, of course not. They were a viable medium and simply went through a technology cycle. Vinyl has been on an upward trend for twelve years! And it's predicted to continue that trend. It seems to seriously stretch the meaning of "fad" to apply it to a medium that has been selling more every year for 12 years and seems to be gathering only more steam in terms of releases, investments in new manufacturing plants, and sales. "Niche" may be an applicable word. But "fad?" That boat sailed quite a while ago. |
So think that the only options are your view on sound reproduction...or that someone is falling for a "scam" is to say the least, blinkered and unreflective thinking. But I know many people like to think this way as it is ego-stroking; it casts themselves as "seeing behind the veil" and others as mere sheep being fleeced. INDEED! You my friend have a nostalgia for an older technology. Analog recordings are no longer made. Analog recordings made with tube amplifiers in there day sounded great with a warm full sound. Yes, scam in the sense that vinyl is being pulled out of the grave and resurrected just to capitalize on an old technology. This older technically offers far less then the latest. Welcome to the world of advertising where anything gets printing if it will sell a product. This topic was not intended to turn into a bitches rampage! It’s obvious you’re more impressed with the album covers and liner notes. You seem to have a nostalgia for spining turntables and art work. Let’s keep one thing in mind. All recording today is done digitally. All of your so called vinyl treasures of old are remastered digitally. Do a side by side comparison and see if you notice any audio difference. I’m sure it would be a tough project trying to decide which sounds better. But perhaps the CD over the vinyl disc will be superior in dynamic range and frequency response. Now lets get to the matter of which option will give you more for your money. The most obvious is the ware and tare on the disc itself. After five plays, you will begin to notice ticks, pops, clicks, surface noise due to the physical contact of the of stylus in the record groove. This will only increase with the amount of plays. Why listen to any of this if there is a better alternative to enjoy your music? A CD suffers from no such degradation. There is no physical contact between the laser pickup and the disc. What does this have to offer? A disc that will play without any surface noise for hundred of times. Do to the nature of the format, it offers superior dynamic range and deep rich base response. I won’t go into endless technical issues but the end result is that the CD is a far superior format. Sure more record stores are opening and selling records like hotcakes at $20 to $60 a copy. Turntables are flying off the shelves into customers arms. Why is this so? BECAUSE IT IS SELLING and as long as people are buying EVERYBODY IS SELLING. This has nothing to do with technology, or which format is better, it has to do with whose spending MONEY! |
@terry1229 You my friend have a nostalgia for an older technology. First, even IF nostalgia were involved, so what? What’s wrong with nostalgia? And if something is servicing a desire for nostalgia, it is of value not a "scam." More important: No, you have misread the character of my interest and aren’t in a position to know it in any case. As I said earlier: although years ago I had only listened occasionally to my old record collection, at this point I’m far more fuelled by the novelty and discovery. My new turntable is far from nostalgic - it’s a very modern, high end turntable of a type that never would have even occurred to me would exist when I was growing up. It speaks to me of new technology as much or more than old. Yes it’s a new take on old technology...but so is every new car and that doesn’t make a new car design simply about "nostalgia" because cars have been around for many years. The vast majority of the music I’m buying is either new vinyl releases, or old genres of music I never listened to, so we are talking "new experiences" not revisiting old experiences. And I never, ever experienced vinyl sounding this good as it does now on my system. It doesn’t sound so much nostalgic as revelatory. As to many of the new albums I’m buying being mastered on digital? So what? I’m quite aware of that and it’s fine by me. There are STILL mastering differences that occur for vinyl and there is STILL a difference between how it sounds played on the turntable vs playing the digital version. Is that an additive character? Sure, likely. Fine by me. I like it. It’s obvious you’re more impressed with the album covers and liner notes. More impressed than what or whom? If you mean more impressed than you then...yeah, I guess so. But then, that’s what I’m pointing out - that YOU might not care doesn’t mean others don’t value that aspect of vinyl, and vinyl is serving that desire so it’s not a "scam" just because YOU don’t value the physical aspects of vinyl. (And over and over you will see in reports on the vinyl revival how that IS a big part of the appeal for people). If you mean I’m "more impressed" by the album covers than the sound, that would be "no." I’m incredibly impressed by the sound. It blows me away. A CD suffers from no such degradation. There is no physical contact between the laser pickup and the disc. What does this have to offer? A disc that will play without any surface noise for hundred of times. Do to the nature of the format, it offers superior dynamic range and deep rich base response. I won’t go into endless technical issues but the end result is that the CD is a far superior format. You mean...CDs have no ticks and pops? And a preserved CD will play just as clean years later after many plays? You don’t say! The things we learn on audiogon! You’d think that would have been worth being part of the selling point for CDs, so everyone would be aware of such claims! But after many decades of owning CDs, I never noticed that. I’ll go play one and see if you’re right! ;-) As for dynamic range, yes CD is *capable* of storing more dynamic range but as you should know, that dynamic range is being taken advantage of in ever fewer recordings due to "loudness war" type compression. That’s why you can find many LPs scoring higher in the Dynamic Range Database site. Remember: the master for a vinyl is not simply a transfer of the digital master to the vinyl. It’s usually a re-master specifically for the vinyl, and we are usually talking about starting with high-res digital masters. I’ve read interviews with mastering engineers who say that - especially because the digital version is what is mostly going to be played for the public - they are bid to compress from the original digital master down to loudness-war-type compression for the digital versions. But they happily have more latitude for the dynamic range for the vinyl mastering.
If played with little care on a poorly adjusted lower quality turntable...could be. But that’s not necessarily the case at all for records cared for and played on a good quality turntable. There’s a video on youtube where someone took a record, played it 100 times on a cheap turntable and a good turntable, and recorded the sound and also showed the waveforms to compare from the first play to the 100th play. The cheap table did slightly degrade the sound. But the 100th play on the good turntable was virtually identical in noise and sound quality to the first play. I just received a second hand album from discogs, from the 70’s, and it’s beautifully quiet, as if it were brand new. I have lots of old second hand albums that sound as fresh as new vinyl. Turntables are flying off the shelves into customers arms. Why is this so? BECAUSE IT IS SELLING and as long as people are buying EVERYBODY IS SELLING. Well...yes....of course! And why are they SELLING? What’s missing is any realistic appraisal from you of why they are selling! Because people really like playing vinyl records. For all sorts of reasons. Usually though it’s because they like the physical and aesthetic aspects of the media, and very often they really LIKE the sound quality. That vinyl may not be as accurate as CD can be on technical grounds does not get around the fact many LIKE the sound of music on vinyl, and the physical aspects, and when people are GETTING WHAT THEY LIKE AND WANT...that’s not a "scam." That’s people getting what they want for their money. It’s fine that vinyl is not your choice for any number of good reasons you may value. But what doesn’t work is your attempt to wave away OTHER people’s interest in vinyl on simplistic and false claims that they are simply being suckered and scammed. |
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The Vinyl Revival™ has: caused an increase in prices of older LPs; invited pikers to offer used records for sale that should be trashed; inflated grading standards; in conjunction with the Internet, has provided a vast resource for records outside of the geographic area in which I am located; stimulated the reissue of many obscure records that would otherwise have remained costly and rare; encouraged an associated hardware market for tonearms, phono cartridges and turntables, new and vintage, that is probably larger than at any time when the vinyl LP was a mainstream medium; put even more focus on improved playback quality through separate phono stages, step up transformers, phono cartridge technologies (old and new), turntable design and cleaning processes. The quality of the pressings remains about the same, the source material for the vast majority of non-audiophile issues is no longer analog, and the sound quality varies considerably. On balance, I’m happy for the revived interest in the medium, but apart from the reissue of real obscurities at far cheaper prices than rare original pressings in top condition, and the ease of finding records through the Internet, it would not matter to me. I would soldier on, and if that market crashes, would continue to do so. |
Good post Bill (whart). Having begrudgingly lived through the dark days of the 1990’s, when the availability of new music on LP was effectively nill, for me the greatest benefit of the LP revival is the resurgence in new music and recordings being released on LP. The second is that there are a lot of albums that were offered only on CD at the time of their initial release, some of them only recently finally becoming available on LP. Who’d a thought we would live to see that?! If Terry had ever heard an LP and CD of the same recording played back-to-back on quality players (as have I and others, possessing both LP and CD copies of a fair number of favorite albums), he would be in a better position to have an informed opinion on the subject of their relative strengths and weaknesses. |
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bdp24 If Terry had ever heard an LP and CD of the same recording played back-to-back on quality players (as have I and others, possessing both LP and CD copies of a fair number of favorite albums), he would be in a better position to have an informed opinion on the subject of their relative strengths and weaknesses. Thank you Bill. You're the only one who offered any useful information and it is much appreciated. Yes, it's true that I am not up to date on the most recent vinyl disc or high end turntable technology. I would have to follow your suggestion before making any further comments. |