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Why do YOU love Vinyl/or hate vinyl

I just responded to the thread on how many sources do you have ( shotgunning tonight) and got me wondering why I love vinyl so much? Have a very good digital side on both my main system and my headphone system as well that was set up for Redbook playback (headphone system) only utilising my vast 1,000 CD collection, enjoyed it for about a year, added a turntable and haven't used it since. My love of vinyl has been with me for 55 years, buying and playing, setting up my tables , matching preamps and enjoying the fruit of my labor. I believe my love of vinyl is a simple one, it stemmed from the hands on, need to tinker and adjust that I was born with, it's a very physical attraction that I just can not resist, it satisfies a lot of needs for me and in some way is that mistress that I maintain. My turntable is massive and so easy to look at, I can touch it and get more out of it, I can read about the artist and get info while I listen to an album, I can swap out a cartridge and change the tone and in the day the album covers served as a rolling tray to roll a joint. I love vinyl, but absolutely understand while others don't. I also envy people like uberwaltz that have and use so many sources, wish I could. What say you?
tooblue
mambacfa
75 posts
 
It's all about the sound; analogue sounds better (i.e. more realistic) than digitized music. Sound is inherently analogue; it's physical. Only in Star Trek does a physical thing get digitized (converted) in one place and then reappear (converted again) without changing its essence. 

The appeal of digital is its low cost and convenience. Its sound quality has improved, but in a side-by-side comparison, digital always loses to a good-quality vinyl setup. 
jssmith
321 posts
 
I dislike:
  • snap, crackle, pop, hiss
  • the inconvenience of the manual process
  • space hogs
  • the expense
  • the degradation
I like:
  • nothing about them

Having started my "audiophile" hobby when there was nothing serious but vinyl, I just don't get the vinyl nostalgia. I dumped mine as soon as possible. Maybe it's my nature as a software engineer to always look forward, but I can think of nothing of a mechanical or electrical nature, that was better performance-wise in the "old days". I collect vintage things as art, but I don't "use" them. I use new technology because it makes life easier and it's almost always better from a performance perspective. My whole collection fits on a flash drive. I can stream by voice command. To me, vinyl is like watching TV without a remote control. Heck, I even talk to my TV now. No remote needed.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
rbstehno

Sorry my memory aint what it used to be, sure you mentioned that before but now you are bringing another variable into the mix, that of cost.

Sure recording onto reel on good quality tape at 7.5ips minimum is not cheap but I had not even thought about or factored in cost.
Heck if I start thinking about cost I must as well just sling a rope up over the rafters and be done with it all..... lol.
mach12's avatar
mach12
7 posts
 
I don't like vinyl at all since it distracts me from my purpose of all this effort, which is to listen to music, not tinkering with INFERIOR system to reduce pops and noise.

Budda said to cross the damn river, not to stay in the ship.

What the heck is the point of all these audiophile gear?
The purpose is to REPRODUCE ORIGINAL RECORDING as if you are there in the studio next to musicians EVERY SINGLE TIME.

The very INFERIOR DESIGN of the vinyl system is that it leaves listener to experience different sound/noise with each PLAY, yet my ARTIST clearly tried very hard to ELIMINATE any pops and noise in the ORIGINAL RECORDING unless intended.

Based on 2nd law of Thermodynamics, if you play the same vinyl track 10 times in a row, you will experience different sound every time and every next play you will DEVIATE more from the ORIGINAL RECORDING due to DISORDER (like tiny particles in the air) you add every single time. 

IF YOU LOVE your vinyl because if you like FONDLING and TWEAKING that's your thing. My thing is to simply LISTEN to music close to original recording.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Unless you go through a lot of hoops, digital generally still sounds thin, unnatural, bloated, bass shy, inarticulate, congealed, zippy, two dimensional, generic, metallic, electronic, like paper mache, bland, hard, piercing, compressed, airless and sour. Yet people still tell me, “My system sounds fabulous!” As Bob Dylan says at the end of his songs, “Good luck to you!”
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