Comments

1
Vinyl records still have the problem of friction from where the needle drags in the groove. In addition there is the noise that friction generates that can be heard when played at loud volumes or listened to over headphones. LP's are also very susceptible to damage from scratching and warpage. The digital transfer of music will always be superior.
2
Cool video, but I still don't get it. Seems like magic to me.
3
@1 The imperfections of records are what we like. Music is made by living organisms and Earth's processes; neither is supposed to be "perfect" in the human's idea of perfection. BTW, CDs and computers also break and malfunction often, so not sure what you find superior in them.
4
@3........It's true that CD's can be damaged and even deteriorate but they hold up much longer than an LP. Also, CD players are smaller and much more portable. Now a vinyl record is more suitable to a disc jockey, especially if you want to manipulate the way the record spins but on the whole the CD will give better sound. While the CD is not perfect I still find it to be superior in an overall way. I have nothing against LP's and used to own a lot of them but the technology is now too archaic and impracticable.
5
Bertha's right. Vinyl has a limited shelf life. Digital is far superior when implemented with 'an ear' toward music. Meaning, streaming bitrates are far to limited. We have to capture and recreate many frequencies (even those we cannot hear) to attenuate each other before the sound reaches the ear. And by all means, the speaker are the most important. That is where the sound is actually being reproduced. And I'm sorry iseult, but it is reproduced sound. The sound is produced by the speaker after an electric current is transmitted to them through wires. So love vinyl by all means, but don't pretend it's anything other than an inferior technology.
6
Quality digital formats are objectively superior in every way that can possibly be measured (dynamic/frequency range, noise/distortion, etc). These formats reproduce the sound waves that make up music more accurately than vinyl, and for the most part they do not degrade over time (CD rot is mostly a myth). CDs reproduce perfectly (yes, perfectly) all the content that is on the recording (however imperfect that recording might be).

The appeal to vinyl is largely psychological. It is a beautiful and physical medium. Some people enjoy the increased distortion too, but please don't confuse this with accuracy.

The best thing about this so called "vinyl resurgence" is that due to obvious limitations of the medium, it encourages young people getting into vinyl to listen at the sweet spot to an album all the way through at reference volume. Of course vinyl sounds better to many people.
7
@4- no, you are very much wrong. CD's, as an example, do no hold up over time. Aside from having much more delicate surface and a limited shelf life, a single scratch near the beginning can render the entire disc useless, whereas a scratch on a record only effects that area. Digital storage is even more temporary, as file formats change, discs and devices to read them deteriorate or become impossible to locate/operate. I routinely play records that are 50-70 years old. Lets see how the files you purchased this year are doing in 2086. Vinyl does not deteriorate on it's own, nor does it have a 'shelf life'- in fact I have pulled records out of floodwaters, and barns- a little cleaning and they play fine. Records are not perfect, but given how old the technology is, it seems to offer a lot that other formats simply have never matched.
8
@rshoff: Great point about the speaker being the most important. And phenomenally great speakers/subwoofers are cheaper than they've ever been. What an amazing time it is to be a lover of music.
9
@7: A well cared for CD will last many lifetimes and inumerable plays. Vinyl measuraby degrades every time the needle digs into those grooves.
10
While I was never a true audiophile I had several friends who were. One thing they all did when they purchased a new vinyl LP was on the first playing to patch it into a reel to reel tape recorder recording at it's fastest speed. They did this because the first play was the best; all subsequent plays were not as good. Again, I'm not trying to disparage LP's but a digital recording has too much going for it to be considered inferior to an LP.
11
My frustration is that digital gets a bad rap because streaming services are not giving us the full spectrum of sound. They leave a lot of gaps in frequencies and that leaves the sound flatter. However, just because streaming is digital, it does not mean that digital is limited to streaming quality. Many songs I've ripped from my own CD collection are over 1000 kbps whereas streaming is often 128kbps or 256kbps at best. So, when we are dissatisfied with streaming quality, consider the service to be at fault, not the technology. There is a lot more to sound and how we experience it than the medium it is stored on. Bottom line, digital is more exacting and the quality can be maintained all the way from the microphone during the recording through your speakers that reproduce the sound -if there are not weak links in between.
12
You misunderstood me. I like the "imperfections" on vinyl. Just like I like live performances - of artists who are actually singing and not just lipsync in concerts - better than studio recordings. CDs are like digital photographs, too sharp and metalic for me.
13
I've owned and used both formats for decades. Nowadays I use CDs for convenience, and my records when I just want to kick back and dig my records. My mid priced record player can track most any platter. Records I've owned and babied for decades sound great, of course, but even the old stuff I got from the Cellophane Square bargain bins sounds pretty good.

I'd have stuck with the format regardless, because no way was I going to replace all that old software. But it's great to have all the kids along for the ride.
14
You CD snobs are ridiculous
15
@11 - Exactly. Digital CAN be better, but the way it's generally consumed (streaming at low bit rates) isn't. The difference between a RAW image and a jpg—which I suppose leaves vinyl as a photographic print in this analogy. But really, it's fine—I've got music in my phone, and those that seek higher quality are not limited.

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