Vinyl-Record Sales Top Compact Discs for First Time in 34 Years

CDs are pretty useless. you can get the same quality digitally now.
Vinyls at least have the collecting factor, because of their size they are great for displaying the Cover Art, and many release special editions with colored Vinyls and stuff like that. while CDs are rarely as nicely made. some DigiPacks are still kinda cool, but even those are usually not as cool as Vinyls

the only CD albums I would still buy are ones like these ones, which are really nicely made:
MTR76105_1000.png

MTR75156_1000.png

these in particular also are about the size of a Vinyl cover, so the art is nicely displayed
 
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01011001 said:
Vinyls at least have the collecting factor, because of their size they are great for displaying the Cover Art, and many release special editions with colored Vinyls and stuff like that.
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All that needs to be said - vinyls are great if you are going for a physical factor of your music collection.
 
I can't be bothered with anything other than streaming these days. Spotify sounds awesome through some decent gear

So glad I sold off my records. That was a dumb phase.
 
For people who buy vinyl, do you actually listen to it? You bought a modern record player (no way anyone is going to dust off a 40 year old machine) and play the disc?

Or do you buy them more for collectability and it looks great on a shelf and you either never play them or play it once and then display it?
 
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I keep hearing this jargon that digital is "better than CD now." Cheapskate MP3 sites are selling compressed music. CD will always sound better. A modern high quality MP3 has the same high quality of a cassette tape. Unless you're downloading h.q. FLAC or 48 kHz or above WAV files on Spotify...you're just getting watered down trash. Glad record ("vinyl" as hipster call em) are catching up again but as someone stared above; are people actually dusting off 40 + year old record players to use them. The only music collectors that actually listen to them are audiophiles with nice gear for playback.
 
I'd still buy CD's, buy CD - rip CD. Keep CD forever play on whatever format you want, not getting pulled from a streaming service not monthly subscription costs. "Compact" to store as well. Eventually all that vinyl is going to take up a lot of space and start smelling musty.
 
This article is old as shit (from last year)

StreetsofBeige said:
For people who buy vinyl, do you actually listen to it? You bought a modern record player (no way anyone is going to dust off a 40 year old machine) and play the disc?

Or do you buy them more for collectability and it looks great on a shelf and you either never play them or play it once and then display it?
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Yes, and thru a 40 year-old Technics table that works like a tank.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
For people who buy vinyl, do you actually listen to it? You bought a modern record player (no way anyone is going to dust off a 40 year old machine) and play the disc?

Or do you buy them more for collectability and it looks great on a shelf and you either never play them or play it once and then display it?
Click to expand...
I have a shitty player so I tend to not listen to them, but the plan is to eventually get a better player and use it more often. For now it's just a collection that every once in awhile will get used for the novelty.
 
Never cared for vynil. It was kind of fun to get high and go through records and hear how shitty they did or didn't sound but I never got into it like some people do.

and no they don't have better sound quality. They just have a "nice" sound. It's warm and has charm l, but it's not better audio quality than CDs or streaming. People who claim that are dumb.
 
Kev Kev said:
Never cared for vynil. It was kind of fun to get high and go through records and hear how shitty they did or didn't sound but I never got into it like some people do.

and no they don't have better sound quality. They just have a "nice" sound. It's warm and has charm l, but it's not better audio quality than CDs or streaming. People who claim that are dumb.
Click to expand...

Technically its analogue saturation, which is Technically just white noise, which fills the audio spectrum, sounding more pleasing to the ear
 
I got into Vinyl for the novelty. Only have about 15 or so records. To be honest I play them when I get pissed at Alexa playing the wrong songs or am too drunk to mess with the sound system.

They are not convenient but its attraction is similar to playing on hardware rather than emulating.

Its a much better quality sound too - retaining all the hisses bangs crackles scratches and random two second skips of the original performances CDs just don't capture...
 
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01011001 said:
CDs are pretty useless. you can get the same quality digitally now.
Vinyls at least have the collecting factor, because of their size they are great for displaying the Cover Art, and many release special editions with colored Vinyls and stuff like that. while CDs are rarely as nicely made. some DigiPacks are still kinda cool, but even those are usually not as cool as Vinyls

the only CD albums I would still buy are ones like these ones, which are really nicely made:
MTR76105_1000.png

MTR75156_1000.png

these in particular also are about the size of a Vinyl cover, so the art is nicely displayed
Click to expand...

Lol. Bullshit. You obviously have no idea how mastering works.
 
Kev Kev said:
Never cared for vynil. It was kind of fun to get high and go through records and hear how shitty they did or didn't sound but I never got into it like some people do.

and no they don't have better sound quality. They just have a "nice" sound. It's warm and has charm l, but it's not better audio quality than CDs or streaming. People who claim that are dumb.
Click to expand...
Idk I have quite a few discs that have such a wide stereo separation and clarity that listening to the digital versions after leave something to be desired.

Though it helps if the discs are clean. Of course a marked-up scratched record from the dollar bin's gonna sound like shit.
 
As Kev Kev Kev Kev said, vinyl isn't really a superior format, but that warmth... The tactile connection to the complete artistic work that you are about to engage with...

Vinyl and a badass hi-fi system all day.
 
The return of vinyl shows how much the consumer music market has collapsed. Regular people have switched from buying music to streaming.
 
I have a small collection of vinyl records. They have a crunchy sound that is missing in digital formats. Also, I am really into classic rock, and going on the hunt for original releases is a cool hobby too.
 
I only buy vinyls that comes from an analog recording.
I don't understand the music recorded in digital, remove everything and write it into a vinyl.
 
I'm not surprised. Anyone still buying physical music should be doing so for collections. I've had CDs go bad after a decade or so. Vinyl, by comparison, should last you a lifetime, if not more. So for collectors, vinyl has to be the preferred choice. I don't think they delaminate like CDs do.
 
i have some vinyls and enjoy the higher sound quality but it's too expensive to keep going. i have a cheap player (~£120) and cheap speakers (~£50). honestly i don't want to spend money on better hardware and it's about £20-30 per record. i like music but i guess i ain't an audiophile. i'm quite happy with listening to music through Apple Music/Spotify on my basic PC speakers and my XM3 earphones.
 
I've got a whole bunch of records from back in my student years when I used to DJ and work at a 2nd hand record store. The whole trajectory of vinyl has been pretty interesting. Back in the late 90ies - early 2000s when I got most of these, vinyl was waning as DJ'ing with cd's or laptops was slowly getting in vogue. Nobody outside of DJ's bought vinyl, so rock or pop albums would rarely get a vinyl release. I was pretty sure the format would disappear, but all of the sudden it got a resurgence as people got into collecting vinyl again. I've only bought a handful of records in the last 10 years. I don't play them often as all of my favourites are recorded on my computer's hard drive. I haven't been tempted so far to sell them though, too many memories...


7LaLnwY.jpg
 
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Master Of Illusion said:
Idk I have quite a few discs that have such a wide stereo separation and clarity that listening to the digital versions after leave something to be desired.

Though it helps if the discs are clean. Of course a marked-up scratched record from the dollar bin's gonna sound like shit.
Click to expand...

how would the format have any influence on the stereo separation? That's the audio engineers job to define the separation, any format with descrete channels would reproduce whatever was defined during mastering. I can understand comments like enjoying the warmth caused by the analogue white noise, but I don't understand this comment
 
nightmare-slain said:
i have some vinyls and enjoy the higher sound quality but it's too expensive to keep going. i have a cheap player (~£120) and cheap speakers (~£50). honestly i don't want to spend money on better hardware and it's about £20-30 per record. i like music but i guess i ain't an audiophile. i'm quite happy with listening to music through Apple Music/Spotify on my basic PC speakers and my XM3 earphones.
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There is a difference between being an audiophile and what you describe. You are literally scraping the bottom of the barrel with that setup, no matter if the vinyl is good or not it will sound like poo compared to streaming.
You can get a great system for 1000€ total - get e.g. Rega Planar 1 Plus (pre-amp built-in) and a bunch of active speakers (maybe you can grab some KEFs second-hand) - you will hear the difference.

As others have mentioned - thanks to higher price tag vinyls can be a great showcase of art as well, something you cannot have with a CD (although there are people for whom CD booklets are great little things). You can also make a case streaming music cheapens your experience, since it is no different than just swiping from one video to the other as many teens do nowadays due to information overload.
 
OmegaSupreme said:
To be fair who the hell is buying cd's?
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It depends, there are those that like CD as a half way between vinyl and streaming. There is less fuss with regards to CDs then with vinyls, at the same time with good setup CD can sound incredible which you cannot have streaming over BT with that free tier lossy MP3 format.
 
Physical media for me, but due to the size of Vinyl, I opt for CD or SACD where available.

I am aware that Vinyl, on a good setup, sounds better (In some cases) than CD.
 
T8SC said:
I am aware that Vinyl, on a good setup, sounds better (In some cases) than CD.
Click to expand...

It really does not, it's a preference, not a fact. What CD has is a sound wall above 20hz, which vinyl does not - there is an ongoing discussion whether humans are actually able to hear or respond to higher frequency sounds.

As for the analog vs. digital you first need to make sure the music was recorded and mastered in an analog way, which is rarely the case. That master that gets pressed for vinyl? Digital most of the time.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
It really does not, it's a preference, not a fact. What CD has is a sound wall above 20hz, which vinyl does not - there is an ongoing discussion whether humans are actually able to hear or respond to higher frequency sounds.

As for the analog vs. digital you first need to make sure the music was recorded and mastered in an analog way, which is rarely the case. That master that gets pressed for vinyl? Digital most of the time.
Click to expand...

Are you telling me Nicolas Cage was wrong?

The-Rock-1-1.jpg
 
Cyberpunkd said:
It really does not, it's a preference, not a fact. What CD has is a sound wall above 20hz, which vinyl does not - there is an ongoing discussion whether humans are actually able to hear or respond to higher frequency sounds.

As for the analog vs. digital you first need to make sure the music was recorded and mastered in an analog way, which is rarely the case. That master that gets pressed for vinyl? Digital most of the time.
Click to expand...
Vinyl tends to get its own mastering and has largely escaped the loudness wars.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
It really does not, it's a preference, not a fact. What CD has is a sound wall above 20hz, which vinyl does not - there is an ongoing discussion whether humans are actually able to hear or respond to higher frequency sounds.

As for the analog vs. digital you first need to make sure the music was recorded and mastered in an analog way, which is rarely the case. That master that gets pressed for vinyl? Digital most of the time.
Click to expand...

wondering if there's a list of the records that actually are recorded, mastered, and pressed in analog?
 
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