I retired 10 months ago and am still struggling to get out of the time management mindset. I’m doing better. Other cars pass me on the road now- and I don’t care. Looking at this from a time management perspective Vinyl and reel to reel master tapes fall to the bottom of the list. For example, the most efficient way to listen to music is Satellite Radio. It has no commercials, plenty of genre choices and will just play and play and play. This is maximum music with almost no time investment. (Sound quality is well, ugh.)
Next is streaming digital. This is very efficient. This is the ultimate format for stressed and time challenged executives who can budget maybe 30 minutes a week to listening to music. (I have been there.) I can sit in my chair with my iPad and listen to just about any piece of music ever made. And I can listen to as many as 20 songs/hour. Yes, that’s right. I can play snippets of songs until I hit on something I really want to hear. The irony here is that I can’t stand current TV or many new movies because they switch cameras or viewpoints every 3 seconds or the camera is constantly moving. That drives me bonkers. I sure was one of those guys in the 90's that everyone hated if I had the TV remote. I had to know what was on all 135 channels.
CD’s are next on the list. I still have to get up and put the disc in the player but I can skip songs without having to get up. So I can play a CD anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes. I have a nice CD transport but I do not actually play CDs very often. Still, I find it relaxing and fun to spin discs now and then.
And then there is Vinyl. Reel to reel master tape is even less efficient but I have never owned such a rig as satisfying as it is. Vinyl is still king. It is more than just the great sound. It involves one in the recorded music. But it doesn’t start with the music. Vinyl starts with the setup of the gear. Every variable from cartridge, tonearm, table, cables and preamp selection to isolation, tonearm geometry and record preparation involves the listener and demands all of the listener’s attention. (Allow your mind to wander while preparing to play a record and PLINK! There goes the stylus.) I’m sure it is a dying art. After 50 years of playing records I still learn things about vinyl. Ok, so I started with my copy of Billion Dollar Babies on a portable record player and a penny on the tonearm. I’ve come a long way.
Every audiophile who plays records is a craftsman. It takes patience and skill to get that sound that startles the layperson. Admit it, it is always a thrill to play a record for someone and hear them exclaim how it is so clear and lifelike. We can debate over the best sound but Vinyl is the true payoff. Put in the effort and the reward is assured.
