Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[Newman]

I had to laugh out loud at this. What a load of tripe.

So....you think that experiencing excellence in sound reproduction is NOT an overarching desire that separates the audiophile from the non-audiophile?

At least my post had content and thoughtfulness. What has yours got? Derision and denigration? Quality stuff. I also don't get why people think it's a comment worthy of applause. Where are their minds at? Let's keep the conversation a wee bit elevated, please.

 

[Anton D]

So....you think that experiencing excellence in sound reproduction is NOT an overarching desire that separates the audiophile from the non-audiophile?

At least my post had content and thoughtfulness. What has yours got? Derision and denigration? Quality stuff. I also don't get why people think it's a comment worthy of applause. Where are their minds at? Let's keep the conversation a wee bit elevated, please.

Some people think vinyl has excellent sound, you do not.

Why stalk them?

 

[Mean & Green]

So....you think that experiencing excellence in sound reproduction is NOT an overarching desire that separates the audiophile from the non-audiophile?

At least my post had content and thoughtfulness. What has yours got? Derision and denigration? Quality stuff. I also don't get why people think it's a comment worthy of applause. Where are their minds at? Let's keep the conversation a wee bit elevated, please.

In essence you are implying the members of this forum that listen to vinyl are not audiophiles because vinyl isn’t worthy of being an audiophile source in your opinion. Because listeners of vinyl have such low standards compared to you.

If what you‘re implying had any merit, suitcase style record players would be all that was required for all of us vinyl playing none audiophiles.

 

[Robin L]

Yup.
But that doesn't change things. Listening to music isn't rational, even with all those benefits. Emotions in general aren't rational either but that doesn't take away from their validity.

I'd say that, at my age, anything that helps keeping my mind from falling apart is rational.

 

[MattHooper]

Except you are about to define the terms under which it is indeed irrational, below.

...and eating doughnuts and chocolate ice cream turns out to be irrational.

Uhm, yes, that's what I wrote.

It will of course depend on the individual's set of desires and circumstances. IF eating a donut would be a serious health threat given someone's poor health, then it would not be the rational choice given the much stronger concern.

But IF someone is in good health and a donut isn't really going to impact that (and or they are not addicted to such food), then it's perfectly rational to get pleasure out of eating the donut.

So let's apply this to audiophile choices. Is there an overarching set of desires? Well, yes: experiencing excellence in sound reproduction.

Caveats: In the terms relevant to the individual audiophile. Your pinnacle of sound reproduction may not be what another audiophile is looking for.

If one doesn't have that as an overarching objective, I think I can argue that one has just disqualified oneself from the category of 'audiophile'.

Being an audiophile is typically not just about the gear, but about a passion for listening to music. For most audiophiles the two go together, in that they are looking for a compelling music listening experience from their sound system. Most of us want high quality sound, but in the service of increasing our listening pleasure. Therefore there will be individual variations as to what type of presentation combines both the more compelling sound quality AND the more compelling musical experience.

It then becomes irrational for the audiophile to make choices that diminish his or her experience of excellence.

The audiophile often balances his particular taste in sound quality and selection of gear, and playback medium, to ultimately serve the goal of the most compelling listening experience. People are different, so this choices will be different. (So strange to have to repeat this for over 300 pages every time another attempt to denigrate the choice of records comes up...)

Nobody has to have The Best Most Accurate Possible System In The World in order to care about and enjoy good sound quality.

In my case I care very much about high quality sound, I note that vinyl can often offer high quality sound, by my lights, so that audiophile aspect is satisfied. Plus I have playback gear far more elaborate and higher quality than the average music lover, because I am interested in audio gear. Further I love the gear associated with vinyl - turntables. So that's another audiophile aspect. And the other ways playing records influence my enjoyment of the experience, for me, easily override the often minor sonic quality differences I hear between my digital and vinyl sources.

So my choice for playing vinyl is extremely rational. It fulfills my specific desires, and seems to me a net positive in my life rather than a negative.

Note that this doesn't sit well with the notion of "just enjoying myself the most". If one is enjoying oneself the most with non-excellent sound reproduction.... well, that's exactly what non-audiophiles do, too, so one has become a non-audiophile.

cheers

Nuance, Newman. Nuance.

 

[MattHooper]

In essence you are implying the members of this forum that listen to vinyl are not audiophiles because vinyl isn’t worthy of being an audiophile source in your opinion. Because listeners of vinyl have such low standards compared to you.

If what you‘re implying had any merit, suitcase style record players would be all that was required for all of us vinyl playing none audiophiles.

He does this all the time.

One of the reasons this thread is so long. Playing whack-a-mole with the bad anti-vinyl arguments ;-)

 

[Anton D]

Newman is the official arbiter of who is and who isn’t an audiophile.

 

[MattHooper]

I've opined that the general question of this thread was answered early on, by me and others. And that even MY FIRST REPLY would cover a lot of the
motivations many other people share for enjoying records.

And indeed similar themes keep coming up.

This new article was posted in the other current Guardian vinyl article thread:

I never thought I’d listen to vinyl records again. Now I am – and I love it | Margaret Sullivan

When my children gifted me a turntable last year, I was dubious. But I’ve since rediscovered the beauty of analog music

www.theguardian.com

"Normally so inseparable from my devices, I began to find it a relief to be non-digital for a little while."

Which mirrors one of my reasons I wrote in my original reply:

"In fact, playing vinyl allows me to unplug from the digital world. I'm on computers all day long, my phone tugging for attention all day long. Listening to a record is like taking a break from interacting with yet-more-god-damned-screens. Like reading a real book instead of picking up the ipad again."

I just love getting a break from having to use computing devices and screens to interact with music. I have friends who run their systems (digital source) using laptops (running Roon etc) and I just HATE having to interact with a damned laptop for music. (At least when I'm in "listening on a good system" mode).

 

[AdamG]

Some people think vinyl has excellent sound, you do not.

Why stalk them?

First off, stating facts and claims that are supported by evidence and facts is not Stalking as you claim. This is ASR and spreading Science knowledge and disavowing false narratives and claims is what this community does. We could just as easily say that members who claim that vinyl is better than digital and has more soul and warmth is akin to Trolling a Science Based Forum. Get used to being told the truth here. If you want to fantasize about antiquated audio tech you could not have picked a worse place to do it. If you love the sound of vinyl that’s great. Have at it and enjoy music your way. We run into problems and pushback when people start making claims that it is a better format than digital. We strive to provide our readers with the facts based on science and saying vinyl is better or superior is just spreading misinformation and won’t fly here.

Newman is the official arbiter of who is and who isn’t an audiophile.

We must have missed that Memo. We belatedly Congratulate @Newman on his recent promotion to the position of Official Arbiter. We recognize the hard work that was required to reach such a lofty position. Well done Sir. We have started the proper paperwork for this promotion and @Newman will receive the accompanying pay adjustment in his next pay packet. Business Cards should follow in a few weeks.

 

[Anton D]

First off, stating facts and claims that are supported by evidence and facts is not Stalking as you claim. This is ASR and spreading Science knowledge and disavowing false narratives and claims is what this community does. We could just as easily say that members who claim that vinyl is better than digital and has more soul and warmth is akin to Trolling a Science Based Forum. Get used to being told the truth here. If you want to fantasize about antiquated audio tech you could not have picked a worse place to do it. If you love the sound of vinyl that’s great. Have at it and enjoy music your way. We run into problems and pushback when people start making claims that it is a better format than digital. We strive to provide our readers with the facts based on science and saying vinyl is better or superior is just spreading misinformation and won’t fly here.

We must have missed that Memo. We belatedly Congratulate @Newman on his recent promotion to the position of Official Arbiter. We recognize the hard work that was required to reach such a lofty position. Well done Sir. We have started the proper paperwork for this promotion and @Newman will receive the accompanying pay adjustment in his next pay packet. Business Cards should follow in a few weeks.

Then I’d suggest learning how to tell the difference between people stating their enjoyment of vinyl people vs. those claiming it is superior.

Try it yourself and see how the Morlocks respond!

 

[Newman]

...We belatedly Congratulate @Newman on his recent promotion to the position of Official Arbiter. We recognize the hard work that was required to reach such a lofty position. Well done Sir. We have started the proper paperwork for this promotion and @Newman will receive the accompanying pay adjustment in his next pay packet. Business Cards should follow in a few weeks.

Aspiring audiophiles may submit their applications to the Great Arbiter, above, by mail.

(Note the turntable and cassette deck. The Great Arbiter is nothing if not all-inclusive.)

 

[IAtaman]

I mostly come to this thread to check the stats on vinyl sales and to see if there are any new album recommendations - last couple of recommendations were really good. Sad to see there is none. Feel free to tag me please if you are going to recommend one, or even use it in argumentation as a "good" example.

Congrats on the new role Newman When is the blind tests to check your neutrality planned?

 

[Newman]

Congrats on the new role Newman When is the blind tests to check your neutrality planned?

I'll be the sole arbiter on whether they are, if ever, needed.

 

[pkane]

Sad to see there is none. Feel free to tag me please if you are going to recommend one, or even use it in argumentation as a "good" example.

Here you go, @IAtaman, one I enjoyed recently. No argument at all, just. a nice, enjoyable album:

 

[IAtaman]

Here you go, @IAtaman, one I enjoyed recently. No argument at all, just. a nice, enjoyable album:

Thank you very much for the recommendation. It is a great one - but not a new one. Astor Piazzola is a household name for us as Mrs. loves tango - both the dance and the music, therefore by association I am a big fan too

If you like that kind of music, I'd recommend the Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker album Hora Cero.

https://www.discogs.com/es/release/14423759-Die-12-Cellisten-Der-Berliner-Philharmoniker-Hora-Cero

They also have a nice recording of Libertango

 

[fpitas]

I mostly come to this thread to check the stats on vinyl sales and to see if there are any new album recommendations

I come here mostly to see if anything illuminating has been determined. Nope. We have discovered that some people like vinyl. A lot. But we're well past 6,000 posts!

 

[Purité Audio]

Just sold my last two vintage turntables and to be honest it is a relief, vintage is great but that uncertainty whether it is going to work or not ( at the very point of demonstration to the buyer ) is really stressful.
I had forgotten just how fragile the cartridge is how vulnerable, nice to look at though.
Keith

 

[pkane]

Thank you very much for the recommendation. It is a great one - but not a new one. Astor Piazzola is a household name for us as Mrs. loves tango - both the dance and the music, therefore by association I am a big fan too

If you like that kind of music, I'd recommend the Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker album Hora Cero.

https://www.discogs.com/es/release/14423759-Die-12-Cellisten-Der-Berliner-Philharmoniker-Hora-Cero

They also have a nice recording of Libertango

Yep, not new at all, I just liked the sound of this LP I have a system where I can feed any streaming service, an 8TB NAS full of ripped CDs or a ca. '79 TT through the same output chain at a flick of a (remote) switch. I've listened to nearly every digital version of Piazzolla's work, and still, enjoy the LP immensely. But, I'll have to ask @Newman to tell me if that's allowed or not...

 

[JayGilb]

Just sold my last two vintage turntables and to be honest it is a relief, vintage is great but that uncertainty whether it is going to work or not ( at the very point of demonstration to the buyer ) is really stressful.
I had forgotten just how fragile the cartridge is how vulnerable, nice to look at though.
Keith

I used to try and minimize the number of times I played my albums by always recording them to a reel to reel after purchase. I performed a cleaning ritual prior to recording and remember being upset and re-cleaning if I encountered noise during the process.
I do not miss those days and have not looked back since.

 

[fpitas]

I used to try and minimize the number of times I played my albums by always recording them to a reel to reel after purchase. I performed a cleaning ritual prior to recording and remember being upset and re-cleaning if I encountered noise during the process.
I do not miss those days and have not looked back since.

A friend rips his to FLAC files, with the same sort of procedure. A lot of music is only offered on vinyl, at least at first, so he has little choice. The vinyl gets put away.