

In a digital age, vinyl albums are making a comeback - maw
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-vinyl26-2009apr26,0,7227273.story?track=rss

======
9oliYQjP
I think one of the reasons that those people who prefer vinyl over digital do
so, is that the recordings on vinyl are mastered with different qualities in
mind than their digital counterparts. There's a YouTube video floating around
called The Loudness War (<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ>) that
describes what I'm talking about.

I distinctly remember albums on audio CDs sounding better to me (great
clarity, vibrancy, etc.) back in the early 1990s. Then, somewhere toward the
end of the 1990s, CDs just started to sound worse. I blame the trend described
in that video. I suspect that vinyl recordings do not suffer from this same
tendency toward loudness in the audio mastering process, and that is why you
have audiophiles insisting that vinyl sounds better than digital.

~~~
danhak
For most people, I think it has less to do with audio quality and more to do
with re-connecting with your music in a physical way.

There's something about listening to an LP--choosing one from the shelf,
taking it out from the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, looking at large-
format artwork--that will never be duplicated by an iPod. It's also more of a
time investment; when I listen to a record I at least listen to a whole side.
It's a very different experience from shuffling between various tracks and
artists. Then there's the whole matter of rare and out-of-print recordings
that that haven't yet been digitized.

~~~
godDLL
"Smell of books" people.

I love books. I love reading what's written good, and immersing in a stream of
the author's ideas, as they flow in a fluid way, slowly unfurling and settling
in with me; not necessarily to stay, but to be weighted, fondled and tinkered
with -- definitely.

It is extremely unlikely that I would grow to appreciate books as I do now if
I haven't been exposed to printed paper books in my being a small child.

Hate, unmoderated hate is what I have for those people. "Smell of books".
Sheesh… A word is a word, and you can read it from a screen. It don't smell,
it's indexable, searchable and resizable. It's translatable (mechanically),
and you can store tons of them in your pocket.

You just need to recognize that it matters how you read it -- don't just skim,
immersion is something you yourself do.

Back to the vinil topic -- CDs are mastered with a resolution (in time) and
depth (in percision) that is nowhere anywhere near vinil. Some people are
gifted in a way (I am, to some extent) to hear, feel and "see" a sound-scape
emerging from a recording, and enjoy the music on many more levels then you'd
think. If you can't -- don't generalize from your own experience, people and
minds come in all shapes and forms.

I'm willing to not be fussy about them "smell of books" people, let them have
their books, printing, bookcases, dust, more dust and the fabulously smelling
rot. I won't like it, but hey, they might have something there, would any of
them please explain how that works for them though? I'd love to know.

And you _can_ master a digital recording (going beyond 44.1/16) to match what
vinil does to audiophile's senses. It's just not something the "free market"
will generally do.

Some records will never be digitized, and were mastered in an all-analog
process to begin with.

But the whole time-space "handling" and "smelling" issue I don't get. I used
to have a turntable, it was always a hassle to load it up, etc.

You _own_ the immersion. Use it. You want to listen to the whole album? Listen
to the whole album.

There is no one there to stop you. Unless you own a cellphone, hate them
dreaded time-leaches.

~~~
davecap0
What is music if not an experience? Music enjoyment has almost nothing to do
with audio quality... it is an emotional response to noise.

Judging from your post, you would probably also say that we should stop having
sex (way too much of a hassle) and instead just masturbate alone and use in-
vitro fertilization for making babies... I mean whats the difference anyways
right? "Smell of books" people probably also like having sex.

~~~
godDLL
Not everyone does, mate. I know a good-looking guy, tall, gray-blue eyes,
blond, nice build and great social skills, that just _happens_ to think
exactly the way you described. I myself am a moderately sexful person. And I
happen to enjoy music far more then the average person seems to (if that
wasn't clear enough). And hassling with the record/LP is nothing like
foreplay, in my experience, it's like assembling the bed.

Don't extrapolate from your experience. Folks come in all shapes and sizes.

------
dazzawazza
In the fringe world of extreme metal (thrash/death/black metal) vinyl never
went away (cassettes are still used for trading as well).

The fans are interested in the large cover artwork and extensive inlays. The
bands are able to eek out a living selling premium products in this niche
format.

It's easy to dismiss it as kids just trying to be different from the iPod
generation but for the bands it's a real lifeline to hard cash for a very
niche project.

While the quality of the recording is better then on CD the artwork seems to
be the primary reason for kids/bands liking the format. These niches have not
suffered as much from the loudness war as they are not competing with
mainstream artists.

