The Observer view on the vinyl revival: LPs are the antidote to a frenetic digital world

[Overseas]

If nothing else, vinyl playback does encourage a person to sit quietly and just listen for awhile. Seems simple, yet I imagine that more than a few people struggle to uni-task.

You mean it's hypnotic or what.

 

[solderdude]

I think the article is accurate aside from 1 word but even in the context of the article even that seems to be true... for vinyl fans.
It just is not true in an absolute sense.

The only thing I disagree with myself is the usage of the word 'knows'.

But the sound of digital music, as every vinyl fan knows, is not, and never will be, half so rich and warm as the sound of an LP

That should say 'finds' or 'believes'.

Vinyl preference is all about beliefs and experiences I reckon.
People should be free to believe and like whatever they want as long as they don't force it onto others.

 

[Overseas]

Vinyl fan probably is not the same with vinyl user/ listener.

 

[DrTebi]

Here are a few reasons why I like vinyl and still use it sometimes:

- The record player doesn't ask for a pass code
- The record player doesn't tell me my fingerprint doesn't match
- The record player doesn't want to do an update before playing
- The record player doesn't need a WiFi connection
- The record player doesn't collect personal data on me
- The record player doesn't run out of battery

... and so on. I am sure someone can agree with me on that.

Of course, you can probably do the same with CDs or SACDs.

 

[Dimitri]

Here are a few reasons why I like vinyl and still use it sometimes:

- The record player doesn't ask for a pass code
- The record player doesn't tell me my fingerprint doesn't match
- The record player doesn't want to do an update before playing
- The record player doesn't need a WiFi connection
- The record player doesn't collect personal data on me
- The record player doesn't run out of battery

... and so on. I am sure someone can agree with me on that.

Of course, you can probably do the same with CDs or SACDs.

You can with, provided the recording didn't get digitally mangled before it hit the CD.
Also the record as it may get "worse" with use, at least it will not get re-released or remastered while you are not looking!

 

[Dimitri]

The only thing I disagree with myself is the usage of the word 'knows'.
That should say 'finds' or 'believes'.

The potential of the medium and what gets released don't always make justice to the medium.
We end up with vinyl that is processed as best as possible for the medium, and we end up with digital that is processed in ways that makes listening to the vinyl release more desirable.
If all albums had the consistency of Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms we would be having less of these types of conversations

 

[Overseas]

Here are a few reasons why I like vinyl and still use it sometimes:

- The record player doesn't ask for a pass code
- The record player doesn't tell me my fingerprint doesn't match
- The record player doesn't want to do an update before playing
- The record player doesn't need a WiFi connection
- The record player doesn't collect personal data on me
- The record player doesn't run out of battery

... and so on. I am sure someone can agree with me on that.

Of course, you can probably do the same with CDs or SACDs.

Nothing to do with SQ.

 

[MattHooper]

Nothing to do with SQ.

Vinyl tends to sound different.
Some also enjoy that.

There ya go.

 

[Overseas]

Vinyl tends to sound different.
Some also enjoy that.

There ya go.

I bet it sounds different. Thats why I go with cd.
But I was referring to the quoted arguments.

 

[Axo1989]

A shame to see this in The Observer / Guardian as they are two of the more reliable and fact based news publications in the UK right now .

Articles under 'the Observer view' heading are opinion pieces, I wouldn't assume this is a harbinger of imminent collapse of one the last vestiges of the fourth estate.

Not sure I need this thread personally after the heady daze and sheer volume of the vinyl renaissance thread, but I may get bored later ...

 

[Axo1989]

The observation i posted in the OP is factually incorrect and should never have been printed in a respectable newspaper and this is likely the only place it will be pointed out. No one has ever said anything about people's preferences so please don't conflate the two.

See above.

Oh god I'm still reading.

 

[MattHooper]

I bet it sounds different. Thats why I go with cd.
But I was referring to the quoted arguments.

Of course. We could see his post did not mention sound quality so pointing that out seemed redundant.
And I think leaving out sound quality was on purpose, so he'd find agreement.

But...since you brought up sound quality, there are folks who enjoy the sound quality too.

 

[gsp1971]

I believe @krabapple already did that, when he asked you, "Explain in what sense, and reasons why, conventional stereo only has 5-10 dB of channel separation, please. And multichannel much less."

If a person understands a principle, then they can explain it. If a person cannot explain it, the conclusion is that they do not understand it.

Jim

Adding to what Jim says:

 

[mhardy6647]

Adding to what Jim says:

View attachment 339946

Ol' Prof Al was a little leery of quantum mechanics, if memory serves.

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

Adding to what Jim says:

View attachment 339946

Ok I will explain it simply. Your left ear hears your right speaker and your right ear hears your left speaker

 

[aagstn]

Here are a few reasons why I like vinyl and still use it sometimes:

- The record player doesn't ask for a pass code
- The record player doesn't tell me my fingerprint doesn't match
- The record player doesn't want to do an update before playing
- The record player doesn't need a WiFi connection
- The record player doesn't collect personal data on me
- The record player doesn't run out of battery

... and so on. I am sure someone can agree with me on that.

Of course, you can probably do the same with CDs or SACDs.

and cassettes. I listen to them all and enjoy this feature.

 

[Travis]

Not sure how we would settle a bet on how courts would rule. I think courts are hard to predict. BUT….just a reminder of what I actually said that sparked all these legal opinions. Please note the first line

“I’m not going to argue law or first amendment rights. But I will argue with this.

‘Again, from a legal perspective, you couldn't even prove that the statement: "the sound of digital music, as every vinyl fan knows, is not, and never will be, half so rich and warm as the sound of an LP, and playing it does not tend to encourage, as spinning a record does, truly serious listening" to be either a lie, or factually incorrect, at least in the US.’

It’s easy to demonstrate the “opinion” is factually incorrect by demonstrating that digital media is capable of copying any signal from vinyl without any audible coloration. So digital copy of vinyl in fact WILL be as rich and warm as the sound of any LP from which a digital copy is made. Sound is an objective quantity.”

Not going to argue what a court would or would not do. Courts are not particularly good arbitrators if objective reality. And *that* was the only thing I was arguing. If you have a problem with that sue me.

You have to get to the first step, legal or not, that what the line in the opinion piece is false or incorrect. The moment you go outside “the lines” and start adding to it (digital media is capable of copying . . . without coloration) you have lost. You are reading into it something that isn’t there. This is the very reason for the legal standard that the statement declares a provably false statement of fact. If they had said “digital is not able to reproduce sound without coloration” or similar you would have a point.

I do analog wood based heating for counterattacking the digital world, as for music I stream and collect CDs, usually CDs sound better. No need to go into vinyl.

How do they sound better (this is a rhetorical question, and tongue in cheek). If they are "richer" and "warmer" than vinyl, we might be on to something here.

 

[Travis]

This is what a typical Guardian reader looks like:

I am sure you know the type. In Melbourne, we have a couple of suburbs full of them. They are strongly associated with certain political beliefs (which is why their electorate is a safe seat), so they all love reading the Guardian. That suburb is full off cafes, second-hand LP shops, shops that sell "quirky" fashion and accessories, craft beer pubs and microbreweries, and eclectic restaurants with names like "Naked For Satan".

A good friend of mine who is also into hifi lives in that suburb. He is one of them. I told him that I can identify which suburb a person lives in just by looking at their bicycle. He asked "How!?!?". I said that only inner city hipsters would ride a fixie - a bike with no gears, and sometimes no brakes. For everyone else, a fixie is too impractical and we are not stupid enough to sacrifice functionality for fashion. His reply - "I ride a fixie!!!".

I am certain that if I did a survey of audiophiles who own a vinyl system, I would find two types - your traditional "high end" audiophile with expensive and exotic turntables. The intention is "ultimate fidelity". And hipsters with much cheaper turntables and poorly thought out systems. The intention is to "look cool". I am not sure which group to laugh at more.

Here is review by the observer of one vinyl story (in Sydney):

Australia’s boom in record shops: ‘Our regulars are high school kids who can stream stuff for free!’

With revenue from vinyl sales nearing $37m in Australia last year, new retailers explain why they opened record stores post-Covid

www.theguardian.com

 

[MattHooper]

Here is review by the observer of one vinyl story (in Sydney):

Australia’s boom in record shops: ‘Our regulars are high school kids who can stream stuff for free!’

With revenue from vinyl sales nearing $37m in Australia last year, new retailers explain why they opened record stores post-Covid

www.theguardian.com

LOL, nothing changes:

A girl in a school uniform says Khruangbin is always playing in her house. “I look at the cover and kind of go inside the music. The artwork makes me feel like I’m actually dancing in some weird Thai nightclub.”

Her friend interrupts. “Everyone at school is into records. You can roll a joint on the cover of Dark Side of the Moon – can’t do that with Spotify.”

 

[Galliardist]

LOL, nothing changes:

A girl in a school uniform says Khruangbin is always playing in her house. “I look at the cover and kind of go inside the music. The artwork makes me feel like I’m actually dancing in some weird Thai nightclub.”

Her friend interrupts. “Everyone at school is into records. You can roll a joint on the cover of Dark Side of the Moon – can’t do that with Spotify.”

A "wife in the kitchen" moment, that had me doubting the entire article. I don't know more than half a dozen kids at the moment, but none of them would touch DSOTM.

As for drugs among Australian schoolkids - pretty sure that's nicotine vaping, which our government is making prescription only, thus turning the health profession into drug pushers and probably driving smoking levels back up.