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Topic: Why do you like Vinyl? (Read 40140 times) previous topic - next topic
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Why do you like Vinyl?

What is your own personal reason why you like and often listen to Vinyl compared to regular music on the computer? 

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #1
It's a novelty for me.  My "vintage" early 80's component stereo (minus a cassette deck which I gave away years ago) is in our 3-seasons room along with my meager 3/4's full milk crate of vinyl records that I've purchased at rummage sales and thrift shops over the past 6 or 7 years.  I don't believe that I paid more than 2 USD for any of them. The collection consists mainly of my old favorites such as:  Dire Straits, U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M, and Led Zeppelin (of course).   

I'm certainly not a collector, or a vinyl-a-phile.  I've no intention of purchasing new vinyl unless it would come with a FLAC download.  My turntable was in storage for twenty years until our new home provided me with a place to set it up, along with my original Nintendo gaming system.  It's an Eighties retro "man-cave" of sorts, on the cheap.

It's a nice place for me to get away for about 20 minutes (roughly one side of an album), have a cup of coffee, and read a newspaper or magazine.  Upon occasion, I might bring one of my children that is in need of a time-out, out with me.  Again, around 20 minutes is usually about right.

I enjoy the different sound of analog vinyl.  It's (usually) pleasant to my ears.  On the other hand, all the fuss and flaws of vinyl remind me of why I prefer and am very thankful for digital media.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #2
I enjoy the different sound of analog vinyl.  It's (usually) pleasant to my ears.  On the other hand, all the fuss and flaws of vinyl remind me of why I prefer and am very thankful for digital media.

Same here, yet I'm also often amazed at how good well-cared-for vinyl can sound, considering all its limitations. As long as the surface noise and distortion isn't beyond the pale, my enjoyment of the music is just as great as it would be with digital.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #3
my enjoyment of the music is just as great as it would be with digital.


You hit the nail on the head  Enjoyment! So many people forget that this is what music is supposed to be about.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #4
What is your own personal reason why you like and often listen to Vinyl compared to regular music on the computer? 
I listen to my mp3 player far more.

I like the music on my records, plus the experience is fun and different. Physical analogue media, where you can see and understand what's happening and how it works, is interesting. This applies to film as well as records IMO.

I really really really x 1000 wouldn't want to go back to just relying on vinyl and cassettes for music though. It's too fragile, impossible to copy properly, and inconvenient.

Cheers,
David.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #5
Quote
Vinyl compared to regular music

By regular, I assume you mean digital. Some of my music has never been released digitally. Digitally recording the analog vinyl is a lifesaver, both for the music and for the vinyl. I like anything that allows me to play my music. To me, it is not an "or" thing but an "and" thing; and sometimes the "only" thing.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #6
I like that the cover is big and that I can see how playback works.

That´s about it and not enough reason to buy vinyl often. I bought the most recent in 2013, the one before that in 2010 and the one before that in 2008 (which included the CD too).
marlene-d.blogspot.com

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #7
Quote
Why do you like Vinyl?
I don't like vinyl!  I can't remember the last time I "listened" to a record!  Sometimes I digitize vinyl when the music is not available on CD or MP3...  Then, I clean it up to make it sound as clean and "digital" as I can! 

Some people do like the sound of vinyl.  To them it's "better", and that's fine.    But technically (noise, distortion, and frequency response) digital is superior.    Technically, CDs are better than human hearing and vinyl is worse than human hearing.

I grew-up with vinyl and even though it was the best thing available, the "snap", "crackle", and "pop", always annoyed me.    The frequency response varied from record-to-record and "great sounding"  records were rare.      I was always upgrading or wanting to upgrade (my cartridge, etc.).    I don't buy modern records and I assume they are better produced & manufactured nowadays because people are used to (and expect) "digital quality".  But, they still have the same 'ol technical-analog limitations, and turntables & cartridges haven't really advanced.

Yeah... When I was a kid, I had some shelves in my bedroom with my albums displayed like artwork.



Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #8
The size of the cover... that's the only thing I like about vinyl.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #9
As someone who didn't grow up with vinyl (cassette and CD), I really have no love for the format. I have a record player, my Dxad's original pressings, and some modern releases that were part of collector packages. I play them only when someone makes a request or I want to experience things as my parents once did but that's it. I don't get any special feeling when listening to vinyl, cassette, or even a CD. Digital audio has spoiled me as the quality is far superior (at least compared to vinyl and cassette) and it's extremely convenient. I can control the playback of my lossy and lossless libraries right from my smartphone and have it played back in any room I want. It's much easier for hosting and for general listening. To me, vinyl is a hassle. I have to make sure the records are clean, the player has a needle that isn't damaged along with proper weights, and the records are delicate. It's not like my digital library where all I have to do is make sure my PC is on. After that, everything I want to listen to is just a virtual button away.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #10
I grew-up with vinyl and even though it was the best thing available, the "snap", "crackle", and "pop", always annoyed me.    The frequency response varied from record-to-record and "great sounding"  records were rare.

Same here: not to mention that having to rely on hissy, crappy cassetes whenever I wanted to duplicate my 'reasonably good' vinyl experience elsewhere was a real PITA!

And I won't even get started on how difficult it was to get that certain release you were craving for, going from record store to record store with no avail or, at least in my country, the easy trap of buying pirate, crappy cassetes, sold as if they were the real McCoy when its vynil-equivalent wasn't available! 

The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on. As much as I hate audiophile jargon: 'it was as if someone had taken a veil off my then-teenage ears!'

I guess, with my lossy/lossless files today I try, as much as possible, to replicate that first 'epiphanic' contact with digital.
Listen to the music, not the media it's on.
União e reconstrução

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #11
The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on.

Could you perhaps be referring to Bach's Toccata and Fugue?

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #12
The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on.

Could you perhaps be referring to Bach's Toccata and Fugue?
LOL exactly!

Cheers!
Listen to the music, not the media it's on.
União e reconstrução

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #13
And as usual, this goes from people talking about why they haven't completely abandoned vinyl to other people talking about how vinyl sucks and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't asking for the participation of people who hate or no longer listen to vinyl. Why the Vinyl forum is even being paid attention to by such people, I don't even know.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #14
I've never owned a CD player (*1). By the time vinyl became achingly hipster cool and thus too expensive a few years ago quality downloads were readily available.

One nice thing about records that no one has mentioned yet is how much more thrilling they are to hear played out. A complete train wreck is a constant possibility and the resulting frisson of danger translates to the audience as excitement. Some of the great DJs deliberately flirt with this by making small errors on purpose so that when they subsequently nail the transition it sounds even more impressive. Like Tommy Cooper did with his funny magic tricks. Playing digital doesn't work the same because it's so easy. They might as well cue up a mix tape and retire to the bar for the duration.

*1 Obviously I did used to have a DVD player and optical drive on my PC but I never felt the need to buy CDs.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #15
Reasons why someone might like Vinyl:
  • Vinyl influenced in several ways musicians.
  • Some music genres wouldn't be what they are without Vinyl.
  • Record players let you see and understand visually how they work mechanically (see also what 2Bdecided wrote in post #5). I believe people like that. This might also explain the success of all kinds of 'steam' gear.
  • You can listen UNWATCHED. Nobody wants to transmit your 'LP playlist' over the internet to whomsoever to "improve the user experience". Listen to Vinyl might be considered to be very private, even intimate.
This is HA. Not the Jerry Springer Show.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #16
Quote
And as usual, this goes from people talking about why they haven't completely abandoned vinyl to other people talking about how vinyl sucks and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.

I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't asking for the participation of people who hate or no longer listen to vinyl. Why the Vinyl forum is even being paid attention to by such people, I don't even know.
"Why do you like VHS tapes?"  "Why do you like Hondas?"

The question  contains a (potentially) false premise.  The results of this "survey" would misleading if only vinyl lovers respond.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #17
I like vinyl because it seems to have amazing powers which provoke discussions. 
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)


Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #19
When I was a youngster growing up in the eighties, listening to hard rock and heavy metal, I mostly bought cassettes. I rarely bought records because the only players I had were cheap pieces of crap built into all-in-one Soundesign-branded systems the likes of which were sold at K-Mart. The only time my brother or I ever bought records was if we couldn't get it right away on retail cassette. (I grew up in the upper-midwest US; fifty miles north of a big enough city to shop for the types of music I wanted...this didn't happen very often so I usually had to settle for the limited selection that I could get at local stores and K-Mart.)

About 1990 is when I got my first CD player. It was a big old brick of a portable made by Seiko Instruments Inc. Nevertheless I was so impressed that I sold my entire cassette collection to kids at school to get money for CDs.

I've never since had a problem with the CD format and feel that it is at least good enough. I started getting into vinyl records more recently for many reasons...but one of which is that, as I've illustrated, I've always wanted to collect and listen to records and can now afford a decent 'table and can take better care of the media than I could as a careless punk in past decades.

...so with that bit of background I will conclude that I often find the collection of records to be mostly rewarding (but admittedly sometimes frustrating.) There's a shit-ton of (mostly boring and previously enumerated ad nauseam) reasons to justify it but I'll be honest: I would not want to return to an "analogue world." CDs, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, and even the digitization of vinyl LPs are much better IMO. I would hate to go back to taping copies of my few records from a crappy Soundesign all-in-one.
The Loudness War is over. Now it's a hopeless occupation.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #20
Recods: $0.10 / album, box sets $0.50

CDs: $1.00 / album, box sets $2.50

And I find a lot more one-off obscure local stuff on 7" EPs than on CDs. Some of it is quite interesting and very rarely can I find anything about it online, except youtube videos from the records, which sounds even worse. So, I buy a lot more records than CDs. Except on Fridays, when blue tags are on sale. 

Most of my listening is on my Sansa though (not that I don't buy that music)..
the digital delinquent

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #21
I like vinyl because I've always had it--it's what I grew up with. I didn't fall into the trap of re-buying my collection on CD, so most of my CDs were never available in any other format. The exception is classical music. I sold off most of my classical LPs because the sound on CDs is so much cleaner, a must for classical IMO.

I only buy new vinyl if it's something special--like the recent vinyl remaster of Nick Drake's Pink Moon, or the Steve Hoffman-mastered LP of Joni Mitchell's Blue. Kevin Gray's mastering of Steely Dan's Aja on the Cisco label is the best-sounding version of that album on any medium. I also don't buy used vinyl, unless it's one of my Holy Grail recordings, like a first UK pressing of Fairport Convention's Unhalfbricking.

I don't really understand the vinyl resurgence. Most used vinyl is not in the greatest condition, and most new vinyl is badly done. Aside from RTI and Pallas, there aren't any good pressing plants left. As far as vinyl sounding "better", in my experience it depends. I have well-mastered LPs that blow away their digital equivalents, and vice versa. I do find listening to vinyl much less tiring to my ears. I can listen to LPs all night, but not digital.

However, I've never liked having to get up and turn the record over. Still don't.

Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #22
Quote
Why do you like Vinyl?


Because it's pretty and it's mechanical. It's like those automatic mechanical watches: they're much less accurate than €20 quartz watches, but they're beautiful pieces of machinery, and they're fun!


Why do you like Vinyl?

Reply #24
I don't like vinyl.  I like the full-scale album cover art.