Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[Brian Hall]

Well I was at the record store yesterday in Pasadena and it was great fun, digging through the bins, the thrill of the hunt. I've been going there for many years and they've always been reasonably priced and I guess they still are comparatively, but they're starting to price me out. The supply of clean used vinyl seems to be drying up as prices are skyrocketing. I had to reluctantly pass on a couple records that are on my wantlist, namely Physical Graffiti ($35), Dreamboat Annie ($27), and Street Survivors ($20). Today I feel good about my choices, though maybe I should have bit on the Zeppelin but it's not the greatest sounding recording, thus not being "vinyl-worthy" in my book (similar to Elaine's spongeworthiness). The Heart and the Skynyrd records are not my favorite albums either, not vinyl-worthy, at least not at those prices.

What passes my criterion though is Mr. Left hand of God himself, Mike Bloomfield.
View attachment 359837
This is a wonderful blues record, a blind buy but I listened to the whole thing and loved it. He's in good voice on the album (from 1979) and of course his guitar playing is blazing and soulful and just plain awesome. The vinyl is clean, looks like it's barely been played, and sounds dynamic, clear, full-bodied and wonderful.

Also had to snag this Stones record:
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Had to shell out 20 bucks but was totally worth it. I love this album even though it's not regarded as one of their absolute classics. I love the ballads Memory Motel, and Fool to Cry, but the rest of the funky rocking tracks are great fun, with a groovy bottom end. It's clean as well and sounds great, vinyl-worthy for sure with that vintage '70s soundscape that I like to show off my system.

Also shelled out 20 bucks for this great Peter Gabriel era Genesis, prog rock par excellence:
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I need spectacular sonics to spend 20 bucks on a used single LP album, and this delivers in spades. Rounded out my haul with some cheaper stuff, as in David Lindley, Rick Derringer, Jethro Tull, and Harry Chapin. Haven't listened to those yet, suspect they may need some cleaning but luckily I'm armed with a VPI cleaner, with fluid from Musical Surroundings.

I also saw Neil Young's On the Beach but that was over 40 bucks. I already have the reissue that I bought new for 20-something. It would be nice to have an old pressing but the reissue sounds great and I'm happy with it. I love that record store but I'm going to have to stop going. The game is getting too rich for my blood. I'll have to settle for my thousands of records that I've pretty much run out of room for.

Anyways, my belief is that human hearing is God awful as far as sweaty animals go, thus Redbook is good enough quality as opposed to hi-res. But vinyl is good enough as well, a 60dB SNR is plenty good enough for my favorite vintage tunes. I've heard some recordings with SINAD in the 30s and you know, it's not that bad. So maybe my tolerance is high, my standards low, or maybe I'm just a half-deaf human. But I love my vinyl and suspect I always will.

Just looked up that Rolling Stones album. Amazon has it in Ultra HD and Atmos if you are interested.

 

[antcollinet]

I used to obsess over sound quality, wasn't good for my mental health or my enjoyment of music. Now that I accept the limits of my playback gear (and hearing) I find I'm enjoying music more.

This is a very important statement that many here would be wise to think about.

 

[Newman]

....because sound quality doesn't matter and the entire audio hobby is a scam and mentally unhealthy...(?)

 

[Brian Hall]

....because sound quality doesn't matter and the entire audio hobby is a scam and mentally unhealthy...(?)

I think it is more like hitting the point where diminishing returns really start kicking in and realizing that there is still grass on the other side of the fence, but the shade of green is so close to the nice grass already growing in your yard that there is no benefit to a slightly different shade of grass.

The price point where diminishing returns kicks in is really low now.

 

[OldHvyMec]

It's kind of like fishing from the bank with a cane pole and a bobber vs a 50K bass boat and 15K in poles, hat and sunglasses'

Who has more fun and who is the real sportsman?

Is there a perfect way to fish? Better question is there a better way to HEAR music if you can't hear worth a crap to begin with.

Is there a reason to question a person's preference weather based on facts or their personal opinions that may be because they
like the color vs the sound of a record?

I don't care to type just to type because it hurts. This thread looks like 370 pages of pain to me. It usually takes me 4-5 hours
to peck out a response. This thread is about who loves to type not play music and there is no doubt about that. I see one thing
that stands out more than any other, and it's not about music it's about riding the fine line between "I like it All," BUT then
360 pages of bla, bla, bla say nothing.

Literally nothing of any value other than a few people trying to justify the benefit of a great medium or the opposition that sold
their collection or the people that are satisfied with what they have and use. Why invest in something if the baby need a new pair
of shoes and you're already happy? On the other hand why discourage anyone from trying vinyl after "THE BABIES" are all grown
up? It's not because of the record quality, it goes back to the fishing thing. Who has the better time, the guy in the boat or the
guy on the bank?

The wife just spent 5 hours listening to Spotify. Just try to take her records or her Dads old Garrard 301. I hate the thing, but I loved
my FIL, just like the wife. I don't have to like what music is played on only that it was all part of a family that did want the best in their
minds and then passed it on.

I liken it too a food recipe handed down but not written down.

She listened to MY stereo as I listened to my transistor radio. Who had the better experience? It's not an argument if we agree
that we both enjoyed the evening listening to music. The source has never been the issue, whether we have music at all, is.

My hand are killing me. The cruel thread! I look at this thread and I have to soak my hands in hot water.

I need to ban myself from the thread before my hand quit working all together. LOL

Regards.

 

[drmevo]

....because sound quality doesn't matter and the entire audio hobby is a scam and mentally unhealthy...(?)

What was that you were saying about strawmanning, @MattHooper?

 

[AaronJ]

Good grief.

"This so-called “revival” is really a commercial shakedown of the fan." - Eamonn Forde, respected music industry journalist.

Also note that not one cent of those prices goes to the artist, who would actually benefit more if you used Spotify.

What does this last statement have to do with anything? Where else would anybody reasonably apply this logic?

 

[mhardy6647]

That's going to obscure the black backgrounds.

Left to its own devices, PVC, as I am sure all y'all know, is clear.
Crystal Clear Records, famously (at the time), pressed (EDIT: many, not all of) their direct to disk 12" records on white vinyl.
Their logic (at least as I recall it*) was that black vinyl was colored using carbon black and that the addition of the particulate black "dye" raised the background noise level. Clear or colored (i.e., transparently colored; 'tinted' shall we say?) vinyl was quieter.


EDIT: The eponymous 12" 45 rpm Crystal Clear Charlie Byrd album -- astonishingly good sounding it is, too.

JVC's "SuperVinyl" was ostensibly developed for CD4 quad albums and was famously used by Mobile Fidelity in the Stan Riker half-speed master days. Records pressed using SuperVinyl manifest the interesting property of looking like a normal black record, but, when held to the light, are seen to be translucent, displaying a very deep root beer (amber-brownish) color.

_________________
* Dude -- besides my ever-diminishing mental faculties, it was the 'seventies.

 

[IPunchCholla]

Pretty sure this is the particular phenomena Eilish is referring to. Perhaps not owning them all will become the new green bubble. I actually don’t get the gripe, unless you are going to rant against every “collectible” from beanie babies to seeing every movie in the Marvel universe. Completionists are a thing so will be marketed to.

 

[mhardy6647]

For completeness, while I am nerding out: an early "SR/2" mastered Mobile Fidelity album pressed on JVC SuperVinyl.


This is an early pressing of the Grateful Dead's American Beauty on MoFi when they were still using a generic label graphic for their products (ca. 1977), playing on my (long since mothballed) "marantz" (Clearaudio) TT-15S1 in our erstwhile abode, "House 3.2", in Massachusetts.

Ol' Stan famously EQd his masters for MoFi by ear and on the fly -- for better or for worse.

PS I've seen this iconic photo of the late SR a zillion times, but I never noticed 'til now that the bass he's (?) playing has five strings.

 

[Newman]

What was that you were saying about strawmanning, @MattHooper?

Seriously mate, did you miss both the question mark at the end, and the fact that it was a flow-on from the previous post, which was so vague and allusive that I was merely highlighting how very much it needed further clarification?

Hopefully you don’t need further help to see how that isn’t ‘strawmanning’.

 

[MattHooper]

Seriously mate, did you miss both the question mark at the end, and the fact that it was a flow-on from the previous post, which was so vague and allusive that I was merely highlighting how very much it needed further clarification?

Hopefully you don’t need further help to see how that isn’t ‘strawmanning’.

Uhm…do you really think your question is what either RobinL or antcollinet meant…even implicitly? Is that the most charitable, reasonable interpretation of their point?

 

[Jaxjax]

"Tool" is getting ready to release their entire catalog after being remastered for vinyl soon.. The 1st run of these will all be sold before they ever hit the floor.
Fans are fans man !!!!.hard to display a digital stream...& I like to stream
I can however display me hugging Samatha Fish signing my album or Joan Jett's 1st album I got from the trunk of her car.

 

[antcollinet]

I think it is more like hitting the point where diminishing returns really start kicking in and realizing that there is still grass on the other side of the fence, but the shade of green is so close to the nice grass already growing in your yard that there is no benefit to a slightly different shade of grass.

The price point where diminishing returns kicks in is really low now.

Exactly - or just don't obsess over sound quality at the expense of musical enjoyment.

Or enjoy the wine - don't obsess about getting an ever more perfectly clean decanter.

 

[Pe8er]

"Tool" is getting ready to release their entire catalog after being remastered for vinyl soon.. The 1st run of these will all be sold before they ever hit the floor.
Fans are fans man !!!!.hard to display a digital stream...& I like to stream
I can however display me hugging Samatha Fish signing my album or Joan Jett's 1st album I got from the trunk of her car.

With Tool in particular, we can expect amazing packaging. They released "Fear Inoculum" as a 5-record package that is so beautiful, I bought it before I owned a turntable.

 

[AdamG]

Start treating each other with respect and dignity or you will have your posting privileges revoked.

How’s that for a straw-man ? The back and forth bickering and backhanded insults need to stop.

 

[MattHooper]

View attachment 359910
Pretty sure this is the particular phenomena Eilish is referring to. Perhaps not owning them all will become the new green bubble. I actually don’t get the gripe, unless you are going to rant against every “collectible” from beanie babies to seeing every movie in the Marvel universe. Completionists are a thing so will be marketed to.

It does seem rather cynical at some point, doesn't it?

Though it's hard to parse in terms of just...well...capitalism. These only sell because fans buy them. So I guess they are giving fans what they want.

 

[Robin L]

It does seem rather cynical at some point, doesn't it?

Though it's hard to parse in terms of just...well...capitalism. These only sell because fans buy them. So I guess they are giving fans what they want.

"Popular music is popular because a lot of people like it."

Irving Berlin

 

[IPunchCholla]

It does seem rather cynical at some point, doesn't it?

Though it's hard to parse in terms of just...well...capitalism. These only sell because fans buy them. So I guess they are giving fans what they want.

That pic was taken from someone trying to acquire them all. It is not something I understand the desire to do, and the offering of it does strike me as cynical, but then many things I do for pleasure would probably baffle others and the people seeking a complete set seem to get pleasure from the journey and the makers money from those journeys and the environment harm would not even register compared to all the other issues we are causing, so I see little harm.

 

[MattHooper]

That pic was taken from someone trying to acquire them all. It is not something I understand the desire to do, and the offering of it does strike me as cynical, but then many things I do for pleasure would probably baffle others and the people seeking a complete set seem to get pleasure from the journey and the makers money from those journeys and the environment harm would not even register compared to all the other issues we are causing, so I see little harm.

I feel the same way. The only thing I've ever "collected" was comics, when I was a teenager. So I was trying to be a completist in, say, trying to get hold of spiderman #1 - 100 (oh if only I'd held on to those!). But I didn't just collect them: I collected them to read them.

Aside from that I feel little connection to having the Collector's Gene. I can't get satisfaction out of something "just to have it" or "because it has been deemed valuable by some community" or satisfying a compulsion to complete patterns or whatever it is. So acquiring a book that I'll never read "because it's a collector's item" or a record I'll never take out of the plastic "because it's a collectors item" is something I don't connect with.

(Kinda reminds me of a guy I knew who was obsessed with collecting clocks. It gave him great satisfaction, but he said it was a real first-date killer if he brought it up )