Vinyl record sales continue to rise amid music streaming’s dominance

[Jinjuku]

Interestingly, my daughter is 16 and asked for a turntable for her 15th birthday. She steals my LP’s - lol.

I found a screaming good deal on a new Pro-Ject Carbon Debut Esprit and had enough spare gear around to set her up with a proper little room system.

She and most of her friends buy vinyl.

My kid just got a T.T. setup. Audio Technica that has bluetooth. Just went to a flee market Saturday and brought some more Vinyl home. Been enjoying it for what it is. Came home yesterday to find about 15 albums spread out in a semi circle with a open spot on the carpet adjacent to the T.T.

 

[Groove01]

I have little very vinyl and most of my music is on CD. I also have 2 streamers. Rather than searching for a CD, I say “play album by artist” and the streamer plays it. Same in my car with Carplay. Using a couple of smart speakers, do the same in the office or my workshop.

For my nolstalgia, am trying to find some nice VU meters. I will likely sell most of my remaining vinyl. Will keep some around to show the grandkids what we used to have to do to listen to music. Will hope the old phono preamp still works!

VU meters are cool! I do need to get me some - lol.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

Not because it's a fad, or because the foolishness of youth, but because something else is at work in influencing the choices people make about their music listening media, something we have yet to discover, something we have yet to measure.

3 things come to mind:

1) Different/Better sounding mastering on Vinyl. You can't really compress and amplify the signal as like you can with digital. Vinyl does not like that at all. So Vinyl CAN objectively sound better, despite being technically inferior to digital, simply because more care has been taken during the mastering process. Plus some older masters simply don't exist in digital media and are Vinyl only.

2) People are emotional little critters and like their rituals. Choosing an album, getting everything ready and putting on a LP feels quite different than just tapping an icon on a smartphone. Some are also confused/overwhelmed by the overabundance of the streaming services and prefer a more limited selection.

3) Hunting for rare records is probably more fun than having everything available from the get-go. Plus: you own the music. No subscriptions no worries about the licenses of the streaming service expiring and them taking out the music you like.

VU meters are cool! I do need to get me some - lol.

Haha yeah I always liked to watch those. Kinda hypnotic.
Same with the Spectrum Analyzer of my RME.

 

[Gorgonzola]

I buy vinyl because it usually, not always, has less loudness maximization processing applied because the vinyl format simply cannot support that loud of a cut.

I use a Tascam DA-3000 to record, when I play it back before doing any further processing, it sounds exactly like the vinyl - warts and all. I then process it through Izotope RX, Ozone and several other plugins to “restore” it.

Here is a short example of the final outcome for Tool’s Chocolate Chip Trip.

Thanks for your reply. It's the first I've heard of any one doing that; it certainly makes sense.

For my part I'm mainly a Classical music listener. Classical music recordings generally don't suffer nearly as much from loudness maximization that popular genres do.

 

[MatrixS2000]

For my part I'm mainly a Classical music listener. Classical music recordings generally don't suffer nearly as much from loudness maximization that popular genres do.

Agreed, they do not suffer from this. I have purchased only 3 classical albums the rest are digital purchases.

 

[CT Man]

Agreed, they do not suffer from this. I have purchased only 3 classical albums the rest are digital purchases.

Agreed. I listen primarily to jazz and classical. CDs, downloads and streams almost always sound best to my ears.

However, there are numerous cases of poorly mastered analog transfers to digital, especially from the 80s and 90s when labels could be quite sloppy with their rush to monetize back catalogs with reissue programs. That problem might be even worse for genres with small market segments.

 

[MatrixS2000]

Agreed. I listen primarily to jazz and classical. CDs, downloads and streams almost always sound best to my ears.

However, there are numerous cases of poorly mastered analog transfers to digital, especially from the 80s and 90s when labels could be quite sloppy with their rush to monetize back catalogs with reissue programs. That problem might be even worse for genres with small market segments.

Yes, imo, when it comes to sound quality, mastering >>> format.

 

[mtcn77]

November 4th last year I attended a bookfair. The vinyls attracted me more than the books. If I had a record player, I would return home with a backache from having to carry so many LPs. Being 40 years old in 10 days, let me give you a brief reminder what it is like owning CDs:
The CD medium is flawed. The writing surface is coincidentally on the BACK side of the platter right under the back art. If you unfortunately assume this side was safe to touch - you just ruined a CD permanently! Vinyl can be cleaned, a digital CD can never be repaired.
The later iterations fixed this handicap by writing DVDs and Blurays shallower in the record side, placing the data in the middle of the platter, leaving more spare depth on the upside.
DVDs are better, but they never replaced CDs. Blurays don't last as long as DVDs. Imagine CDs are shallower than 0.1microns on the back side and oxidative corrosion compromises the stored data in the metal writing medium after less than 10 years. It is planned obsolescence.
I cannot find music in CD and DVD format while vinyl LPs are available and they don't break down. Digital discs are only sparingly accessible with more precautions necessary to preserve them while vinyl can be played more frequently. I spin a CD faster than the drive can read and I get jitter in the ripped harddisk copy. It is just not as durable as analog.

 

[AdrianusG]

November 4th last year I attended a bookfair. The vinyls attracted me more than the books. If I had a record player, I would return home with a backache from having to carry so many LPs. Being 40 years old in 10 days, let me give you a brief reminder what it is like owning CDs:
The CD medium is flawed. The writing surface is coincidentally on the BACK side of the platter right under the back art. If you unfortunately assume this side was safe to touch - you just ruined a CD permanently! Vinyl can be cleaned, a digital CD can never be repaired.
The later iterations fixed this handicap by writing DVDs and Blurays shallower in the record side, placing the data in the middle of the platter, leaving more spare depth on the upside.
DVDs are better, but they never replaced CDs. Blurays don't last as long as DVDs. Imagine CDs are shallower than 0.1microns on the back side and oxidative corrosion compromises the stored data in the metal writing medium after less than 10 years. It is planned obsolescence.
I cannot find music in CD and DVD format while vinyl LPs are available and they don't break down. Digital discs are only sparingly accessible with more precautions necessary to preserve them while vinyl can be played more frequently. I spin a CD faster than the drive can read and I get jitter in the ripped harddisk copy. It is just not as durable as analog.

You probably have (had) bad luck with your CD's then.

I bought my first CD player in '85 or '86 along with 4 CD's they all still play!
of all CD's i ever bought since (600 and counting), only 3 or so didn't play in any of the regular CD players, however i still was able to rip them with my PC drive.

 

[Cote Dazur]

vinyl is not really about sound quality to me.

Do you mean the sound quality is a deterrent for you or is it that even though vinyl is not the ultimate sound quality available, it is more than good enough to allow you to enjoy your music at home.

 

[Audiofire]

Do you mean the sound quality is a deterrent for you or is it that even though vinyl is not the ultimate sound quality available, it is more than good enough to allow you to enjoy your music at home.

Yes, quite true. I prefer digital formats. I collect vinyl too for interesting old albums.

 

[Oddball]

I honestly think this is happening because the experience is new to the new gen and it is actually cool for them to experience.

We are over-digitalized which is quite obvious, and getting a taste of the analogue world is both a way for them to explore their roots and connect with material media rather than bits, all through a ritual that does not involve just pressing the usual play button from the armchair.

It is cool and rebellious and shows some regard to history, which are all relatively good things.

I hope they take it light though and don't go into the high-end though and start wondering about the usual stuff that vinyl involves. Pitch, balance, cartridges, pre-amps, positioning, isolation - actually forgot about this stuff so can say that I am an amateur that needs correction.

I can't say I would be excited to pull out a vinyl from my shelf as I am not excited to pull out a disc either. But then, I am not so old, but usually very tired by the time it comes to enjoy these things. The young ones are a different breed.

 

[mhardy6647]

She and most of her friends buy vinyl.

Realizing full well that you may not know the answer to this : Do they listen to the records that they buy?

 

[RickS]

Hi folks. If you see offsite content posted without a summary, please report it AND wait before posting replies until it has been dispositioned.

Otherwise, if the content is not summarized or otherwise deemed unfit, your replies wind up getting deleted as well.

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[mhardy6647]

Apropos of (almost) nothing -- I happened to be looking at an issue of Stereo Review for another reason earlier today, but the cover, in the context of this thread, fairly leaped (or is that leapt?) out at me.

source: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/A...iFI-Stereo/70s/HiFi-Stereo-Review-1979-06.pdf

 

[Groove01]

Realizing full well that you may not know the answer to this : Do they listen to the records that they buy?

I know my daughter does, and she says her friends do as well.

 

[Balle Clorin]

The 1970 minimum wage worker had a better deal for records. In 1970 it only took 2.5 hours (before deductions) of work to earn enough to buy a vinyl album ($3.50 average price). While the 2024 minimum wage worker had to put in at least 3.8 hours to buy a vinyl LP at $28.60 (2024 price),

This is the sad part, the poor are getting poorer. In that period you tell us the minimum wage has increased 5 times, house prices has risen 30-60 times, any my own salary 80 times from paperboy to soon retired engineer ( based on my country’s economics) . Still I find vinyl to be expensive, maybe I am wrong.

 

[PristineSound]

Here you can have both

https://www.techradar.com/audio/turntables/the-worlds-first-concentric-turntable-and-cd-player-combo-is-the-turducken-of-hi-fi

 

[krabapple]

How many iterations of a 'why do people buy vinyl?' discussion does ASR need?

We are finding out.

 

[MattHooper]

How many iterations of a 'why do people buy vinyl?' discussion does ASR need?

We are finding out.

I think you should start a thread to discuss this!