Music

[physicsfactor]

I would have to invest in the speakers too. All I have now in my media room are wireless. I would feel like such a tool playing vinyl over wireless speakers.

 

[Bullettoothtony]

Anyone heard of this guy?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/25/us/rick-beato-youtube-everything-music-cec/index.html

 

[deepdarkblue]

Yeah, he's pretty cool.

 

[bfactor]

'70s albums just sound better on vinyl than modern ones. My theory is because they were recorded, mixed, and mastered with vinyl in mind. Vinyl doesn't do a great job reproducing sub-bass. All modern songs, even indie rock, have a ton of low end compared to '70s music.

I briefly began to convince myself to get into vinyl last year, but then I looked at the prices of albums. I am much too cheap to get into that.

Well, CDs are dirt cheap these days. They lack the allure though.

Yes, vinyl is kind of expensive, but I can almost always talk myself into spending $20-40. When I compare it to my other hobbies -- like instruments and studio gear -- it seems downright cheap. Also, it's pretty easy to find record stores selling used albums for $5-10. We've got a couple in town here.

A little late to this, but I've been getting CDs much more in the past year since there are three really huge used media stores nearby and it just feels nice to handle physical music once in a while. Probably anything produced in the 90's through late 2000's is so good on that format since they were probably mastered with CD play in mind. I've walked out of those places with armfuls of them for like $20.

I get the ritual of playing vinyl has an appeal, but the armchair scientist in me always pushes back. Theoretically inferior format, but often has the best mastering to overcome that (at least for pre-casette and maybe post-CD era releases).

 

[torontoduke]

CDs work for me. I have some vinyl, but I buy my favourite artists on CD.

 

[aiw]

Congrats, Rome!

 

[rome8180]

'70s albums just sound better on vinyl than modern ones. My theory is because they were recorded, mixed, and mastered with vinyl in mind. Vinyl doesn't do a great job reproducing sub-bass. All modern songs, even indie rock, have a ton of low end compared to '70s music.

I briefly began to convince myself to get into vinyl last year, but then I looked at the prices of albums. I am much too cheap to get into that.

Well, CDs are dirt cheap these days. They lack the allure though.

Yes, vinyl is kind of expensive, but I can almost always talk myself into spending $20-40. When I compare it to my other hobbies -- like instruments and studio gear -- it seems downright cheap. Also, it's pretty easy to find record stores selling used albums for $5-10. We've got a couple in town here.

A little late to this, but I've been getting CDs much more in the past year since there are three really huge used media stores nearby and it just feels nice to handle physical music once in a while. Probably anything produced in the 90's through late 2000's is so good on that format since they were probably mastered with CD play in mind. I've walked out of those places with armfuls of them for like $20.

I get the ritual of playing vinyl has an appeal, but the armchair scientist in me always pushes back. Theoretically inferior format, but often has the best mastering to overcome that (at least for pre-casette and maybe post-CD era releases).

I agree with everything you say here.

Also, a lot of '90s albums haven't even made it to vinyl yet. They fell in a period where vinyl had gone out of fashion and CDs were the dominant format.

 

[rome8180]

And yes, CDs are the best-sounding physical format.

Granted, the actual best format is an uncompressed digital file. CDs are 16-bit with a 44 kHz sample rate. But most people record music in at least 24-bit these days and people often record at 96 kHz.

But collecting uncompressed audio files takes up a lot of storage space and doesn't give you the thrill of ownership. Also, a lot of songs aren't even available in those formats anyway.

 

[rome8180]

I would have to invest in the speakers too. All I have now in my media room are wireless. I would feel like such a tool playing vinyl over wireless speakers.

Good speakers are really the most important thing in a listening chain anyway. Listening to mp3s on great speakers is going to give you a much better experience than vinyl on shitty speakers, even though the mp3 is technically a "lossy" compressed format.

 

[rome8180]

Last thing to add about CDs:

I heard Fat Mike from NOFX explaining how much money there was in the music industry in the '90s. Everyone who had even a little success was offered a major label record deal. And a lot of the bands were given unprecedented freedom. The reason was the CD. It could be manufactured for much cheaper than vinyl and could sell at $10-20. I remember paying about a dollar per CD when my bands would do small batch pressings (about 500 CDs). I can only imagine that the record companies ordering 50,000+ for initial runs were getting a much better deal. So we're talking maybe 50 cents for manufacturing, $1 going to the band, $1 going to marketing, etc. Insane profit margins.

Sure, the success of bands like Nirvana and Green Day made labels more willing to take risks. But really it probably would have happened anyway. The profitability of CDs meant that you didn't have to sell a ton to break even.

People always talk about how "illegal file sharing" ruined the industry. But there was no way people were ever going to pay enough for an mp3 to create the same kind of boom economy. Anyway, that's the biggest reason I lament the death of the CD. It means that the only "mainstream" music we get nowadays is utter horseshit. There is still plenty of great indie music being made -- maybe more than ever -- but I do think there's a cultural value to having super challenging music on corporate radio.

 

[rome8180]

I'm about ready to give up on vinyl. I've invested so much money in this and it feels like I'm getting into sunk cost territory. I haven't been able to get my turntable to sound right for a while now. There are just so many issues you can potentially have -- dirty stylus, dirty records, static electricity, misaligned cartridge, incorrect azimuth, etc.

A CD you put on, and if it doesn't skip, it sounds perfect. You know nothing about the way your player is set up will damage it.

The big issue is that I have all this vinyl I've bought over the years.

 

[rome8180]

Sitting here listening to the Sting and Peter Gabriel CDs I got for $3 each today and thinking of @rhfarmer .

 

[sivartrenrag]

Vinyl prices are crazy. I buy new records but mostly to support the artists. The market for used records is just ridiculous right now and has been since COVID.

 

[torontoduke]

After dropping the ball and failing to see one of their concerts ~ 15 years ago, saw Bruce & E Street band lastnight. Such a great show. The band was tight as can be.

Can't believe a bunch of guys, most of whom are in their 70s, can play a rocking 3 hour set with hardly any breaks in between songs. Just another example out there telling me 'do better' - inspiring.

Folks are skeptical of Bruce's 'shtick', and I get avoiding parasocial relations/putting people on pedestals, but I love that guy.