Not something a geezer like me would agree with but that's a fact.
Today it's really something that only audiophiles would understand.
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Turntables - help me understand the appeal?
- Thread starter dkinric
- Start date
Today it's really something that only audiophiles would understand.
I don't know the numbers for sure and not sure where you would get reliable numbers as most records stores are independent and sell mostly used records but I was in my favorite record store today and it was packed and most people were under 40. Over the last few years I have seen record stores become more crowded with a steady decrease in average age.
The same demographic that bought BeanyBabies and Pet Rocks. LOL
I don't know if you can generalize .... the crowd ranged from 12 year old to 75 years old and most people seemed serious but also having fun. The store I go to has over 100,000 records from the 1920's to current, thousands for CD's, hundreds of SACD, cassettes, 8-tracks, and DVD concert videos all organized and easy to browse. If you are a recorded music enthusiast I just don't see how you could not find it interesting even if you are not into physical media.
Waxx
Major Contributor
I would not say that here. Vinyl is something that is still very popular among young people down here and still growing. Most vinyl buyers down here are actually young people, not older people. They mostly also use streaming, but for serious listening they take vinyl on a classic stereo system, mostly an integrated amp and some speakers, and very often vintage second hand stuff as they feel the new gear is or crap or way to expensive.
But it's a niche, the mainstream "not so interested in music but as background nosie" mostly only use streaming or radio. CD's is something that is for over 40 down here, not many youngsters buy those. They do or vinyl or streaming (local digital files or from streaming services), and the former only when they are or want to be considered as music freaks. And vinyl is also where artists earn the most, so that is by many also taken in considereation.
Tom C
Major Contributor
That does sound interesting. Can you tell me what and where that store is?
Folk Arts Rare Records San Diego CA
Is it expensive in there, anything with rare in the name and I think 'that's gonna be expensive'.
Don't forget Tamagotchi and Pokemon cards, some those cards are quite expensive now.
The cards haven't risen in value as much as the first homes Boomers bought with the money saved from their weekend/summer jobs (what was left after they had been out drinking and partying), but let us have our small victories.
The name is very old as the store has been around for decades and there is a new owner now. They price stuff to sell and they move a huge amount of product.... certainly not cheap but pretty much always cheaper than the online sites if you take freight into account. You can also play it before you buy it. They also leave some "first pressing" LP's and Target CD's and the like at the same price as common pressings to keep the "treasure hunt" aspect in play.
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If the Harley revival lasted that long it went well beyond the common usage of the term "fad."
fad
1. a style, activity, or interest that is very popular for a short period of…
dictionary.cambridge.org
FAD: a style, activity, or interest that is very popular for a short period of time:
Fad Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
FAD meaning: something (such as an interest or fashion) that is very popular for a short time
FAD: : something (such as an interest or fashion) that is very popular for a short time
Fad - Wikipedia
FAD: A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short period.
Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short-lived popularity but fade away.[1] Fads are often seen as sudden, quick-spreading, and short-lived.[2] Fads include diets, clothing, hairstyles, toys, and more. Some popular fads throughout history are toys such as yo-yos, hula hoops, and fad dances such as the Macarena, floss and the twist.[3]
To try to stretch the word "fad" to cover a revival that has continued for 16 years and is still rising is to stretch the term beyond recognition. Everything may as well be a "fad" since nothing lasts forever. Cassettes were a fad, CDs were a fad, MP3 players were a fad, flip phones were a fad...
The trajectory of vinyl does not at all meet the typical characteristics of a "fad" which tend to be a more sudden, explosive growth of interest with a relatively quick fading out. Vinyl has simply steadily risen in sales for 16 years, which is a different dynamic. It's why it's now taken very seriously by artists, music producers, record companies etc.
Fad is the word some use to be dismissive of the vinyl comeback, but it went well beyond a fad long ago.
I think vinyl can still be argued to be a niche market, though.
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Inside the Return of Record-Breaking Vinyl Sales
Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and more major pop releases helped vinyl have another massive year.
www.billboard.com
But regardless of when a title may hit the shelves, Godfroy says the main takeaway from vinyl’s 2022 showing was that it not only remains resilient but increasingly relevant year after year. As for Swift moving so much of it? It’s a clear sign, he says, “the format has become the leading token of fandom in the digital age.”
You would buy a copy of some music you really like because you can then play it anytime you want, and you will still have it after streaming services no longer offer it. In the case of vinyl records, there's the whole mystique of them and the equipment to play them that can be enjoyable in its own right. There is also music on physical media that may never see the light of day of the dark of night, for those who, for some reason, dig the darkness.
I took the liberty of adding numbers to the parts of what egellings wrote that explains why I own what I do.
1. & 2. are my reasons:
1. (I have records as far back as 1927).
2. is also my reason for cassettes (I have recordings of family and events)
2. is also my reason my reason for Reel to Reel (I have a copy of the tapes (unopened & stored in a controlled environment from day 1 of receiving them [because I did not own a Reel to Reel deck until sometime this year]) from NASA of this: On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (1930-) became the first humans ever to land on the moon. About six-and-a-half hours later, Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon. As he took his first step, Armstrong famously said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The Apollo 11 mission occurred eight years after President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) announced a national goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Apollo 17, the final manned moon mission, took place in 1972.
Yes, I plan to digitize all of this (in 2024, when I retire from doing things because I need to eat to doing what I want to do [or not] on my time schedule, not someone else's) onto CD (I have a CDR and archive CDR discs) and onto thumb drive and SSD's [stored in different locations {redundant, redundant}]).
You may have other reasons (or no reason at all) and may prefer that these things are not in your system at all. All of that is fine.
But even after I have digitized what I have, the physical Medea will be properly organized, tagged and stored in a controlled environment.
Part of the appeal of playing music by operating equipment like a turntable is just that. It may be fun to some listeners to put a record on a turntable and then drop the needle. Then you get to enjoy the music it plays back. It's possible to enjoy both music and equipment at the same time.
You forgot reading large print artwork/liners/notes!
That is so true. Visual artwork is surely part of it.
RCAguy
Member
Why still have a turntable? Above are many of rhe reasons. I’ll add that 140yr of recorded history are on records, but most are not in digital form. Much of the growing digital library is by restorers (like me) from these disks when no usable tape is available. Conservator level alignment tools, stylus choices, wear v audio performance considerations, proper cartridge loading, maker instructions for the preamp and transcription tonearms I use are in my Phonograph book 2nd ed - www.filmaker.com
RCAguy
Member
Newly released content on vinyl is tricky, as some is mastered from an over-processed digital. A few (the new remix of Sgt Peppers for example) are stellar. And vintage used disks offer much good music. Today's streaming (like the premium Amazon Music) are high quality, and support a wide range of genre, from hip-hop to classical. I use it all (why duplicate?), even some pre-recorded 7-1/2ips 1/4in tape, and the occasional cassette. But vinyl & shellac have 140yr of recorded history mostly available nowhere else.The smartest use would be to sell it while prices are at ridiculous levels and use the money to upgrade your Hi Fi.
Maybe to go multich if you havn't already, you'll never look back.
Until you die, then your kids will throw them in the garbage like I did with my family's 78's
But there isn't a single one of them that I can't live without in my music library.
