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I remember reading an article about somebody 3D-printing vinyls a couple of years ago. It sort-of worked but it wasn't quite there yet. Still, 3D printing techn

by simias 7y ago

I remember reading an article about somebody 3D-printing vinyls a couple of years ago. It sort-of worked but it wasn't quite there yet. Still, 3D printing technologies improves very fast nowadays so maybe in the not-so-far future it'll make more sense to just print a new vinyl from the master the current one is too badly damaged rather than spend money on a super expensive turntable? In either case I feel like it's somewhat missing the point of vinyls in this day and age, people like vinyls because they're simple and low-tech like audio tapes, VHS and Polaroids. If you really care about audio quality and preservation you'll be much better off building a good capture setup and digitize your vinyl. It's easier to protect and backup digital audio samples than a fragile physical object.

coldtea 7y ago
>It's easier to protect and backup digital audio samples than a fragile physical object. A fragile physical object has more charm.
CalRobert 7y ago
Many people swear their subjective experience of the music is better if not digitized. I'm not one of them, but I doubt digitizing vinyl is going to satisfy them. After all, why get the vinyl in the first place?
- simias 7y ago
  That's my point, I think what the parent is asking is antithetical to the vinyl experience. That being said what I propose with 3D-printing is almost certainly what effectively happens with vinyls these days. I doubt music labels maintain a completely separate and parallel analog workflow in order to have "pure" vinyls at the end. Why bother when you can take the digital master and dump it onto the disk and nobody will be able to tell the difference?
fragmede 7y ago
I looked into 3d printing vinyl but it didn't make sense for my use case, which wasn't analog temp files. We have the technology to 3d print records, though the audio-fidelity maybe isn't there (~2 years ago) for music more subtle sounds (jazz or classical). It also did not seem possible on an (affordable) FDM 3d printer and I didn't have access to an SLA 3d printer. Keep in mind prints would take hours to do, on top of the usual delicateness of 3d printing. Part of the joy of having a record is the rest of it, the album cover, the notes, etc. I wasn't trying to copy an existing record, so for me there was considerable effort required for those parts as well which made it harder to justify the extra effort 3d printing a record would have required. Which brings me to my last point. There are numerous services that will accept a digital audio file and mail a physical record, in the $200-500 range (length/size dependent). Depending on your budget (esp compared to gaining access to an SLA printer and your time), that may be more effective.

by simias 7y ago

coldtea 7y ago

>It's easier to protect and backup digital audio samples than a fragile physical object. A fragile physical object has more charm.

CalRobert 7y ago

Many people swear their subjective experience of the music is better if not digitized. I'm not one of them, but I doubt digitizing vinyl is going to satisfy them. After all, why get the vinyl in the first place?

simias 7y ago
That's my point, I think what the parent is asking is antithetical to the vinyl experience. That being said what I propose with 3D-printing is almost certainly what effectively happens with vinyls these days. I doubt music labels maintain a completely separate and parallel analog workflow in order to have "pure" vinyls at the end. Why bother when you can take the digital master and dump it onto the disk and nobody will be able to tell the difference?

fragmede 7y ago

I looked into 3d printing vinyl but it didn't make sense for my use case, which wasn't analog temp files. We have the technology to 3d print records, though the audio-fidelity maybe isn't there (~2 years ago) for music more subtle sounds (jazz or classical). It also did not seem possible on an (affordable) FDM 3d printer and I didn't have access to an SLA 3d printer. Keep in mind prints would take hours to do, on top of the usual delicateness of 3d printing. Part of the joy of having a record is the rest of it, the album cover, the notes, etc. I wasn't trying to copy an existing record, so for me there was considerable effort required for those parts as well which made it harder to justify the extra effort 3d printing a record would have required. Which brings me to my last point. There are numerous services that will accept a digital audio file and mail a physical record, in the $200-500 range (length/size dependent). Depending on your budget (esp compared to gaining access to an SLA printer and your time), that may be more effective.