Vinyl Reason

"Zaikesman, do you really think audiophiles are soo dumb that they jump on any bandwagon to come along regardless of whether or not it has anything to offer?"

Well, I'm not going to generalize about all audiophiles, and I wouldn't necessarily describe it as being "dumb" (it's any audiophile's money to entertain themselves with as they please), but essentially, yes - depending on what you mean by "anything to offer".

Vinyl offers tweaky retro fun, a cool and exclusively 'clubby' image, another chance to buy aesthetically interesting gear, and maybe a trip back to your youth. I think all those factors, plus incentive from cheerleading audio columnists, the financial imperatives of the high end industry, and the plain old bandwagon effect of what one's peers are doing, have contributed more to the vinyl renaissance than supposed sonic superiority.

But even if I did perceive it as being mostly about sound, I'd still view the trend just as skeptically, because A) digital sound is not the universally inferior monstrosity it's made out to be, and B) because I'm a bad audiophile - I have a disparaging view of a hobby that I see as being more valuing of gear and sound than of appreciating music as art. And the vinyl renaissance exemplifies this to me: Whereas my own interest in records has little to do with sound or gear and everything to do with access to music, that's not what I commonly see with audiophiles who (re)discover vinyl. I think it's a gear-driven phenomenon, couched within a near-mythological pretext of better sound.

I'm just answering the question posed at the top. I've said why I've always been into vinyl, and conversely why I think a lot of audiophiles are into vinyl now. Those with large and interesting record collections know who they are - and have no reason to take offense from my rant - and those who've merely duplicated their audiophile-approved CD holdings on vinyl know who they are. Among the former, most aren't audiophiles, but some of us are. Among the latter, all are audiophiles, and although some of them will also be true music lovers, their dabbling in vinyl won't primarily be about that.

Audiophiles love to tweek their equipment.
Vinyl playback systems can be endlessly "tweeked", but unlike most digital tweeks (like the plastic thing you place on top of your CDP) the analog tweeks actually make sense and can significantly affect the sound.

The argument that there are excellent, and historic, recordings which are not available in digital format is valid.

The ritual of LP play is loved by some. Like the Japanese tea ceremony, where the taste of the tea is not the most important thing.

(How am I doing, Albert?)

Fine except your post seems to indicate that you believe that the LP is popular because of the "ceremony" rather than sound and that tweaks are necessary for LP playback to be satisfying.

Thus far, I have spent considerably more time tweaking CD playback than my Walker turntable. I set the Walker up in 1999, adjusted the cartridge, arm and tracking and have not touched it since, except to verify it had not moved.

I think you like the convenience of CD, and that is a valid reason to love the format. I don't think you believe in the power of LP (and analog in general), so your posts reflect that position.

In all fairness, I'm guilty of "not" believing in the power of digital to deliver music in my system, so I have stopped investing tens of thousands of dollars on that format, like I used to do.

The Walker has been a much smarter and safer investment, performance aside. Even my $1000.00 Sony CD player has dropped a few hundred dollars since I bought it (luckily I did not buy a $10K audiophile unit), while the Walker has increased in value.

I could sell my analog rig for thousands of dollars more than I paid, so convenience aside, it has proven to be the right choice for making great music, providing freedom from maintenance and has fared much better than most digital product, at least as far as holding value.

Obviously we are looking for different things from our system and will likely never come to any agreement.

Albertporter...You are not the typical vinyl fan. The ones I know are endlessly tweeking and adjusting and upgrading. And they seem to enjoy it, and talking about it.

Your photography is good. Do you use a digital camera, or are you still into film?

I enjoy sharing music, that's what this is all about. Since this is a hobby I can strive for the best and what suites my taste.

As for Photography, I make my living doing that and conform to whatever the buyer wants. If they specify 8X10 film, that's what they get. If they specify digital, that's what they get.

I own every format from 35MM through 8X10 and work for a variety of customers. Southwest Airlines will ONLY accept film, Raytheon ONLY accepts digital.

Much like the audio community the choices are divided and like a software store, I simply take the customers money and give them what they want.

So, the choice is not mine, unlike my music hobby.

It would all be on film and shot with my Hasselblad or better if I had my way. Digital may surpass film in the near future. Unlike digital audio where Sony and Phillips (and the like) control the quality of the format (and limit it). Photography is a recording of the original even, much like the recording engineer's job in music.

EXCEPT, in photography the buyer is the end user and it behooves Canon, Hasselblad and Nikon to do a BETTER job than the competition, otherwise they loose business. As this competition evolves, better digital pick up devices will be offered to the photographer at lower and lower prices, just as has happened with the computer business.

I wish this could be true of the music business. Unfortunately the big boys have no incentive, competition or reason to make things better for the small segment of audiophiles that want quality as well as great offerings from their artists.