The resurgence of vinyl

[mik]

No no no no no.

I’m not interested in fannying around with big vinyl discs that wear out and sound worse after every play. It was ALWAYS such a compromised format, with dynamic range compressed to prevent playing problems - the sonic possibilities on digital recordings unhindered by this constraint sound massively better to my ears.

I get pissed off even listening to older stuff on Spotify - masters having been created with the constraints of vinyl absolutely present; and songs sound thin and weedy. Kick drums in the past thudded lightly, where today they thump with genuine punch & energy.

Vinyl shminyl.

[Gavster]

One bonus is that when I cleared out my teenage vinyl collection and put them all on eBay, I got wayyy more cash than I'd ever expected especially those limited edition coloured/shaped releases. You'll never catch me going back to them.

[Jobbo]

I used to like nosing through second hand records in obscure shops. These days every one is at least £30

I don’t know where my records are (including 12” picture disk of Duran Duran’s The Reflex) and don’t care because I’ve not had a record player for about 30 years.

[DeskJockey]

The sum total of my vinyl "collection" was a copy of Prop og Berta (Danish children's story about a chubby little man and his very clever cow living the good life and occasionally fighting the evil witch) that I listened to until it wore out.

[ZedLeg]

I used to like nosing through second hand records in obscure shops. These days every one is at least £30

I don’t know where my records are (including 12” picture disk of Duran Duran’s The Reflex) and don’t care because I’ve not had a record player for about 30 years.

Same, I used to have a decent record collection and still have bits and pieces. Not had a record player for at least 10 years.

I’ve not had any kind of hi fi equipment for years tbh. I stream tidal from my phone through sonos if I want music now.

[JonMad]

I have a few records inc the odd picture disc in the loft together with some cassettes, VHS videos, amp (Arcam), CD player (Technics) and speakers (Mission, I think). And VHS recorder.

I don't have a record player though. I think about getting one now and again but never have. I've got some of my Mum's 78s up there as well.

[Gavster]

I will never sell my hifi for two reasons:

1. I love loud, high-quality music. The kind of antisocial noise that you can only get from large speakers and a big amp. My lottery-win dream is to have a farm with a custom Funktion One sound system hidden away in a barn, so that once a year I can listen to some tunes at trouser-shaking volume in crystal clear clarity.
2. Good hifi sounds absolutely glorious. As an experience, it beats any headphones or compact speaker solution.

[mik]

2. Good hifi sounds absolutely glorious. As an experience, it beats any headphones or compact speaker solution.

Amen. (and I’ve only ever had mediocre kit - my lottery win also involves several purchases in this topic area.

[ZedLeg]

My hearing is fucked from years of noisy punk shows so I would never get the subtle nuances of a fine hi-fi system

my big headphones and some old techno is what I need when I want my brain scrambled by bass.

[Jimexpl]

2. Good hifi sounds absolutely glorious. As an experience, it beats any headphones or compact speaker solution.

Amen. (and I’ve only ever had mediocre kit - my lottery win also involves several purchases in this topic area.

Fortunately once you're over about 35 and your hearing declines there is definitely diminishing returns on the big money kit.
I was recommissioning a client's property for sale on Friday and the main living area has a pair of B&W 801s, DB1 sub and two Classe power amps - about £60k all in at todays prices. There is very little in it between that and the £6k of Dynaudio speakers and Rotel Power amps I have at home unless you have a big space to fill.
Perhaps if I was still 20 years old I would notice a bigger gap in performance.

[Mito Man]

Also firmly in the fucked hearing club, forgot my earplugs yesterday whilst I was chainsawing for a few hours. It was a bit eerie getting in the Defender afterwards because I can tell you it was more quiet than a cathedral despite being on the motorway. New watch gives me bloody hearing alerts on the tube or even busy roads in London.

Good audio for me is just having speakers that can play music very loud without distorting and I want chest pounding bass.
Have had a pair of Sonia Play 5s and Sonos Sub for donkeys years but could do with something a bit more beefy now.

[drcarlos]

Strangely (although I spent a large portion of late teens and 20's are raves where my ears would ring for days after) my hearing isn't fucked. I can still hear a difference between vinyl, CD and encoded music.
I have a small vinyl collection of some not too rare and expensive stuff that I get from a local contact who buys for shops. I get the pick before he sells to them, so it hasn't cost me a packet.
I only started down this route because I inherited a lovely condition Linn Basik Turntable (Akito arm and goldring cartridge), Pioneer A400 amp, B&W 601i and another pair of nice speakers.
It does sound nice and it's just cool to sit down and actually listen rather than have something in the background while you cook (that's what alexa is for). Obviously not for eveyone and at the moment doesn't get much of my time but in a few years time I'll enjoy it more.

[Brannen]

My dad is obsessed with Vinyl and has hundreds of albums and singles. Keeps saying jokingly it's mine and my brother's inheritance. I don't really want to have to deal with it

I'd much rather just have my Spotify account and listen to what I want, when I want to listen to it. Guessing it's a generational thing as he's always had Vinyl. MP3 players were becoming more popular when I was at school. Think I was 17 when I got my first iPod mini, and not looked back since.

[dinny_g]

I sold all of my Vinyl back when I was 17 of 18 - Mainly Iron Maiden original releases, picture discs and 12" singles. I don't want to think about what they'd be worth now compared with what what I s sold them for - which could be measured in Packs of Camel Lights...

[integrale_evo]

Was never into vinyl, but still like using cds. I can’t get on with steaming / mp3s, it’s convenient but seem to spend more time skipping songs than actually listening, and hate how mushy most sound on more complex tracks.

I rarely listen to music at home but enjoying some tunes on the commute since digging the old sun out and sticking it in the compact.

I don’t care how many speakers and how many watts the fancy factory fitted stuff in modern cars claim, very little can touch the clean crisp sound of a cd player, a decent set of component speakers and a sub.

It’s a bit like modern exhausts it’s all fake noise designed to make systems sound bassy without any actual real air movement.

[Ascender]

Streaming is just so convenient that my thousands of CDs went in to the loft years ago and I ripped most of it in to mp3 so I have all my bootlegs and random stuff on there too. I still really like sitting down and listening to an album from start to finish, reading the liner notes, lyrics etc so about 5 years ago I started buying any new albums from artists I really liked, on vinyl.

I've got a nice set of speakers and an old amp which needs upgrading, but listening to something on CD or vinyl on that or with headphones is something I really enjoy still. Especially when the mixes for streaming services seem to have no subtlety at all - they just seem to turn everything up to 11.

Buys vinyl
Beardy
Tattoos

Hipster doofus alert

[Jimexpl]

Streaming is just so convenient that my thousands of CDs went in to the loft years ago and I ripped most of it in to mp3 so I have all my bootlegs and random stuff on there too. I still really like sitting down and listening to an album from start to finish, reading the liner notes, lyrics etc so about 5 years ago I started buying any new albums from artists I really liked, on vinyl.

I've got a nice set of speakers and an old amp which needs upgrading, but listening to something on CD or vinyl on that or with headphones is something I really enjoy still. Especially when the mixes for streaming services seem to have no subtlety at all - they just seem to turn everything up to 11.

Buys vinyl
Beardy
Tattoos

Hipster doofus alert

Tidal are much better at retaining the quality of the original production than Spotify, even when played through worn out speakers in my Compact. Spotify on my living room stereo annoys me after a while as I know how much better it could sound.

[ZedLeg]

Aye, the master quality albums on Tidal are about as high quality as I need.

[nuttinnew]

Avoid having to get yourself a record player by listening to a compilation of top tier tunes on yt;

[V8Granite]

Streaming is just so convenient that my thousands of CDs went in to the loft years ago and I ripped most of it in to mp3 so I have all my bootlegs and random stuff on there too. I still really like sitting down and listening to an album from start to finish, reading the liner notes, lyrics etc so about 5 years ago I started buying any new albums from artists I really liked, on vinyl.

I've got a nice set of speakers and an old amp which needs upgrading, but listening to something on CD or vinyl on that or with headphones is something I really enjoy still. Especially when the mixes for streaming services seem to have no subtlety at all - they just seem to turn everything up to 11.

Buys vinyl
Beardy
Tattoos

Hipster doofus alert

Ascender walks into the vinyl shop of correctness, throws a couple of pistol fingers at the regulars by the counter, selects a particularly good copy of Janet Jackson’s Got Till It’s Gone, strolls out to where the birds are singing and the sun shines a little brighter. Ignoring the Spotify zombies and EarPod ghouls to strut to his dominion. An Eames chaired fortress of solitude where the creamy tones of “now why you wanna go and do that love huh” while sipping a rum swizzle.

Dave!