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Prefer vinyls?

#21
I still have about 400 LPs sitting around, but I don't listen to them much. When I do pull them out, they sound good, but not obviously better than CD. Maybe they would sound better than the corresponding CDs if I had a state of the art record playing system, but personally I'm not really interested in getting into that. All my record-playing stuff is at least 25 years old--Denon turntable, Grace F9E cartridge, Quatre amp, DCM speakers--but it was better than average when I got it. I've been spoiled by the convenience of CDs and the relative lack of fussy stuff you have to do to make them work right (like applying turntable clamps, brushing off the LP, cleaning the stylus, balancing the tone arm). I really don't miss all the fussing with the LPs. I do miss the cover art and having the liner notes and lyrics in legible sizes, though.

For my tastes (mileage may vary), these days I'd have to spend a fair amount of money on LP gear to reliably get a significantly better sound than I could get with a good CD player. I'm unwilling to spend that at this point in my life; I'd rather spend the money on new music to listen to. Or on basses to make music with.;)
 
#24
CD sounds way better, but vinyl still sounds great in its own right.

I love records, and never "replaced" most of my record collection with CD. As a matter of fact my record collection doubled in the 90s when I searched out used record stores. I still spin vinyl all the time.
 
#27
Matt Till said:
Vinyl also forces me to listen to music. That doesn't make sense, but when I put on a record, it is to listen to music. I can't have it on in the background while driving. Vinyl, to me, is music with the intent of listening to music.
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That is an excellent point I had not considered. That is, if I am going to bother to pull this record out, carefully drop the needle in the right place, and do all the anti-static and cleaning stuff, then I'm gonna really listen to it. Makes sense to me.
 
#29
Jiggybass said:
While relaxing at home, what do you prefer?
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I prefer CDs for convenience and lack of noise

I prefer vinyl for the covers :smug:

I'm still not convinced vinyl sounds better, at least not with my stereo (about $2000 invested). Maybe at the $25,000 level but I'll never have a system like that.

I've been buying recordings for so long that I own about 5000 LPs plus hundreds of 45s as well as about 3000 CDs. It was never an option to "convert" my LP collection to CD.
 
#30
brianrost said:
I prefer CDs for convenience and lack of noise

I prefer vinyl for the covers :smug:

I'm still not convinced vinyl sounds better, at least not with my stereo (about $2000 invested). Maybe at the $25,000 level but I'll never have a system like that.

I've been buying recordings for so long that I own about 5000 LPs plus hundreds of 45s as well as about 3000 CDs. It was never an option to "convert" my LP collection to CD.
Click to expand...

Remember that to compare vynil played on 25k$ gear, you must play the CD on the same level of equipment. CD sounds mighty good when given the proper setup !
 
#31
Yeah, with vinyl somehow I can just sit and relax and watch it spin, whereas with a CD I get board, start doing something else, then don't pay attention to whats on. I generally have fairly different music on CD vs. Vinyl.
 
#32
jucas said:
Yeah, with vinyl somehow I can just sit and relax and watch it spin, whereas with a CD I get board, start doing something else, then don't pay attention to whats on. I generally have fairly different music on CD vs. Vinyl.
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Yeah I pretty much stick to music that I can sit and listen to for 40 minutes (mostly jazz) for my vinyl collection, though I will pick up the occasional R&B or Classical record in good shape for a good price.
 
#33
Matt Till said:
Vinyl also forces me to listen to music. That doesn't make sense, but when I put on a record, it is to listen to music. I can't have it on in the background while driving. Vinyl, to me, is music with the intent of listening to music.
Click to expand...

Interesting perspective. I can't say it's true for me, but I can imagine it.

I have to admit that in the digital era, I listen to recorded music with less single-minded attention than I did when I had only LPs--but I'm sure the reason is not really any LP vs. CD (or LP vs. download) thing, at least not for me. It's more a function of how my life has changed over the last 20 years; I have much less time for just listening to music, because there always seems to be something else that needs doing. These days, when I do play LPs, I don't listen to them with any more attention than I do CDs. The only difference is that LPs interrupt the other things I'm doing more, and they don't last as long as CDs or iPod playlists.

One thing that, for me, is inarguably great about CDs is that with them, I can listen to all sorts of music in my car, which of course I never could with LPs without going through the whole taping thing. These days the car is one of the main places where I listen to music, along with the train into NYC (using the 4G iPod my 14-year-old daughter handed up to me).
 
#34
On my vinyl copy of The Who "Sell Out" the record sticks on the word "frustration" in the song "Our Love Was Is" and it just goes "frustration" over and over again until I give it a rap. There's symbolism there somewhere.
 
#35
their are people at my workplace (which happens to be a recording studio) that didn't know what a b-side is...!!!! That amazed me, I thought they were joking, then I realised they were 19 years old and had bought their first recorded music at about 12 or 13 years old...

Fact is, CD is better. Vinyl sounds great on the outside grooves but as those grooves get smaller the sound deteriates dramatically... the consumer demands more music for their money etc...

Though any format can get screwed up by a bad mastering engineer... mastering to vinyl was an art in the truest sense, just as much of an art as playing the bass or recording a vocal... the mastering engineer had to eq then cut the vinyl... an amazing thing when you see it done well. I've worked with a gentleman named Vlado Meller many times... the man mastered Animals by Floyd amonst other legendary albums. That lathe still sits in the corner of his studio... massive! Now a mastering engineer sets the eq's and compressors and sits at a keyboard sending it to Sonic Solutions... not as much fun at all...

BTW.. a head of EMI very recently declared the CD a dead format... he may eventually be proved right... Tower Records RIP.
 

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