# I don’t understand the craze for vinyl
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [October 21, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923 "2021-10-21T16:34:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/162 "2021-10-27T15:29:38Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> I don’t want technical limitations to get between me and the artistic intent.
Vinyl isn’t the limiter in most systems.
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Ultimately, it’s the speakers that determine the sound.
---
### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/163 "2021-10-27T17:37:17Z")
There are a couple kore reasons why Vinyl is making a comeback:
1. People listen to music differently now, and don’t care much about ultimate sound quality. I think this might be because us older folk grew up,in an era of limited technology for recording and playing music, and so new formats that offered better sound were a big thing. Going from a cassette player to a CD player in your car was a marked improvement. Advertisers sold us on the sound quality improvements, so we cared.
But for young people growing up in the MP3/streaming world, sound quality doesn’t appear to be as important as other factors. Quick access, constant availability, nostalgia all become more important. I suspect music today is much more likely to be used as background to other activities than for people to just sit and enjoy it.
2. Vinyl has a tinkerer/hobbyist/collectible aspect to it. Stereophiles and hobbyists used to love vinyl because it gave them endless options for accessories to buy, fodder for debates, fiddly things to clean and maintain, You could have debates over what kind of cartridge to use, whether wow and flutter mattered as much as distortion, how to clean a needle properly, yada yada. lots of hands-on activities like moving tonearms or cleaning needles and records.
Along comes digital, and everything just works well enough and nothing needs constant tuning/resetting/cleaning. For some people, that’s not a feature.
---
### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/164 "2021-10-27T22:34:34Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#):
>
> Vinyl isn’t the limiter in most systems.
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Ultimately, it’s the speakers that determine the sound.
And my speakers are pretty good. So was my turntable (and cartridge, the most important part!) when I had one.
---
### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2021, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/165 "2021-10-27T23:04:52Z")
**[Here’s a guy with a pretty good stereo system](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b2IOOhJmxw)**. 😃 Possibly the best stereo system in the world.
And, yes, it has a turntable. He built his own. He acknowledges that it probably wasn’t strictly necessary to build his own, except for his pursuit of perfection, because “there are plenty of good turntables that you can buy for $20,000, $30,000 or $50,000” without having to spend the kind of really _ **serious** _ money that he did on building a one-of-a-kind customized one.
The turntable discussion begins just after 22:00 in the video.
A couple of the comments following the video:
- The damn turntable alone costs more than my entire house
- When the Gods want to listen to music they go to Ken’s place.
---
### Author:  [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/166 "2021-10-28T12:27:38Z")
Sometimes it all depends on what you are used to.
Many years ago the radio station from university I attended would broadcast “classical music to study by” every evening. And I would listen on a basic radio - with a 4" speaker.
Then I attended the university’s orchestra concerts and found the higher frequencies and other noises terrible. The violins sounded “scratchy”, and other instruments were producing tones I never heard before. It took me a long time and many concerts to get used to the real sound of instruments.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/167 "2021-10-28T12:38:01Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> None of this means CDs are worse than vinyl. They aren’t. A properly mastered, full dynamic range CD will kick vinyl’s ass. There’s not a single specification I can think of where vinyl is superior.
When I had a car with a CD player I went and got a bunch of used CDs for use in the car just because the sound was so vastly superior to the MP3s on my phone.
I cannot help but think that at some point in the future a new music file format for transportable digital music will replace the current one. Storage is bigger now, so let’s get some better sound.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/168 "2021-10-28T13:11:12Z")
Good point. Surely music tech has also improved in the last decade. However, the obstacle (of there is one) may not be storage but streaming speeds.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/169 "2021-10-28T13:12:27Z")
It’s not purely a storage size issue. We can concoct really clever new file formats, but for that next-gen sound you still have to physically build some kind of 3d active phased array, or whatever we are imagining.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/170 "2021-10-28T13:13:48Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#):
>
> Good point. Surely music tech has also improved in the last decade. However, the obstacle (of there is one) may not be storage but streaming speeds.
Such speeds are improving, too, albeit a little behind storage capacity.
---
### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/171 "2021-10-28T13:23:53Z")
Yes sir. I meant to acknowledge this by saying “if there is one” and have learned to dislike auto-correct.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/172 "2021-10-28T20:13:45Z")
Oh I didn’t think you disagreed.
That said, I suspect that format will lag WAY behind where it should be just out of sheer inertia. Which is, really a shame.
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### Author:  [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/173 "2021-10-28T23:17:46Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> > [@Sam\_Stone](#):
> >
> > None of this means CDs are worse than vinyl. They aren’t. A properly mastered, full dynamic range CD will kick vinyl’s ass. There’s not a single specification I can think of where vinyl is superior.
>
> When I had a car with a CD player I went and got a bunch of used CDs for use in the car just because the sound was so vastly superior to the MP3s on my phone.
>
> I cannot help but think that at some point in the future a new music file format for transportable digital music will replace the current one. Storage is bigger now, so let’s get some better sound.
That day is here now. Both Apple and Spotify (and I’m sure others; I only know about the services I use) now have lossless streaming formats available. And Apple now also has some music in multi-channel\* Atmos format on top of being lossless. I have an unlimited data plan on my phone, so I’ve set the default to lossless Atmos in Apple Music, the service I use the most.
\*if you have certain models of AirPods and I don’t know what else, Atmos gets you spatialized audio, meaning you hear the various instruments in different locations around you, and as you turn your head, you get the effect of moving around in the mix. On some tracks, it’s a gimmick, on some it just sounds poor, but on the best examples, it’s a really cool experience. As I gather, it’s sort of analogous to the shift from mastering for LP to mastering for CD. Takes a while for everyone to learn what does and does not work.
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [November 9, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/174 "2021-11-09T01:15:40Z")
I thought this might be of interest. Basically it appears that demand for vinyl records is exceeding available supply:
> **[COMMENTARY: The world is suffering from a shortage of vinyl records and...](https://globalnews.ca/news/8244691/vinyl-record-price-shock/)**
>
> If you've been shopping for records recently, you may have suffered some serious sticker shock. Market forces are conspiring to choke the vinyl resurrection.
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/175 "2021-11-16T04:02:55Z")
> [@scabpicker](#):
>
> and at least 5 tube (guitar) amps
Let’s not confuse/compare devices for sound _creation_ with devices for sound _reproduction_. Personally, I want top notch gear that sounds as neutral as possible so that I can hear what the artist created with their tube amps.
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2021, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/176 "2021-11-16T04:25:17Z")
seen this today note the link strip is related to the topic…
> **[Blondie](https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/blondie/)**
>
> Created by Dean Young, Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead are the quintessential American family: working, raising kids, and pointing out the humor in everyday life. At over seventy years old, Blondie is still going strong.
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### Author:  [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2021, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/177 "2021-11-16T21:04:44Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#):
>
> Let’s not confuse/compare devices for sound _creation_ with devices for sound _reproduction_ .
Ehhh, to some extent an amplifier is an amplifier. It takes a signal and makes it louder. The ones used for reproduction usually have less preamp gain, because adding heaps of extra distortion isn’t a common goal there. In either case, the tubes are an unnecessary method of doing so. But they do sound different from say, a class D solid state amp.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/178 "2023-03-10T19:08:39Z")
Latest update:
> **[Vinyl Outsold CDs for the First Time Since 1987](https://gizmodo.com/vinyl-outsells-cds-for-first-time-riaa-music-media-1850211706)**
>
> The resilient format raked in $1.2 billion in 2022, outselling CDs by nearly 8 million units.
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/179 "2023-03-10T20:00:00Z")
The headline “Vinyl Outsold CDs for the First Time Since 1987” is rather burying the lead. If we read the linked [RIAA report (pdf)](https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2022-Year-End-Music-Industry-Revenue-Report.pdf), we see revenue from physical media went up by 4%, while revenue from streaming media went up by 7%. Being a bigger part of a pie that’s getting smaller is not a path to long-term success.
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/180 "2023-03-10T20:00:38Z")
In other news, horses outsold Model Ts.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-don-t-understand-the-craze-for-vinyl/952923/181 "2023-03-10T20:01:24Z")
I get why some buy vinyl. The nostalgia, retroness, the statement, the flaws having their own appeal, the art on the full size covers …
Why does ANYONE buy a CD now though?
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