Vinyl making a comeback or never went out?

CinnamonSugar

CinnamonSugar

A Quiet American
I'm intrigued that in various areas of the country vinyl records appear to be making a comeback. Or perhaps they were just underground for a while? I don't have any LP's anymore (boy, that's a term that will date you, huh?!) or stereo equipment. Any input for the reason behind the resurgence? (Besides the die-hard fans who have always felt the sound of a record better than a CD).

I have to say, growing up, we had *all* the Rogers and Hammerstein musical sound tracks and I can still sing most from memory. Also, many's the rainy day, as a younger child, I spent playing 33 1/3 LP's at 45 rpms to see how the song would sound if sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks, haha
 

Vinyl never left. It was pushed aside for the "flavor of the month" (8 tracks, cassette's, cd's, etc) Purists who owned a decent turntable and sound system always knew vinyl was and is the be all, end all for sound clarity. (y) :) JMHO
I still have my Pioneer turntable with strobe light speed adjust (gotta control that wow and flutter don't you know), Kenwood reciever, Sansui reverb and even my trusty Akai reel to reel. Listen through vintage Pioneer headphones and you'll never listen to music the same again.

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The sound signal coming off a vinyl record is analog and much truer to the original music. (Assuming your records are high quality and free of scratches and dirt.)

When music is digitized, the digital version is a representation of the original and not always a perfect match. Few of us can tell the difference, but a few people can, and I think some just like the "old way." I did work in a stereo repair shop back in the mid 60's, and while my hearing was good, we had technicians who were nearly as good as the instrumented tests we ran before returning the equipment to the customer. You don't hear people talk about harmonic distortion, intermodulation distortion, or frequency response curves anymore, but those are meaningful terms.

Many modern musicians prefer to use vacuum tube amplifiers for a similar reason: the sound signal doesn't get clipped like it does when solid state amplifiers are used.

Personally, I like CD's as they are so much less trouble and far more durable. My ears cannot tell the difference anyway.
 
Hi Cinnamon Sugar. Now this is a Thread and Topic that is of keen interest to me. Reason being I have many old LP's and 45 and 78 rpm vinyls. There is a local vinyl outlet near to me and the shop is heaving with vinyls also cd';s and tape cassettes anyone remember TDK cassettes.? I have just parted with three LP's and got a sum of £20 and was satisfied with this amount as Vinyls seem to be two an penny here.

My late Husband was a very keen hifi enthusiast from when he was in his teens in the mid 60's. Over the years we bought good hifi equipment and I have in my lounge two Quad Electrostatic ESL- 63 model and purchased in the early 70's. and powered by Quad amplifier which I have had serviced at Quad in Huntingdon UK. The quality of the sound from them is superb. The turntable is a Thorens TD 125 Mark 11. The equipment collection I have is retro and is still in demand. I still have the Ferrograph reel to reel tape recorder that Hubby bought in the late 60's I think and a Sony reel to reel tape recorder. I've told my two Sons to deal with the the equipment when I am no longer on the Planet and as they are both enthusiasts will ensure they are treated with respect.

Vinyl records has surged I've been told but slackening off and can fetch a good price if one is in the know. I have no usable turntable and tempted to buy a small deck to play my vinyls. These decks are popular at the moment and not overly expensive.
 
CDs had terrible reproduction. For a while they were trying to sell an Enhanced CD, but only a few hundred albums were converted so the format died out.

I was upgrading my stereo speakers at the time, and went to the premier sound shop in the area. The salesman and I really got into it, and he finally said, "Do you want to try something really incredible?"

Of course I said yes!

We went into their small special "sound room". In it was a pair of speakers that cost $12,000.00. He put an enhanced CD into a player, told me to sit in the chair (which was set about 10' away from the speakers, centered in front of them). Then he started the music.

The sound was PHENOMENAL. It was identical to being right in front of a live performance. I was blown away - which, for the price of what was a new Honda Civic in those days, was what a digital recording format really could be.

Yeah, I still have most of my LPs. Don't play them, but I treasure them. One of my younger friends just retired and has started collecting LPs - I will probably pass mine on to him. We have a couple of rarities, but most are everyday stuff from our 20's.
 
I, too, like Vinyl. I have a fairly large collection of vinyl from the 60's thru the '80's...Elvis, Moody Blues, ELO, Pink Floyd, etc., a nice Sanyo player, and a Sansui 9090DB 120 watt receiver, 2 huge floor Radio Shack speakers, and 2 Radio Shack bookshelf speakers...all in great shape. I still fire it all up when I'm working down in the basement/garage, and enjoy those tunes. I think Analog reproduces some of the subtle sounds better than Digital. I bought all this way back in the early 70's, and it still works. Awhile back, I checked the prices on EBAY for a Sansui 9090DB,, and those things are selling for well over twice what I paid for it. I like a lot of today's rock, but this older stuff brings back some fond memories.
 
There is no doubt that analog recordings, on vinyl, are vastly superior to digital, over-processed junk on CD's. I have the classic Iron Butterfly album on both, and the difference is so great, you actually might think that you're listening to two, different bands, no lie. I get most of my tunes, these days, off the computer. I record them as they play, but I know, full well, that the quality I get is sub-par, at best. I do prefer the convenience, though.
 
I still have quite a few vinyl recordings. I probably don’t hear well enough to catch the nuances any longer, but still love the warmth of tube amps. I never had really expensive equipment but it was adequate for the 70’s.

Older gear has it‘s issues. Finding replacement tubes and some of the components is difficult, it takes a dedicated enthusiast with an electronics background to bring them back to life.
 
Yes I agree that analog recording trump digital for clarity of sound. Years ago before I met my husband I had the greatest sound system which he truly didn’t appreciate . I had the greatest receiver ever. It was the kind with the tube inside and weighed a ton. Then I had a set of awesome speakers which he replaced with inferior little dinky ones which I never liked. Oh the joys of marriage. Lol

Anyway I had the coolest collection of vinyl ever. Hundreds of albums in a milk carton plastic carrying box. One day when we moved to a chalet house I left the albums inside what a thought was a shaded enough spot but when the sun moved in the afternoon I melted my entire collection. 😩
It was a very sad day and I wish I could have blamed my husband but it was my entire fault.
 
A few years ago I went into a used record store. Most LPs were priced in the $40 range Canadian. I asked the guy behind the counter why he wanted so much for some old LPs. His answer was "How old is the record you are holding in your hand?" I answered "about 40 years". He replied, that's right. I charge a buck a year. Orignial records, in good shape are priceless. Makes me think that I will still hang on to my original Marty Robbins & his Gunfighter Ballads, all the original Johnny Horton. the first ever Ray Price & that old Buddy Knox with Storm Clouds & Hula Love.
 
Keesha said:
Yes I agree that analog recording trump digital for clarity of sound. Years ago before I met my husband I had the greatest sound system which he truly didn’t appreciate . I had the greatest receiver ever. It was the kind with the tube inside and weighed a ton. Then I had a set of awesome speakers which he replaced with inferior little dinky ones which I never liked. Oh the joys of marriage. Lol

Anyway I had the coolest collection of vinyl ever. Hundreds of albums in a milk carton plastic carrying box. One day when we moved to a chalet house I left the albums inside what a thought was a shaded enough spot but when the sun moved in the afternoon I melted my entire collection. 😩
It was a very sad day and I wish I could have blamed my husband but it was my entire fault.
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You know when the CDs first came out, I heard that some people hauled their entire record collection to the garbage dump. What fools! About 15 years ago it was very hard to buy a record player. Look now; just check out Amazon & see what they sell!
 
Packerjohn said:
You know when the CDs first came out, I heard that some people hauled their entire record collection to the garbage dump. What fools! About 15 years ago it was very hard to buy a record player. Look now; just check out Amazon & see what they sell!
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Yes. Foolish indeed. I’m still kicking myself cause I could purchase a real sweet player. Such a huge regret but I’ve much to be grateful for. I’m far too good at crying over spilled milk. There are much better things to use my mind for. I can at least still hear great music cause I can make my own. ❤️🥰
 

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