7 ms·

Vinyl LP Frenzy Brings Record-Pressing Machines Back to Life

26 points by aaronbrethorst 11y ago

MrJagil 11y ago
Here's an interesting submission about the last cassette factory (which is also having a resurgence): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10197449 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10197449 Let me know if you have questions about the format, I run a small tape label (scalatapes.bandcamp.com).
- vanderZwan 11y ago
  Now if only we can get a minidisc revival...
  - frozenport 11y ago
    Or even DVDs!
- Nilef 11y ago
  I was interested in a startup in the cassette industry - No major research or anything, just a weekend idea I had once upon a time. Where does one find and market to the cassette fanbase?
  - MrJagil 11y ago
    Ugh, good question. First of all, here in Europe everyone I know either order blanks from http://www.shop-016.de/shop-audioservice.htm http://www.shop-016.de/shop-audioservice.htm or https://tapeline.info/ https://tapeline.info/ or overwrite a bunch of second-hand tapes themselves. It takes dedication to into the tape market but I can point you in three directions. 1. The ambient scene: http://fangsandarrows.com/ http://fangsandarrows.com/ was a great community, similar to HN crowd. Serious people. Not sure if it's down for good, here's their bandcamp: https://fangsandarrows.bandcamp.com/ https://fangsandarrows.bandcamp.com/ 2. Vaporwave: If you don't know it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave here's a label https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/ https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/ 3. Post-punk / post rock / synth pop (the dark stuff like John Maus) etc. Concrete basement shows etc.
    - Nilef 11y ago
      Thanks for the info, that's really interesting stuff. Do you mind if I email you a couple more questions?
      - MrJagil 11y ago
        of course not, I answered some stuff above as well :) And lastly, I just learned it's getting big in the techno scene. It's immensely hard to DJ with tapes though, so I'm pretty sure that's not the reason. https://opaltapes.bandcamp.com/ https://opaltapes.bandcamp.com/ is a great label (I really like Huerco S. and Basic House)
        Nilef 11y ago
        Really surprised to hear it's big in the techno scene! What's your email address? Email me first if you prefer to stay anonymous - My email is in my profile :)
        MrJagil 11y ago
        lonusskelte@gmail.com
- chiph 11y ago
  I see tapes on Bandcamp every so often as a limited-edition release of an album. Sadly they're always sold out. There might be a market in managing the stock for bands, and ensuring there's always some available to sell. Recently: https://ogresound.bandcamp.com/album/194 https://ogresound.bandcamp.com/album/194
- richmt 11y ago
  The idea of recording on cassette has always appealed to me as a fairly cheap and easy way to record analog tracks at home with some of the older cheap 4-8 track sound boards. I think the limitations I'd set for myself and the change in my workflow vs a laptop with a DAW would have a pretty drastic change on the way my music turns out. Do you find this is why most artists first choose to record to cassette, or is it because of other things like easier/cheaper distribution?
  - soylentcola 11y ago
    I'm much more of a tinkerer than any semblance of serious musician but I remember how awesome it was to get a cheap 4-track at a pawn shop in my teens. Until then, my "workaround" had been two boom boxes, some blank tapes, and some splitter cables. I'd pop a tape into a boom box, record the rhythm guitar part with my little "headphone amp" routed to the aux-in, then rewind. Plug a headphone cable in and split it so the right channel went to headphones and the left channel went into the left aux-in on the second boom box. That way I could record the leads or other parts while listening to the rhythm over headphones. You could bounce back and forth a couple of times as long as you had some stereo-to-mono adapters but quality degraded quickly. Still, I was a teenager with a $100 guitar, some old boom boxes, and a lot of time. Still, I can't imagine cassette is easier or cheaper to record and distribute compared to digital or even CD-R today. I'm guessing it has as much to do with "novelty" (which is funny to say about deliberate anachronism) as ease/cost of distribution. That said, if people dig it, then more power to them. I like picking up vinyl records at Goodwill because they're 4 for a dollar and sometimes I find something that ends up being pretty interesting. I also buy vinyl new releases sometimes because there's something more psychologically pleasing about getting a "thing" for your money instead of a file that could just as easily be duplicated infinitely. I really like how vinyl often comes with a digital download code so I still get a 256-320k/sec mp3 copy for portability and convenience but I also get the big cover art and something tangible. Album art really is something I miss about physical media and vinyl 33's are large enough to offer great, big cover art.
  - MrJagil 11y ago
    There's a couple of reasons: 1. A lot artists don't incorporate cassette into the workflow much. Usually people do what they do with a DAW or go to a studio to record. Cassette is mostly used as medium (like CD, vinyl etc). But yes, I do have friends who record directly on cassette. This will sound very rough though (depending on setup), too much even for some lo-fi aficionados. 2. Hipster points. Tapes are very "in" right now. Don't disregard this point. Just like networking is sometimes seen as a sacrifice of your "humanity", so is hipsterism. This is not so. Like it or not, sometimes it's important to go with the flow and play the field. 3. Easy/cheap to make. You do have to record in real-time which sucks when duplicating tapes, but other than that it's way easier to do a few tapes than to go vinyl. 4. People like supporting artists. This can be hard. Many shows are free, everyone downloads, so tapes, even if they can't be played at home, are a way to show your appreciation. 5. Sound. The sound is to me the most important part. Cassette can sound just as good as vinyl with the proper transfer, and introduces some great artifacts like a smoother high-end and a bit of saturation. 6. Professionalism. If you've spent 20-50 hours to create artwork, order tapes, duplicate them (or get someone else to do it) etc etc you show that you're serious about shit. It's a way to create your brand (of course this goes for vinyl etc as well). 7. I'd just like to copy Coldpie's point in regards to vinyl further down in this thread. Go upvote him: "...for some there's more to listening to music than just listening to music. Going to the shelf and looking over the albums, remembering when you bought each album, who you've played them for, things that were happening while you listened to them. Looking at the cover art or the silly liner art or notes[1]. Noticing markings (or smells...) from previous owners and wondering about them, what they were doing when they bought or listened to the album. Physically placing the album on the turntable and aligning the needle. Listening to the lead-in scratches as you adjust the volume before the music kicks in. Sometimes you get silly lead-out loops[2]. It's just a fun, physical way to listen to music."
chillingeffect 11y ago
Wow, you'd think the NYT would work on an iPad, but after every scroll, it jumps back to the top. I wonder if that obscure news agency would consider testing against my little-used platform
- creshal 11y ago
  Obviously you're supposed to use an app for that. Using the browser on a mobile device? Don't be silly.
- jfim 11y ago
  Works fine in Chrome on Android, IE, Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Opera, try another browser.
  - 7Z7 11y ago
    Works fine in mobile Safari over here, too.
SixSigma 11y ago
I just bought a new record player - as an oldie I have over 200 vinyls. Even in the few months since I decided to buy a replacement for my previous equipment I saw the number of models proliferate. In the end I went for the Ion Air [1] - a turntable with USB and Bluetooth output, what a crazy idea! They announced it at CES [2] and I have it on back order so I can't comment on its quality. But it also has line-in -> Bluetooth which was the final selling point for me. I already have a Sony BM10 [3] hooked up to my amp [4]. Even though I've been in tech since the 70's, it's still remarkable that my hi-fi stack is smaller than an 8 Track tape! [1] http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/airlp http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/airlp [2] http://www.ionaudio.com/news/press-releases/new-ion-air-lp-bluetooth-turntable-streams-albums-to-any-bluetooth-speaker http://www.ionaudio.com/news/press-releases/new-ion-air-lp-b... [3] http://www.aptx.com/product-low-latency/sony-bluetoothr-music-receiver-bm10 http://www.aptx.com/product-low-latency/sony-bluetoothr-musi... [4] http://www.amazon.com/Danibos-TA2021B-Integrated-Tripath-Amplifier/dp/B00EZL8SMC http://www.amazon.com/Danibos-TA2021B-Integrated-Tripath-Amp...
analog31 11y ago
Well, I suppose that vinyl could bring back the idea of paying for music.
- aikah 11y ago
  The vinyl is a niche market. Very few people buy vinyls or even have a turntable at home. There used to be a market for djs but now it's gone, and the market for non professional is really tiny, it's not a viable option for independent artists , no matter what that article says. No they have a better shot at releasing their music for free on youtube, get some fame then get well paid gigs. Because the recording industry itself is dead.
gwbas1c 11y ago
I really enjoy playing vinyl from time to time; but I'm not going to pretend that they sound better. They don't. Vinyl is all about the touch and the feel, like driving a stick or making bread from scratch.
- coldpie 11y ago
  I agree. I'm just getting into it and building out a home stereo system, but I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I enjoy playing vinyl. It's because of junk like, "The reasons cited [for playing vinyl] are usually a fuller, warmer sound from vinyl’s analog grooves." No, no, no, don't associate me with that stupid audiophile nonsense.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    Well, it IS a different sound, and that can be measured objectively (I mean that vinyl players "color" the original recording and how much and in what ways they alter the frequency response and such). So, it's not like $1000 cables scams etc, where the results are identical. Now, the subjective part is whether this "warmer" sound is better than the more accurate (better fidelity) high quality digital sound. For a lot of people, it is -- same way as we tend to like "saturated" images more, despite their colors not being true to the original. (Of course I'm speaking in general -- if you, mr. outlier, doesn't like saturated pictures, this doesn't apply to your statistical noise self. Not everything is about you.). Then there's the crackle and static that some (fewer) people also like, but I'm sticking to the basic vinyl "color" here.
    - TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
      Vinyl is very heavily processed. The sound that ends up on the groove has the bass cut by up to 20dB, and the treble boosted by the same amount, because the needle can't move fast enough and far enough to reproduce a flat frequency response. (Google "RIAA curve" for details.) The processing is reversed on playback in the preamp, but there's always a mismatch between the source EQ and the preamp EQ, so there's always some tonal distortion. And because the bass gets boosted so much there's added waveform distortion which increases with bass frequencies and makes the bass thicker. Many turntables also have pitch instabilities. Hence "vinyl sound." So no - it's not even remotely accurate. Add scratches, crackles, and pops, groove deterioration - the needle causes enough friction to melt the plastic in the groove - and other artefacts, and it's really more of a lifestyle/collector thing than anything to do with accuracy. Personally I have enough physical stuff already, and I want less, not more. So being able to store all my music on a hard drive in FLAC format makes me thankful the industry moved beyond vinyl.
coldpie 11y ago
Vinyl is a fun format. I've been picking up records for listening recently. One fun thing I noticed is most records have some hand-written notes along the inside edge of the record. Usually some album ID code, maybe a date, or some other markings I can't identify. When I first noticed these, I thought, wow, it's crazy that someone had to mark up all these individual records as they were pressed. I can't believe how long that must have taken. Then I realized, obviously, that the master record had the original markings, and that entire record was stamped into the production run, including those hand-written markings. So some record engineer's handwriting survived onto thousands or millions of duplicated records, decades into the future, into my living room, where I noticed them. Neat! I wonder who that guy was...
- CrackpotGonzo 11y ago
  Agreed. The best part is in the experience. I love finding old records that used to be my grandpa's. Seeing his handwriting on the records on liner notes makes me feel like i'm sharing the experience with him. Digital can never replicate that.
  - coldpie 11y ago
    I picked up a bundle off craigslist from some 20-something guy a while ago, and a fair few of them have "Deb" scrawled on the cover and on some labels. All of the Deb albums are in great condition, some with the plastic wrap still on, slit to slide the record out, no dust, no scratches. I don't know who Deb is or was, but my thanks to her for taking care of her records!
- DanBC 11y ago
  > Vinyl is a fun format. I've been picking up records for listening recently. One fun thing I noticed is most records have some hand-written notes along the inside edge of the record. Usually some album ID code, maybe a date, or some other markings I can't identify. A PORKY PRIME CUT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peckham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peckham
- 7Z7 11y ago
  FWIW, it's called a Matrix Number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_number
sasvari 11y ago
another interesting read about the German vinyl industry: http://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/hamburg/article126865000/Die-Rueckkehr-der-Schallplatte.html http://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/hamburg/article126865000/D... https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.welt.de%2Fprint%2Fdie_welt%2Fhamburg%2Farticle126865000%2FDie-Rueckkehr-der-Schallplatte.html&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pr...
somberi 11y ago
The argument between Vinyl / Cassette / CD / MP3; I file under "narcissim of small differences". As I get older I find that emphasis on mindful listening reveals a richer range of sounds than any music source is able to match. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_differences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_difference...
- creeble 11y ago
  Wow. Never read that explanation. Explains all of audiophilia, and most other 'philias. Mine's better because it's (slightly) different than yours.
vasilipupkin 11y ago
So, I totally see why uncompressed music sounds better than compressed music ( MP3, Spotify, Pandora, etc. ) But, I don't understand the point of vinyl vs CDs. Nyquist theorem says you can fully recover an analog signal with digital sampling, if you sample frequently enough. So, there is no reason to have analog music. Am I missing something ?
- publicfig 11y ago
  I'm someone that buys quite a few vinyl records, and almost all of my reasons are psychological. I like supporting artists, and buying records give me a way to do that and get something physical in return. I like having the big album art and putting on a record makes me much more likely to listen to entire albums instead of just random songs. Plus, putting on a record is an intentional act which puts me in a good mental state for listening to music. With digital download codes, I have no real reason to buy CDs as a good percentage of bands offer their music digitally in any format I'd want. CDs would just be something I'd burn to an mp3 player and throw in a closet somewhere. Plus, they're fun to collect. A lot of releases will have different colored vinyl or special added features to the album.
  - teh_klev 11y ago
    > putting on a record makes me much more likely to listen to entire albums instead of just random songs Precisely this. "That difficult third track on the B side"...which turns out to be a total gem, yet might go unlistened and never appreciated.
    - vasilipupkin 11y ago
      agreed. But why Vinyl vs CDs ? I mean, listening to the whole album is just as good with CDs or better ?
  - vasilipupkin 11y ago
    right. But why is that not the case with CDs? why not buy CDs instead of vinyl ? CDs have cover art, special features, etc.
Cthulhu_ 11y ago
"Frenzy" is overstating it a bit (linkbait much?)
datawaslost 11y ago
“they looked like scrap metal to anybody but me” What nonsense, I hope he was misquoted.. Like the linked video says, he bought them in Chicago from Joell Hays, another vinyl junkie (and all-around nice guy) that held on to them for a decade, but couldn't get the funds together to restore them all. I can't understand why every story about vinyl's resurgence needs to make the story into some sort of mythic "rediscovery". My label's been putting out vinyl for years, the only difference is that now there's a 6-month waiting list at the plant. :)

Here's an interesting submission about the last cassette factory (which is also having a resurgence): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10197449 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10197449 Let me know if you have questions about the format, I run a small tape label (scalatapes.bandcamp.com).

vanderZwan 11y ago
Now if only we can get a minidisc revival...
- frozenport 11y ago
  Or even DVDs!
Nilef 11y ago
I was interested in a startup in the cassette industry - No major research or anything, just a weekend idea I had once upon a time. Where does one find and market to the cassette fanbase?
- MrJagil 11y ago
  Ugh, good question. First of all, here in Europe everyone I know either order blanks from http://www.shop-016.de/shop-audioservice.htm http://www.shop-016.de/shop-audioservice.htm or https://tapeline.info/ https://tapeline.info/ or overwrite a bunch of second-hand tapes themselves. It takes dedication to into the tape market but I can point you in three directions. 1. The ambient scene: http://fangsandarrows.com/ http://fangsandarrows.com/ was a great community, similar to HN crowd. Serious people. Not sure if it's down for good, here's their bandcamp: https://fangsandarrows.bandcamp.com/ https://fangsandarrows.bandcamp.com/ 2. Vaporwave: If you don't know it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave here's a label https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/ https://dreamcatalogue.bandcamp.com/ 3. Post-punk / post rock / synth pop (the dark stuff like John Maus) etc. Concrete basement shows etc.
  - Nilef 11y ago
    Thanks for the info, that's really interesting stuff. Do you mind if I email you a couple more questions?
    - MrJagil 11y ago
      of course not, I answered some stuff above as well :) And lastly, I just learned it's getting big in the techno scene. It's immensely hard to DJ with tapes though, so I'm pretty sure that's not the reason. https://opaltapes.bandcamp.com/ https://opaltapes.bandcamp.com/ is a great label (I really like Huerco S. and Basic House)
      - Nilef 11y ago
        Really surprised to hear it's big in the techno scene! What's your email address? Email me first if you prefer to stay anonymous - My email is in my profile :)
        MrJagil 11y ago
        lonusskelte@gmail.com
chiph 11y ago
I see tapes on Bandcamp every so often as a limited-edition release of an album. Sadly they're always sold out. There might be a market in managing the stock for bands, and ensuring there's always some available to sell. Recently: https://ogresound.bandcamp.com/album/194 https://ogresound.bandcamp.com/album/194
richmt 11y ago
The idea of recording on cassette has always appealed to me as a fairly cheap and easy way to record analog tracks at home with some of the older cheap 4-8 track sound boards. I think the limitations I'd set for myself and the change in my workflow vs a laptop with a DAW would have a pretty drastic change on the way my music turns out. Do you find this is why most artists first choose to record to cassette, or is it because of other things like easier/cheaper distribution?
- soylentcola 11y ago
  I'm much more of a tinkerer than any semblance of serious musician but I remember how awesome it was to get a cheap 4-track at a pawn shop in my teens. Until then, my "workaround" had been two boom boxes, some blank tapes, and some splitter cables. I'd pop a tape into a boom box, record the rhythm guitar part with my little "headphone amp" routed to the aux-in, then rewind. Plug a headphone cable in and split it so the right channel went to headphones and the left channel went into the left aux-in on the second boom box. That way I could record the leads or other parts while listening to the rhythm over headphones. You could bounce back and forth a couple of times as long as you had some stereo-to-mono adapters but quality degraded quickly. Still, I was a teenager with a $100 guitar, some old boom boxes, and a lot of time. Still, I can't imagine cassette is easier or cheaper to record and distribute compared to digital or even CD-R today. I'm guessing it has as much to do with "novelty" (which is funny to say about deliberate anachronism) as ease/cost of distribution. That said, if people dig it, then more power to them. I like picking up vinyl records at Goodwill because they're 4 for a dollar and sometimes I find something that ends up being pretty interesting. I also buy vinyl new releases sometimes because there's something more psychologically pleasing about getting a "thing" for your money instead of a file that could just as easily be duplicated infinitely. I really like how vinyl often comes with a digital download code so I still get a 256-320k/sec mp3 copy for portability and convenience but I also get the big cover art and something tangible. Album art really is something I miss about physical media and vinyl 33's are large enough to offer great, big cover art.
- MrJagil 11y ago
  There's a couple of reasons: 1. A lot artists don't incorporate cassette into the workflow much. Usually people do what they do with a DAW or go to a studio to record. Cassette is mostly used as medium (like CD, vinyl etc). But yes, I do have friends who record directly on cassette. This will sound very rough though (depending on setup), too much even for some lo-fi aficionados. 2. Hipster points. Tapes are very "in" right now. Don't disregard this point. Just like networking is sometimes seen as a sacrifice of your "humanity", so is hipsterism. This is not so. Like it or not, sometimes it's important to go with the flow and play the field. 3. Easy/cheap to make. You do have to record in real-time which sucks when duplicating tapes, but other than that it's way easier to do a few tapes than to go vinyl. 4. People like supporting artists. This can be hard. Many shows are free, everyone downloads, so tapes, even if they can't be played at home, are a way to show your appreciation. 5. Sound. The sound is to me the most important part. Cassette can sound just as good as vinyl with the proper transfer, and introduces some great artifacts like a smoother high-end and a bit of saturation. 6. Professionalism. If you've spent 20-50 hours to create artwork, order tapes, duplicate them (or get someone else to do it) etc etc you show that you're serious about shit. It's a way to create your brand (of course this goes for vinyl etc as well). 7. I'd just like to copy Coldpie's point in regards to vinyl further down in this thread. Go upvote him: "...for some there's more to listening to music than just listening to music. Going to the shelf and looking over the albums, remembering when you bought each album, who you've played them for, things that were happening while you listened to them. Looking at the cover art or the silly liner art or notes[1]. Noticing markings (or smells...) from previous owners and wondering about them, what they were doing when they bought or listened to the album. Physically placing the album on the turntable and aligning the needle. Listening to the lead-in scratches as you adjust the volume before the music kicks in. Sometimes you get silly lead-out loops[2]. It's just a fun, physical way to listen to music."

chillingeffect 11y ago

Wow, you'd think the NYT would work on an iPad, but after every scroll, it jumps back to the top. I wonder if that obscure news agency would consider testing against my little-used platform

creshal 11y ago
Obviously you're supposed to use an app for that. Using the browser on a mobile device? Don't be silly.
jfim 11y ago
Works fine in Chrome on Android, IE, Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Opera, try another browser.
- 7Z7 11y ago
  Works fine in mobile Safari over here, too.

SixSigma 11y ago

I just bought a new record player - as an oldie I have over 200 vinyls. Even in the few months since I decided to buy a replacement for my previous equipment I saw the number of models proliferate. In the end I went for the Ion Air [1] - a turntable with USB and Bluetooth output, what a crazy idea! They announced it at CES [2] and I have it on back order so I can't comment on its quality. But it also has line-in -> Bluetooth which was the final selling point for me. I already have a Sony BM10 [3] hooked up to my amp [4]. Even though I've been in tech since the 70's, it's still remarkable that my hi-fi stack is smaller than an 8 Track tape! [1] http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/airlp http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/airlp [2] http://www.ionaudio.com/news/press-releases/new-ion-air-lp-bluetooth-turntable-streams-albums-to-any-bluetooth-speaker http://www.ionaudio.com/news/press-releases/new-ion-air-lp-b... [3] http://www.aptx.com/product-low-latency/sony-bluetoothr-music-receiver-bm10 http://www.aptx.com/product-low-latency/sony-bluetoothr-musi... [4] http://www.amazon.com/Danibos-TA2021B-Integrated-Tripath-Amplifier/dp/B00EZL8SMC http://www.amazon.com/Danibos-TA2021B-Integrated-Tripath-Amp...

analog31 11y ago

Well, I suppose that vinyl could bring back the idea of paying for music.

aikah 11y ago
The vinyl is a niche market. Very few people buy vinyls or even have a turntable at home. There used to be a market for djs but now it's gone, and the market for non professional is really tiny, it's not a viable option for independent artists , no matter what that article says. No they have a better shot at releasing their music for free on youtube, get some fame then get well paid gigs. Because the recording industry itself is dead.

gwbas1c 11y ago

I really enjoy playing vinyl from time to time; but I'm not going to pretend that they sound better. They don't. Vinyl is all about the touch and the feel, like driving a stick or making bread from scratch.

coldpie 11y ago
I agree. I'm just getting into it and building out a home stereo system, but I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I enjoy playing vinyl. It's because of junk like, "The reasons cited [for playing vinyl] are usually a fuller, warmer sound from vinyl’s analog grooves." No, no, no, don't associate me with that stupid audiophile nonsense.
- coldtea 11y ago
  Well, it IS a different sound, and that can be measured objectively (I mean that vinyl players "color" the original recording and how much and in what ways they alter the frequency response and such). So, it's not like $1000 cables scams etc, where the results are identical. Now, the subjective part is whether this "warmer" sound is better than the more accurate (better fidelity) high quality digital sound. For a lot of people, it is -- same way as we tend to like "saturated" images more, despite their colors not being true to the original. (Of course I'm speaking in general -- if you, mr. outlier, doesn't like saturated pictures, this doesn't apply to your statistical noise self. Not everything is about you.). Then there's the crackle and static that some (fewer) people also like, but I'm sticking to the basic vinyl "color" here.
  - TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
    Vinyl is very heavily processed. The sound that ends up on the groove has the bass cut by up to 20dB, and the treble boosted by the same amount, because the needle can't move fast enough and far enough to reproduce a flat frequency response. (Google "RIAA curve" for details.) The processing is reversed on playback in the preamp, but there's always a mismatch between the source EQ and the preamp EQ, so there's always some tonal distortion. And because the bass gets boosted so much there's added waveform distortion which increases with bass frequencies and makes the bass thicker. Many turntables also have pitch instabilities. Hence "vinyl sound." So no - it's not even remotely accurate. Add scratches, crackles, and pops, groove deterioration - the needle causes enough friction to melt the plastic in the groove - and other artefacts, and it's really more of a lifestyle/collector thing than anything to do with accuracy. Personally I have enough physical stuff already, and I want less, not more. So being able to store all my music on a hard drive in FLAC format makes me thankful the industry moved beyond vinyl.

coldpie 11y ago

Vinyl is a fun format. I've been picking up records for listening recently. One fun thing I noticed is most records have some hand-written notes along the inside edge of the record. Usually some album ID code, maybe a date, or some other markings I can't identify. When I first noticed these, I thought, wow, it's crazy that someone had to mark up all these individual records as they were pressed. I can't believe how long that must have taken. Then I realized, obviously, that the master record had the original markings, and that entire record was stamped into the production run, including those hand-written markings. So some record engineer's handwriting survived onto thousands or millions of duplicated records, decades into the future, into my living room, where I noticed them. Neat! I wonder who that guy was...

CrackpotGonzo 11y ago
Agreed. The best part is in the experience. I love finding old records that used to be my grandpa's. Seeing his handwriting on the records on liner notes makes me feel like i'm sharing the experience with him. Digital can never replicate that.
- coldpie 11y ago
  I picked up a bundle off craigslist from some 20-something guy a while ago, and a fair few of them have "Deb" scrawled on the cover and on some labels. All of the Deb albums are in great condition, some with the plastic wrap still on, slit to slide the record out, no dust, no scratches. I don't know who Deb is or was, but my thanks to her for taking care of her records!
DanBC 11y ago
> Vinyl is a fun format. I've been picking up records for listening recently. One fun thing I noticed is most records have some hand-written notes along the inside edge of the record. Usually some album ID code, maybe a date, or some other markings I can't identify. A PORKY PRIME CUT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peckham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Peckham
7Z7 11y ago
FWIW, it's called a Matrix Number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_number

sasvari 11y ago

another interesting read about the German vinyl industry: http://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/hamburg/article126865000/Die-Rueckkehr-der-Schallplatte.html http://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/hamburg/article126865000/D... https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.welt.de%2Fprint%2Fdie_welt%2Fhamburg%2Farticle126865000%2FDie-Rueckkehr-der-Schallplatte.html&edit-text=&act=url https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pr...

somberi 11y ago

The argument between Vinyl / Cassette / CD / MP3; I file under "narcissim of small differences". As I get older I find that emphasis on mindful listening reveals a richer range of sounds than any music source is able to match. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_differences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissism_of_small_difference...

creeble 11y ago
Wow. Never read that explanation. Explains all of audiophilia, and most other 'philias. Mine's better because it's (slightly) different than yours.

vasilipupkin 11y ago

So, I totally see why uncompressed music sounds better than compressed music ( MP3, Spotify, Pandora, etc. ) But, I don't understand the point of vinyl vs CDs. Nyquist theorem says you can fully recover an analog signal with digital sampling, if you sample frequently enough. So, there is no reason to have analog music. Am I missing something ?

publicfig 11y ago
I'm someone that buys quite a few vinyl records, and almost all of my reasons are psychological. I like supporting artists, and buying records give me a way to do that and get something physical in return. I like having the big album art and putting on a record makes me much more likely to listen to entire albums instead of just random songs. Plus, putting on a record is an intentional act which puts me in a good mental state for listening to music. With digital download codes, I have no real reason to buy CDs as a good percentage of bands offer their music digitally in any format I'd want. CDs would just be something I'd burn to an mp3 player and throw in a closet somewhere. Plus, they're fun to collect. A lot of releases will have different colored vinyl or special added features to the album.
- teh_klev 11y ago
  > putting on a record makes me much more likely to listen to entire albums instead of just random songs Precisely this. "That difficult third track on the B side"...which turns out to be a total gem, yet might go unlistened and never appreciated.
  - vasilipupkin 11y ago
    agreed. But why Vinyl vs CDs ? I mean, listening to the whole album is just as good with CDs or better ?
- vasilipupkin 11y ago
  right. But why is that not the case with CDs? why not buy CDs instead of vinyl ? CDs have cover art, special features, etc.

Cthulhu_ 11y ago

"Frenzy" is overstating it a bit (linkbait much?)

datawaslost 11y ago

“they looked like scrap metal to anybody but me” What nonsense, I hope he was misquoted.. Like the linked video says, he bought them in Chicago from Joell Hays, another vinyl junkie (and all-around nice guy) that held on to them for a decade, but couldn't get the funds together to restore them all. I can't understand why every story about vinyl's resurgence needs to make the story into some sort of mythic "rediscovery". My label's been putting out vinyl for years, the only difference is that now there's a 6-month waiting list at the plant. :)