It feels like vinyl records are experiencing a resurgence in popularity among mainstream sellers and buyers. Since we're living in a digital world, what explains the revival of almighty vinyl?
Rusty Messages: 1212 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
I think the children and grandchildren of the baby boom generation have found this medium nostalgic, through shared experience with remembrance with their parents, grandparents, and a hipster inspired interest in a more hands on experience with music reproduction. Then all the aging boomers themselves, such as I that never left it behind. It's a fluke sort of, but there was decades of old equipment available that were bought for cheap for awhile, then new opportunistic production got rolling again to meet the demand. Most of which is sub par. I spect it will fade away as fads do. Kept going by eccentrics and remaining old pharts spinning records to oblivion.
gofar99 Messages: 1959 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, You get some satisfaction from setting up the gear and playing them well. Sort of a diy well done feedback loop.....plus they sound terrific on a good system.
That's how my sister Madison and I got hooked on vinyl, Rusty. Our father passed away and we stumbled upon his records while cleaning things out. Surprisingly, all but a couple of his records still sound terrific. I know my old tapes and CDs would never last that long.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18802 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Most audiophiles I know that run analog source gear (turntables and/or reel-to-reel) claim it sounds better than digital.
I don't know that I would agree in all cases - High-res digital recording is capable of really good quality, and side-steps the noise problems inherent in analog recording.
But I would agree that high-end analog sources are quite a bit better than a lot of the digital formats, e.g. standard CD and medium and low-res MP3 files.
Guess that goes without saying though. It's probably not fair to compare the best analog sources to the worst digital sources and say, "see there, analog is superior!"
Still, a nice clean half-speed master vinyl record sounds really sweet.
I can't remember where I read it, but I found an article recently that gave Spotify credit for raising interest in vinyl. Personally, I still think it's a fairly niche form of entertainment. Perhaps it just seems to have gained popularity to us because we're in an echo chamber of other audio fans.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18802 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
I think that if there was an article written by someone that claimed Spotify was responsible for "the comeback of vinyl," that author was probably very young. I say that because Spotify itself is very young.
Vinyl and reel-to-reel formats have enjoyed a growing resurgence since around Y2K. I noticed it at audio shows, which is where audiophile trends are seen first. All analog formats were growing in popularity, with record collectors working hard to obtain the best recordings from existing old stock.
By the mid-2000s, the popularity of vinyl had already grown enough that companies started re-issuing new release 180g vinyl pressings. That tells me that vinyl resurgence was well underway by the time Spotify was "born."
In my opinion, the notion that Spotify is responsible for the resurgence in vinyl records is silly. As Wayne pointed out, Spotify is quite "new" in the grand scheme of things. Vinyl was already "coming back" long before then.
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