[chadbang]

Right now there seems to be a large vinyl revival going on. Personally, I love LPs - and I'd love to see it keep going. But there's this devious (and impoverished) side of me that hopes the market dies again LP prices drop. Does anyone see that happening or is vinyl back to stay?

 

[zowie]

Y'know, it's hard to call. Outside of the club/DJ area, this revival was prompted by the demand by the audiophile (think TAS, Stereophile) community for the best possible source. Except I think the increasingly excellent quality of digital recordings will squelch that. (I could go on about this, but I don't think this thread is the place for reopening the LP v. CD debate.)

If digital is or becomes approximately as good, why deal with multiple formats? I've got my music right now spread over about NINE different formats, and its a pain to organize and store the recordings and have so many diffferent playback devices.

The real answer lies in the profitability of record sales. On one hand, there seem to be more LP reissues than ever. On the other, MoFi had a hard time selling out titles pressed in relatively small quantities and folded. DCC went ch. 11 too.

That said, I haven't really seen record prices changing because of the resurgence. Used classical is in the toilet and probably won't come back. The common and frequently issued stuff is still pretty worthless, and the rare recordings have steadily been moving up in price since the late 70s.

Meanwhile, the value of my LP collection has been dropping, because recording that took me years to hunt down in the pre-ebay days keep getting reissued on CD.

 

[jopi]

That's an interesting post.

Perhaps the nice thing about vinyl is that you're independent of how long the format will last.
I will be able to find used vinyl for the rest of my life-time and the technology behind turntables is easy enough so that there'll be always some companies or individuals supplying parts.

I'm not sure about new issues. It seems that there's still far more new records being released than SACDs. If SACD doesn't cut it, I'm pretty sure that within the next five years there will be a format that makes new releases on vinyl a thing of the past.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by zowie Meanwhile, the value of my LP collection has been dropping, because recording that took me years to hunt down in the pre-ebay days keep getting reissued on CD.

Some of the older LP's I have may turn up on CD...as burns of an LP rather than reissue off the master tapes. I've seen that several times. I'd rather have the LP. And I've got some that simply aren't going to appear.

 

[Matt]

...DVD-A and SACD on Staxs and K1000's right alongside my turntable (Music Hall MMF-5) and I must say that though the units I used were not the very best, they were of greater price than the turntable and the turntable blew them away. Easily.

About the cost of vinyl, I have a place in town here that carries tons of used vinyl, often in great condition (after I throw them through my Nitty Gritty machine), for $1 to $2 each. On major holidays, all prices are marked down to $0.25 or $0.50, respectively. Aren't there any places like that near you? Even though it's probably terribly unsavory, maybe you could try you local Goodwill? I know some vinyl dudes do that...


- Matt

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch Some of the older LP's I have may turn up on CD...as burns of an LP rather than reissue off the master tapes. I've seen that several times. I'd rather have the LP. And I've got some that simply aren't going to appear.

I've only experienced that with indy stuff from the 50s, like the long extinct local doo-wop labels where either there are no masters to be found. I was thinking mostly about jazz albums, of which most of the reissues have been well mastered and low-priced.

But even if you or I would still prefer our LPs, there's a whole lot of folks won't pay big money or knock themselves out to find a copy if they can pick up a CD, and that's what makes many LPs worth less.

***

I haven't actually heard one, but I can't believe that an MMF-5 "blew away, easily" SACD unless there was something wrong with the remastering job. What titles did you compare?

***
While basic tt technology is conceptually simple, machining quality replacement parts is not, and they'll probably cost too much to warrant fixing most tt's.

 

[daycart1]

I'm afraid you guys are right. Starting up in vinyl now probably makes sense only if you are prepared to go really high end paying $35 for 40 min of music and thousands for hardware, or else get in really cheaply. But if you get in cheaply, you won't get much sonic benefit over CD and certainly not over high-rez.

If you are already in, you can do nicely on ebay etc..

 

[KurtW]

I just got back from a trip to LA where I bought a bunch of sealed (NOS) LPs (cutouts) for $3.99 less 20% for their holiday sale. A few others that are newly remastered and released on the Sundazed label were around $12. They sound great. The hotel I stayed at had two bars, both had live DJ's playing LPs exculsively. As someone said, there are still lots of LPs still being released, more than SACDs. Sure, the LP will die one day, but given the fact that its been building a huge library of titles for so many decades I would guess its got at least another decade or two of life in it, beyond which there will still be titles only available in the LP format.

 

[fredpb]

Some LPs command a fantastic price...hundreds and hundreds of $$$$$$$$. See any CD's like that??

Ebay has thousands of records for sale every day.

Around the country some stores carry many sealed or just used ones.

You can get turntables from $100 to $$$$$$$thousands.

I would say LP is doing better than DVDA or SACD.

You can get into good LP playback for $700, not thousands.

Hooking LP stuff into a typical home theater system of today won't get you the "LP sound", mainly because of crap electronics
in home theater systems.

And it depends on the type of music you listen too. People who had rock albums of the 70's did not exactly take care of them. People with some jazz, or those with classical lp's did take better care.

LP's will be out as long as digital media on the whole sounds like YECH.

 

[chadbang]

Yep, it's a tough one to call. I guess as long as digital is still chasing the LP sonically, that the record with thrive. It's really nice in a way, the romance of it. Even the 22 year old I live with got all excited when he learned I had a turntable ("I want one so bad!" kind of reaction). Now I'm really curious to hear SACD, especially with Pink Floyd and the Stones remastered. Unfortunately, the price of SACD players in Bangkok is prohibitive (and forget about discounted discs). Even the CHEAPEST SACD player is around US$500. I also suffer on the LP front. SE Asia doesn't really have a history with Western music on records. After buying my turntable, THEN I discovered even the crappiest, cut out bin used LP (we're talking Loverboy) sells for between $15 dollars-$22. Man....

 

[dave-g]

I'm really hoping this "vinyl revival" is going to last long enough to capture a wider, "popular", younger audience who will continue to purchase LP's throughout their life. I'm not saying that they will only buy vinyl, but at least not reject purchasing music if it's on vinyl, as many remixes of pop artists are now appearing on vinyl.

As a vinyl junkie and someone who used to make his living running a record label, it was very refreshing for me to walk into my local record shop and see so many young (and I mean young) kids lined up to buy records on "record day" (the day that the shop got it's new order in.) In the techno/dance/dj world there isn't really a threat from the "digital demon" as most clubs/party promoters only have turntables. There is a growing discussion in the techno dj scene regarding playing cds though as one or two popular venues here in baltimore have installed the new pioneer 1000's dj cd decks in the main dance rooms. and although no one has dared to use them yet before a large crowd, they are lurking in the dj booth silently waiting for their day...

 

[minya]

Quote:

Some LPs command a fantastic price...hundreds and hundreds of $$$$$$$$. See any CD's like that??

Um, yeah, you just need to know where to look.

I'm a young person that listens to vinyl, but only because a lot of the music I like is released exclusively on vinyl. I guess I'm not enough of an audiophile to tell the difference between vinyl and CD; I greatly prefer the portability, ease of use, and durability of CD, so I can't say I care much for vinyl except for the "fetishistic" aspect of it. (Nothing like gatefold sleeves and thick, heavy slabs o' 220 gram vinyl...)

MP3s and CDs are making big headway into the field of DJing, though, so I suspect that vinyl has entered into its last days there. Of course there's many who swear by the status quo and refuse to accept change, but for a look at how the digital world has affected DJs, check out Final Scratch.

- Chris

 

[Audio Redneck]

Quote:

Originally posted by minya MP3s and CDs are making big headway into the field of DJing, though, so I suspect that vinyl has entered into its last days there. Of course there's many who swear by the status quo and refuse to accept change, but for a look at how the digital world has affected DJs, check out Final Scratch. - Chris

Purely from a technical/$$$ standpoint, I can see DJing going to digital sources - I know nothing of the cultural/artistic aspects of it, if there are any.

I think New Vinyl will hold on as long as major artist see a market for it (Johnny Cash pushed his latest release on Larry King a few months ago by holding up a LP). The pop music sceen won't keep it going - it will take artists that are stable, consistant, & business minded enough to see a market and the advantages (reduced copyright infringement for example) of its costly production (profit on a $16 CD is equal or more than on a $25 LP). It also doesn't hurt that alot of folks in the recording industry are still VERY into vinyl

Hardware production will be dependant on the supply of quality Old Vinyl out there (by quality, I mean condition AND content).

Europe is actually helping the situation as there is a higher per capita use of Vinyl than in the US and Asia. Look at how much vinyl related equipment comes from there.

(If your interested, alot of this information is covered on the Phonogram List. It is an e-mail list devoted to Vinyl recordings with a sister Equipment List that focuses on hardware (including CDR equipment). Contact me for info on subscribing (yes its free)

 

[dokebi]

How do laser discs fair against vinyl?

 

[fredpb]

Darn. All this talk about vinyl got me back to browsing eBay.
I bid on too many nice items.

Arrrggghhhh.