Now that’s retro
DJs (as in the guys who scratch records as part of their performance, not the guys who spin them for radio) are also a big part of the vinyl market.
What genre of music are they? Are the covers in decent condition? Is there a Beatles Butcher cover in the lot? Give eBay a quick check to see if any had sold for over a couple of bucks recently.
How apropos…
Yesterday I was driving down the New Jersey Turnpike next to Newark Airport and I saw a billboard proclaiming “The Beatles, on Vinyl” along with some vinyl record seller’s website. I thought it odd that they would take out a billboard ad in what is likely one of the most expensive locations in the country for billboards, to sell vinyl records.
Somebody is spending advertising dollars to market them.
Send 'em to me, assuming they are not the typical garbage I see at the discount stores (Barbra Streisand, the Gap Band, Samantha Sang etc.).
Thanks to Francis for his detailed if not entirely comprehensible (to my rock-damaged brain) explanation of vinyl’s strengths and weaknesses. I am torn regarding the “vinyl renaissance” (which to me has overtones of the old “Swing music is coming back!” hype). I enjoy handling records and occasionally turning up good used albums. I also have vivid memories of scratches and skips and the annoyance of cleaning the things along with cleaning and replacing needles.
I probably couldn’t tell the difference between good vinyl sound and good CD or MP3 sound (I suspect the quality of the original recording is far more important than whatever medium it ultimately ends up on). I’m not about to pay $50 for a new vinyl release. Digital files and CDs suit me fine.
Why would anybody buy a CD? There’s just no appeal. If you want just the music, you download it. If you want a collector’s item from your favorite band, with artwork, lyrics, and probably a free download too? Vinyl. What purpose does a CD have? Even in my car, which lacks the aux input I’m so jealous others have, I can burn a CD to play in it for less than a dollar. Why would I buy a $15 CD again?
Has anyone done a test of analog vs digital masters used for cutting records?
e.g.: make two otherwise identical records with the difference that one was cut with a high-quality analog tape and the other was mastered with a digital source.
I stand to inherit close to the same amount. Right now they’re cached in a closet at my parent’s house, turntable sitting patiently on the top of the shelf waiting to be plugged in again.
Unfortunately, I have nowhere to keep them at my place, but this thread has definitely made me eager to grab 10 or so each time I’m there and give them a spin. It’s been a while since I poked through it, but it’s gotta be a great collection.
Side-question: I have not speakers. If I buy some, they need to be good enough that I enjoy the experience of exploring those albums. What’s that gonna set me back?
Neil Young is now railing against MP3, WMA, etc. He’s trying to develop a better format. I hope this works out better than the fuel-efficient car he was creating that burned down a warehouse containing about $1 million in guitars and stuff.
I wonder how good his hearing is anyway after years of being in front of amplifiers. I know that I have hearing loss after working on jet aircraft even though I used hearing protection. I’ve been to a few Neil Young and Crazy Horse concerts and the jet engines were quieter! 
I must agree with DrCube that CDs are also on their way out. Digital downloads are the future. Maybe even the end? I’ve been through 78’s, 45’s, 33’s in vinyl; 4-track, 8-track, cassette, and reel-to-reel in tape; CDs; and now digital downloads.
You’re not the only one I’ve heard say this. As someone who started buying vinyl in the mid-1960s and still has the vast majority of those records, let me say this in the nicest possible way. Are you freaking insane? I hate pops. I hate scratches. I hate skips. I listen for the music, and these are not music. They do not enhance the experience in any way, shape, or form. The best things about CDs and cassettes were a) portability and b) lack of pops.
Pop music is great! Music with pops isn’t!
I think it is primarily a social phenomenon. I remember gathering around the hi-fi with friends and putting on a recently released Beatles album, just as my father remembered gathering around a radio and listening to “The Shadow”. You can invite people back to your place to listen to an LP. No one is coming to listen to your CD or your mp3.
I think the “warmth” of LP’s is simply the warmth of other bodies listening intently to music you have presented to them.
Why not?
Granted, nobody needs to “come” anywhere. They can listen in my car or from my phone. So it isn’t quite an event like it used to be, but I still share music with my friends and family. And it’s a lot easier than it was 30 years ago too.
Not until the 1950’s, unless you are using the term “vinyl” to mean all discs generically, which is not correct. Vinyl was first used, IIRC, for 33 1/3 RPM microgroove and 45RPM discs. Before that, it was acetate (for one-off, short use or master records) or shellac.
CDs will fail evetually even if never used. Vinyl records will indeed last about forever especially if never used.
“TV with rabbit ears: Not just low definition, but full of snow, static, unsteady picture, no color etc”
Has to be a kid - I still use rabbit ears to receive broadcast signals on my television. A friend just commented on how crystal clear the picture is on my 30" LED. Of course, I do have to pay nothing every month for my two dozen channels, but that price (0.00) has remained the same my whole life.
One other thing is that these days new vinyl often comes with a password to download a digital copy. With as expensive as digital downloads still are, buying vinyl and getting the mp3 for free often isn’t much more than only buying the digital copy. It’s kind of like buying a collector’s edition of a movie or a video game-- the record is a much better conversation or display piece than abstract bits of data.
Oh, anywhere from $50 to $20,000 I’d say.
Do you have an amplifier?
Vinyl is highly collectible. Especially some original pressings. Also, there’s a good amount of music that’s out of print and there are rare releases, most of which can only be found on vinyl.
On another note, if CD’s do get completely phased out and the only way you can buy new music is MP3 downloads music truly will die. Music is disposable as it is nowadays and the problem will only get worse. Heck, due to most of the industry being singles based nowadays artists may even stop recording and releasing entire albums.
Vinyl is cool and all, but I get all my music on Edison cylinders. But I have to admit I miss the warmth of when I used to collect wandering minstrels.
Rock and roll will never die.
What date shall I put on my calendar?
OTOH, the music already died with Buddy Holly, so maybe it’s academic.