Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[Rob_Gordon]

Oh, I found one that isn’t totally bricked. MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks, album DR 8.

and what a nice record!

 

[Audiofire]

I've heard that Fremer, for instance, keeps saying that CDs sound bad. Is it pure snobbery? Is it sincere placebo auto-administered?

Fremer kinda confirms those traits in his hilarious posts:

One crook helping the other (Fremer helping Paul sell his snake oil power regenerators)

Looks like Paul asked Fremer to do a sell pitch for him, in a form of an informative video about vinyl: I can't wait for Amir's debunk video about power regenerators...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Robin L]

Fremer kinda confirms those traits in his hilarious posts:

One crook helping the other (Fremer helping Paul sell his snake oil power regenerators)

Looks like Paul asked Fremer to do a sell pitch for him, in a form of an informative video about vinyl: I can't wait for Amir's debunk video about power regenerators...

audiosciencereview.com

Forgot all about that.

Fun times.

 

[Galliardist]

he has to be more or less convinced it's true, don't you think?

and I mean, when you see his listening room, you can spot some CDs... but he obviously really believes in vinyl!

He has a six figure digital rig, doesn't he? What do you think he actually listens to when nobody's around to see those turntables spinning?

 

[Rob_Gordon]

He has a six figure digital rig, doesn't he? What do you think he actually listens to when nobody's around to see those turntables spinning?

ahahah, well, I find it harder to believe that it's all for show. I'm not saying the man is essentially "honest"... but I have to think he mostly believes sincerely in what he says. It's like the electrical apparatus he got installed at his home (to purify!) that must have costed some big bucks. He believes in that as well.

 

[pinger]

They sure are! And CDRs are still a thing at the independent level, for merch-y reasons (as are cassettes - both can be home-made and personalized)

But really, the primary reason CDs are still being sold is because there is a significant group of people who haven't kept up with technology. Witness the annual Xmas ad blitz for your grandma's favorite lounge singer - proudly on CD (and DVD, at that!)

Kept up with technology? CD technology cant be beat as far as sound quality. Many people like CD's. They dont take up much room. They look nice in a rack etc. Similar reasons why folks like vinyl. Only difference is CD's sound better. Best of both worlds

 

[MattHooper]

Kept up with technology? CD technology cant be beat as far as sound quality. Many people like CD's. They dont take up much room. They look nice in a rack etc. Similar reasons why folks like vinyl. Only difference is CD's sound better. Best of both worlds

My view on CD is the opposite: they are simply a homely and clunky carrier of the digital information that can be more conveniently accessed via streaming now.

They have no haptic or aesthetic appeal whatsoever, and just take up useless space.

Basically, the redheaded stepchild of physical media

 

[Robin L]

My view on CD is the opposite: they are simply a homely and clunky carrier of the digital information that can be more conveniently accessed via streaming now.

They have no haptic or aesthetic appeal whatsoever, and just take up useless space.

Basically, the redheaded stepchild of physical media

I am running across the same problem with CDs these days that I experienced with LPs - just not enough room. And now that I'm streaming (very high quality, BTW), collecting plastic objects isn't as attractive as it once was.

One thing though - now that I'm volunteering at a public library that accepts donated CDs, I've got plenty of empty jewel cases (we often get accidently empty jewel cases) to replace cracked or otherwise damaged cases.

But I'm still creeping up on having 1600 CDs. Not enough room in this house or the outdoor closets for much more than that.

 

[krabapple]

Rip 'em all, chuck the jewel cases, stream from a drive. Store the discs in sleeves along with the printed matter, in a file cabinet or in boxes in a closet...takes up less than half the room of CD cases.

That's how I've rolled with CDs for years now.

 

[MattHooper]

I am running across the same problem with CDs these days that I experienced with LPs - just not enough room. And now that I'm streaming (very high quality, BTW), collecting plastic objects isn't as attractive as it once was.

One thing though - now that I'm volunteering at a public library that accepts donated CDs, I've got plenty of empty jewel cases (we often get accidently empty jewel cases) to replace cracked or otherwise damaged cases.

But I'm still creeping up on having 1600 CDs. Not enough room in this house or the outdoor closets for much more than that.

I of course exclude from my any-CD opinion music that is only available on CD and not on streaming yet. I have still bought a few CDs over the years due to this and then ripped them.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in a similar spot with my physical movie library. Early on when DVDs reigned and then Blu-ray, it felt thrilling to all my own physical copies of movies. I don’t feel that way anymore. And they are just mostly taking up space (with the ex accepting that I can’t get rid of a bunch of them that aren’t easily available and streaming).

 

[Robin L]

I of course exclude from my any-CD opinion music that is only available on CD and not on streaming yet. I have still bought a few CDs over the years due to this and then ripped them.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in a similar spot with my physical movie library. Early on when DVDs reigned and then Blu-ray, it felt thrilling to all my own physical copies of movies. I don’t feel that way anymore. And they are just mostly taking up space (with the ex accepting that I can’t get rid of a bunch of them that aren’t easily available and streaming).

I was hoping that everything would be available to stream. Problem is, there's a lot of big collections of recordings - like that mega-box of the Complete Bruno Walter on Columbia - that don't appear. And there's some titles that only appear in European transfers now that they're out of copyright overseas, meaning, usually, they're inferior. I've got a 16 CD box of the Busch Quartet and Adolf Busch (mostly from the 1930s) that's not represented on Tidal, which is too bad as it has the best transfers.

Still, I feel like a whiney baby for complaining in the midst of such a wealth of music.

 

[Mean & Green]

My view on CD is the opposite: they are simply a homely and clunky carrier of the digital information that can be more conveniently accessed via streaming now.

They have no haptic or aesthetic appeal whatsoever, and just take up useless space.

Basically, the redheaded stepchild of physical media

I have completely different feelings to you regarding CDs, but share many of your feelings towards vinyl.

For me I find loading a CD into my Fixed Pick Up Mech Sony and placing the magnetic puck in place, closing the silky smooth quiet drawer and rotating the jog dial with very satisfying feeling indents as it winds its way through the music calendar to the desired track I want, pressing the dial and waiting that second or two as the cd drive gently whirs into action before the music starts gives me far more feelings of interaction with both the music and my system than the network player beneath it does being remotely controlled by a touch screen.

Then there’s the fact that CDs include artwork with a booklet full of lyrics and info just as an LP has, it’s something to collect while also offering the objectively best sound quality from a physical format as well as being significantly cheaper than vinyl. It is easily ripped for personal streaming when convenience or playlists take priority. All of my streaming is done from my own CD collection.

I see CD as another option that supplements music listening and collecting with a ritual aspect of its own. Sometimes it’s nice to walk over to the shelf and browse the titles to decide what is going to take my fancy. Scrolling on a screen just doesn’t cut it sometimes. Also sometimes taking a record out of a gatefold and out of the polylined sleeve and wiping with the carbon brush etc is too much faff, yet other times it’s exactly what I want.

 

[pinger]

Rip 'em all, chuck the jewel cases, stream from a drive. Store the discs in sleeves along with the printed matter, in a file cabinet or in boxes in a closet...takes up less than half the room of CD cases.

That's how I've rolled with CDs for years now.

LOL do you guys really live in such small spaces? I have a 700 sg ft coop and maybe 500 CD's. They dont take up that much room!!!

 

[Rob_Gordon]

My view on CD is the opposite: they are simply a homely and clunky carrier of the digital information that can be more conveniently accessed via streaming now.

They have no haptic or aesthetic appeal whatsoever, and just take up useless space.

Basically, the redheaded stepchild of physical media

Just as @Mean & Green said, I agree with your take on vinyls but not so much on this one... since I more or less have the same take for both formats. Of course, CDs are not as charming as LPs but, exactly like you said, choosing a record, getting up, opening the case, putting it in the drawer... it makes a little ritual that changes the experience, that helps me take it more seriously than when I'm flipping through the Tidal app

 

[Rob_Gordon]

I have completely different feelings to you regarding CDs, but share many of your feelings towards vinyl.

For me I find loading a CD into my Fixed Pick Up Mech Sony and placing the magnetic puck in place, closing the silky smooth quiet drawer and rotating the jog dial with very satisfying feeling indents as it winds its way through the music calendar to the desired track I want, pressing the dial and waiting that second or two as the cd drive gently whirs into action before the music starts gives me far more feelings of interaction with both the music and my system than the network player beneath it does being remotely controlled by a touch screen.

Then there’s the fact that CDs include artwork with a booklet full of lyrics and info just as an LP has, it’s something to collect while also offering the objectively best sound quality from a physical format as well as being significantly cheaper than vinyl. It is easily ripped for personal streaming when convenience or playlists take priority. All of my streaming is done from my own CD collection.

I see CD as another option that supplements music listening and collecting with a ritual aspect of its own. Sometimes it’s nice to walk over to the shelf and browse the titles to decide what is going to take my fancy. Scrolling on a screen just doesn’t cut it sometimes. Also sometimes taking a record out of a gatefold and out of the polylined sleeve and wiping with the carbon brush etc is too much faff, yet other times it’s exactly what I want.


View attachment 411761

woaw, what a fine looking cd player! love it

 

[Rob_Gordon]

I am running across the same problem with CDs these days that I experienced with LPs - just not enough room. And now that I'm streaming (very high quality, BTW), collecting plastic objects isn't as attractive as it once was.

One thing though - now that I'm volunteering at a public library that accepts donated CDs, I've got plenty of empty jewel cases (we often get accidently empty jewel cases) to replace cracked or otherwise damaged cases.

But I'm still creeping up on having 1600 CDs. Not enough room in this house or the outdoor closets for much more than that.

I personally have very few CDs... because most of them were burnt, so they really felt "worthless" and when I moved, I only kept the "real ones". I do buy CDs from time to time, mostly my "favorite records", the ones I know I love to listen to from the first track to the last one, and because I feel that I'm honoring the work to have it physically.

and also, as you said, because there's a bunch that you can't find on Tidal, especially for classical music I feel.

 

[MattHooper]

I have completely different feelings to you regarding CDs, but share many of your feelings towards vinyl.

For me I find loading a CD into my Fixed Pick Up Mech Sony and placing the magnetic puck in place, closing the silky smooth quiet drawer and rotating the jog dial with very satisfying feeling indents as it winds its way through the music calendar to the desired track I want, pressing the dial and waiting that second or two as the cd drive gently whirs into action before the music starts gives me far more feelings of interaction with both the music and my system than the network player beneath it does being remotely controlled by a touch screen.

Then there’s the fact that CDs include artwork with a booklet full of lyrics and info just as an LP has, it’s something to collect while also offering the objectively best sound quality from a physical format as well as being significantly cheaper than vinyl. It is easily ripped for personal streaming when convenience or playlists take priority. All of my streaming is done from my own CD collection.

I see CD as another option that supplements music listening and collecting with a ritual aspect of its own. Sometimes it’s nice to walk over to the shelf and browse the titles to decide what is going to take my fancy. Scrolling on a screen just doesn’t cut it sometimes. Also sometimes taking a record out of a gatefold and out of the polylined sleeve and wiping with the carbon brush etc is too much faff, yet other times it’s exactly what I want.


View attachment 411761

Well, there you go! You’ve made an excellent case for why you enjoy CDs.

And I do remember getting similar enjoyment operating my old Meridian CD player, which is long gone.

And I also remember the thrill of CDs in general when it was a fresh medium to me - including the booklets.

So I get it.

I just found overtime that I really fell out of love with the form factor. I hate CD Jewel cases with the burning passion of a supernova. Maybe I was extra clumsy, but they’re tendency to crack and snap and break, or just pop apart if I dared to drop one, bugged the hell of me. I just don’t find those plastic jewel cases feel nice in the hand at all either.

So for aesthetics and haptics I much prefer vinyl.

But this is why boxes of assorted chocolates exist.

 

[Mean & Green]

woaw, what a fine looking cd player! love it

Thanks, I’ve had it for a very long time. It is so nice to use and still working perfectly after 25 years.

Well, there you go! You’ve made an excellent case for why you enjoy CDs.

And I do remember getting similar enjoyment operating my old Meridian CD player, which is long gone.

And I also remember the thrill of CDs in general when it was a fresh medium to me - including the booklets.

So I get it.

I just found overtime that I really fell out of love with the form factor. I hate CD Jewel cases with the burning passion of a supernova. Maybe I was extra clumsy, but they’re Tennessee to crack and snap and break, or just pop apart if I dared to drop one, bugged the hell of me. I just don’t find those plastic jewel cases feel nice in the hand at all either.

So for aesthetics and haptics I much prefer vinyl.

But this is why boxes of assorted chocolates exist.

Yes I get what you mean, jewel cases are a common complaint. Most new ones come in digipacks these days, but they seem to have their own issues too. Vinyl definitely offers more on a tactile level that’s for sure.

 

[levimax]

For me part of the appeal of used CD's is the price. I bought my first CD player in 1985 and at that time CD's were $14 to $18 each which in 2024 dollars is $42 to $54. When I see a perfect condition CD for $1 or $2 ($0.33 to $0.66 in 1985 dollars) sometimes it is hard to resist. It doesn't really make a lot of sense as I am paying for a streaming service but for $1 or $2 it just seems like such a bargain.

 

[Robin L]

For me part of the appeal of used CD's is the price. I bought my first CD player in 1985 and at that time CD's were $14 to $18 each which in 2024 dollars is $42 to $54. When I see a perfect condition CD for $1 or $2 ($0.33 to $0.66 in 1985 dollars) sometimes it is hard to resist. It doesn't really make a lot of sense as I am paying for a streaming service but for $1 or $2 it just seems like such a bargain.

I'm slowing down my consumption of CDs. However today I just had to buy, for $1, A London (Argo initially) CD reissue of the Stravinsky coupling of the Pulcinella suite and Apollon Musgagete ballet along with that composer's Capriccio, all performed by the Academy of St. Martin-in the-Fields. This was a favorite some 50 years ago as I was first working at a record store and seriously collecting LPs.