I was walking through the electronics section of one of my local Wally World's a few weeks ago, and lo and behold there was a small section with vinyl records.
Vinyl lovers are after the warmth that comes through in analog format. If you want the full experience, vinyl is unique. It also has nostalgic appeal. Digital music lovers are after convenient and affordable music with a wide range of choices that can be bought song by song. CDs are just kind of there and I know it always annoyed me that I had to get the whole album when I might only like three of the songs.
I agree, and "warmth" is a good way to describe the sound.
Owning albums affords the owner the opportunity to learn more about the artist and all the songs he or she recorded in a certain time frame. You don't get that by downloading one song at a time.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18793 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
A lot of people with turntables have really nice systems. They sometimes have multiple copies of their albums in multiple formats. I do this, and I know lots of other people that do too.
I have vinyl albums that I play at special times. I also maintain a collection of Bluray music that is very high-quality too. Some people favor high-res lossless digital formats like FLAC.
I also have a cassette copy of most of my favorite albums that I play in my older classic cars. And I have a CD for casual listening or in one of my more modern cars. I also have a USB flash drive with a ton of albums on it, mostly for convenience and for cars that have no CD player.
Used to be I had lots of music on reel-to-reel tapes too, and I developed an interface to a microcomputer I had. My computer kept track of the music and indexes of each song, so I could create playlists for the computer to fast-forward or rewind to any track. But I've stopped doing that 'cause there are better ways of creating playlists now.
So I find that there are good uses for most music formats, some that favor quality and some that favor convenience. Some are a little of both.
This is why this is a good time to be alive. The choices we have in how we want to play and listen to music is vast. It's pretty impressive when you think about it.
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi Wayne, horrors.. ..did you stop using the Pioneer RR? When I wanted one I could not find one at any reasonable price. Thus the Akai I have and used at the LSAF. For vinyl sales there are numerous sources now. Even Amazon handles it. I personally like ZIA Record Exchange. 1000s of new and used LPs. They also have 1000s of CD and DVDs.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18793 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
It's the playlist feature that I've stopped using. I developed that in the 1970s, inspired by the 9-track NRZI tape drives used in the computer industry. The Pioneer RT-909 has a digital tape counter, and I used that as an interface to a homebrew 6502-based microcomputer I had back then. I actually tapped into the index pulses that the tape deck's counter read. And the RT-909 controls are electric switches, so I connected relays across each one, and drove the relay with a 2N2222 connected to a parallel port. Each bit could be individually toggled via bitmask to "press" the play, record, fast-forward or rewind buttons. That interface is still there, but I don't use it anymore.
Rusty Messages: 1205 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
I look at this vinyl trend ruefully. As I think it will eventually fade. It is a rather archaic anomaly that by rights should be in the rear view mirror. But, so many of us boomers are still around that never left it or have re-immersed themselves to keep the wave going. The kids that are trying it I don't think will keep it viable for the higher end to sustain after us elders fade. But, it's a curious and satisfying trend. It's amazing for me how good it can sound with some careful implementation with equipment that does not have to be all that expensive. A tribute to the engineering of the heyday.
Technology goes through it's ups and downs. Vinyl was supposed to be dead but 30 years after CD's showed up there was a renewed interest.
Lots of technology goes through the same cycle: good for while, then it gets replaced by newer technology, then slowly it works it's way back into being relevant again. It never reaches it's old peaks but still can do OK decades after being declared dead.
Examples include horn speakers and tube amps. Both thrown to the curb by the mainstream and suddenly became relevant again.
There's evidently a small group of photographers who rediscovered making prints in a darkroom. I'd expect film to have a minor rise again in 10 or 20 years, too. It's just the way tech seems to mature.
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..did you stop using the Pioneer RR? When I wanted one I could not find one at any reasonable price. Thus the Akai I have and used at the LSAF. For vinyl sales there are numerous sources now. Even Amazon handles it. I personally like ZIA Record Exchange. 1000s of new and used LPs. They also have 1000s of CD and DVDs.
