Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[dlaloum]

I don't know the percentage, but it's a big group of the younger generation that buys vinyl. This is a picture of record store day in front of one of the many vinyl shops (the Music Mania) of the city where i used to live (Ghent, Belgium). Other shops had similar waiting rows that day:

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This town has about 10 specialised vinyl shops in this city of 250K inhabitants, and many mainstream stores (like the media markt, a very mainstream electronics shop) also sell vinyl of more mainstream music, as it sells like hotcakes.

Many new releases sell out the day of release, even in obscure genres, and often got many represses within months of the release date. And even mainstream arstists press vinyl today. Stromae and Angèle, the two biggest Belgian artists sell their music on vinyl on big quantities, more than cd's (but not more than streaming). It's also better for their income, as vinyl releases earn more money per copy than streaming or digital sales. They are everywhere to buy, on mainstream sales websites like Bol.com (the local copy of Amazon) to local specialised vinyl stores like the Music Mania above.

It's that bad that waiting rows for vinyl pressing plants became ridiculous (6 months is not abnormal), altough their are new plants opening every year and the vinyl pressing capacity of Belgium went up by the factor 20 compared with a decade ago.

And a few hundred years ago, people were selling Tulip bulbs there, and some of those bulbs sold for more than the price of a house.... and the Tulip bulb market was HUGE.... until it wasn't.

 

[Holmz]

… as it sells like hotcakes...

I thought you people preferred waffles, or is that the Danish?

 

[Waxx]

I thought you people preferred waffles, or is that the Danish?

On patisserie (cakes and so) we eat everything that is well made. Belgian Bakeries are mostly filled with artisanal stuff you even don't know and that even not have an english name. We invented the "bourgondic" lifestyle (when we were part of the Bourgondic empire) were food and drinks (our beer) are of national importance and we like high quality food in big quantities.

Bakeries are filled with what we call "Patisserie", wich are all kind of cakes and cookies, mostly all hand made by the bakery by an own recepy. Waffles are just one of the many of those. I did not find a good picture that gives an overview, but these pictures (taken from sites of local bakkeries) give you a small part of what most artisanal bakeries down here have traditionally next to bread. And i know quiet a few bakeries that make a good living by making only those. A friend of me has one that is vegan only pattiserie and only on order, and her orderlist is full till the end of 2023 altough it's her fulltime job, and she is expensive.

 

[Waxx]

And a few hundred years ago, people were selling Tulip bulbs there, and some of those bulbs sold for more than the price of a house.... and the Tulip bulb market was HUGE.... until it wasn't.

Wrong country (Tullips are a Dutch obsession, not a Belgian). This place used to be a pub, and the shop was at the other side of the road, straight in front of it, untill a decade or so ago. They had to leave that place as the owner had other plans and the original owner of the shop sold his name and backcatalogue. But they wanted to stay there as it's in front of the biggest concert hall/Cultural centre of the city, called "De Vooruit". Now they are just next to it.

 

[theREALdotnet]

If you hear some "magic", it's either one of two things.
Distortion or sighted (imagined) bias

Sad but true. You might add crosstalk as a third factor.

 

[SuicideSquid]

I don't know the percentage, but it's a big group of the younger generation that buys vinyl. This is a picture of record store day in front of one of the many vinyl shops (the Music Mania) of the city where i used to live (Ghent, Belgium). Other shops had similar waiting rows that day:



This town has about 10 specialised vinyl shops in this city of 250K inhabitants, and many mainstream stores (like the media markt, a very mainstream electronics shop) also sell vinyl of more mainstream music, as it sells like hotcakes.

Many new releases sell out the day of release, even in obscure genres, and often got many represses within months of the release date. And even mainstream arstists press vinyl today. Stromae and Angèle, the two biggest Belgian artists sell their music on vinyl on big quantities, more than cd's (but not more than streaming). It's also better for their income, as vinyl releases earn more money per copy than streaming or digital sales. They are everywhere to buy, on mainstream sales websites like Bol.com (the local copy of Amazon) to local specialised vinyl stores like the Music Mania above.

It's that bad that waiting rows for vinyl pressing plants became ridiculous (6 months is not abnormal), altough their are new plants opening every year and the vinyl pressing capacity of Belgium went up by the factor 20 compared with a decade ago.

I think the vinyl craze is a bit silly, but it's good for artists and for the music industry generally that there is a group of fans who are buying physical media.

But the current level of vinyl sales is a fraction of the current digital market, and it's a fraction of what the CD market was at its peak around 2000.

 

[Sal1950]

I don't know the percentage, but it's a big group of the younger generation that buys vinyl.

Sure, the younger folks are the more they like to play with toys, I was the same.

It's that bad that waiting rows for vinyl pressing plants became ridiculous (6 months is not abnormal), altough their are new plants opening every year and the vinyl pressing capacity of Belgium went up by the factor 20 compared with a decade ago.

I can remember the same lines of people waiting to buy Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, and all other sort of fad collectables in their time. You never know, vinyl may even make the Top Ten one day soon.

Top 10 Collectible Fads | Videos on WatchMojo.com

Must have them all! Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the top 10 collectible fads.

watchmojo.com

The purpose of this forum is to discuss the science of High Fidelity Music Reproduction.

 

[Sal1950]

And a few hundred years ago, people were selling Tulip bulbs there, and some of those bulbs sold for more than the price of a house.... and the Tulip bulb market was HUGE.... until it wasn't.

On a few corners around the neighborhood, planting Tulip's is a very popular commodity and not too terribly expensive either.

 

[MattHooper]

Yes I stream hres from Apple on a 4k device, but No I don't believe it's any better than 16/44.
It's next to impossible to know if any hi-res release/stream has been remixed or remastered since it's 16/44 release, so many question marks are always there. But I have participated in a number of comparisons done where the provenance was a known, like Mark Waldrep of AIX records 2 tests, and a couple others I can't remember right now. In every case I've never been able to ID a Redbook from anything higher using the most revealing path I have, my Emotiva DC-1 DAC and Sennheiser HD650 cans.
I may have missed a few, but I'm not aware of any tests that have ever conclusively shown better than Redbook data rate to be audible.

Ok thanks. I was just curious as to your view.

I think it tracks pretty well with mine. I work at higher bit/frequency rates for my job, but that's mostly due to existing standards/processing needs etc.
As to hi-res audio for music, I admit I haven't been fussed about it - haven't really done specific tests myself, being satisfied with 16/44 and noting, like you, it doesn't seem easy to establish hi-res holds a significant sonic advantage for stereo.

 

[Waxx]

I think the vinyl craze is a bit silly, but it's good for artists and for the music industry generally that there is a group of fans who are buying physical media.

But the current level of vinyl sales is a fraction of the current digital market, and it's a fraction of what the CD market was at its peak around 2000.

In the numbers of SABAM, the vinyl sales and cd sales are almost equal, and the vinyl sales they report is only the official mainstream sales, as most independent underground artists refuse to work with them and use creative common to register their music due to the policies of SABAM. And those are also a big number and work still largely on vinyl. So whole music scenes that work with vinyl are not included in that number.

But that streaming is the biggest, is true. It's mainly the conveniance that is the cause, not the (subjective) sound quality.

Sure, the younger folks are the more they like to play with toys, I was the same.

I can remember the same lines of people waiting to buy Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, and all other sort of fad collectables in their time. You never know, vinyl may even make the Top Ten one day soon.

Top 10 Collectible Fads | Videos on WatchMojo.com

Must have them all! Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the top 10 collectible fads.

watchmojo.com

The purpose of this forum is to discuss the science of High Fidelity Music Reproduction.

That this site focus on that is true, but the question came why a technical inferior format is still so popular, so i answered... And it is still very popular, it's not a craze that goes away anytime soon i think. Most vinyllovers now digital, and also use it, but still prefer vinyl.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

On a few corners around the neighborhood, planting Tulip's is a very popular commodity and not too terribly expensive either.

I think he refers to this. I am old but not 16th century old. But one can see the parallels to audiophoolery easily.

Tulip mania - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Sal1950]

As to hi-res audio for music, I admit I haven't been fussed about it - haven't really done specific tests myself, being satisfied with 16/44 and noting, like you, it doesn't seem easy to establish hi-res holds a significant sonic advantage for stereo.

Rapidly it's becoming a non-issue in any case.
CD's are dead as a medium for music distribution with streaming as it's replacement. All the main players in streaming except Spotify give hires on their base platform, I pay Apply $9 a month for theirs and get multich, Atmos and all.
Not that I've ever used it much. Premium lossless Atmos etc still requires Bluray or DVD, hoping that will change in the future.

 

[krabapple]

Please give it up people! From my age perspective, this discussion reminds me of a bunch of angry old men arguing whether the greatest band was "technically" The Grateful Dead or Led Zeppelin. It is all preference. And it is all irrelevant. The world has moved on and my generation has voted that they prefer vinyl, whether the old men like it or not. Now go back to your Lawrence Welk.

Sales figures show 'your generation' prefers streaming digital audio far more than vinyl. And if you know who Lawrence Welk is, you old.

 

[MattHooper]

Oh man I just received my re-release vinyl pressing of Daft Punk Alive 2007 (live album) and does it ever kick! The sound is clear, textured - the synths just rip through the air in a vivid, meaty way - deep pounding bass, it just sounds HUGE. This album originally came out when things were only released digitally and I'd enjoyed my CD version for a long time. But the LP album (first released on vinyl 2014) is a beautiful thing to see and hold (much more satisfying than the little CD or swiping on my iphone), and the sound is so spectacular. It's the full aesthetic experience IMO.

 

[Sal1950]

But the LP album (first released on vinyl 2014) is a beautiful thing to see and hold (much more satisfying than the little CD or swiping on my iphone), and the sound is so spectacular. It's the full aesthetic experience IMO.

Careful there hot stuff, don't get any pecker tracks in the grooves.

 

[killdozzer]

I mean... here's the thing about artists...

Who wants to take a bet that Calvin's dad is into records? (just teasing, don't get your panties into whatever you get them into when...)

 

[mhardy6647]

Who wants to take a bet that Calvin's dad is into records? (just teasing, don't get your panties into whatever you get them into when...)

We all know he is (was)!

 

[krabapple]

Careful there hot stuff, don't get any pecker tracks in the grooves.

just to recap, this sorry thread has now gone from 'explain the vinyl renaissance to me', to a loop of 'vinyl sucks vs it's a preference', to vinylphiles creaming over particular new LP releases as if that meant something.

 

[Leporello]

But that streaming is the biggest, is true. It's mainly the conveniance that is the cause, not the (subjective) sound quality.

How do you know this?

 

[Robin L]

Waxx said:
But that streaming is the biggest, is true. It's mainly the conveniance that is the cause, not the (subjective) sound quality.

How do you know this?

It's always about the convenience. LPs more convenient than 78s, CDs more convenient than LPs, streaming more convenient than CDs. Ease of use wins over perceived quality of sound. The built-in inconvenience of LPs speaks for itself. I've got over a thousand CDs I rarely play because the bulk of them have been ripped to my computer. A lot easier to scroll my alphabetically arranged options and play as opposed to digging around my disorganized CDs. Simple as that.