The past meets the future

@williewonka

Very true about the resurgent phase… the number and variety of really high end gear… reliant of course on material science as well a improved techniques and specialization has been remarkable. Very satisfying for us old guys steeped in a lifetime of collecting.

A glass of great red wine and vinyl go well. Tonite, Leone D'Oro Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, 2015

Yes, there continues to be innovation in vinyl, but not to the same extent and speed of digital. Vinyl has some real physical limitations, both in recording and playback arenas, digital much less. What does this mean for future?

I can only say as a boomer, vinyl was the dominant physical playback medium. From the time we were children we were exposed to record players and records, as budding audiophiles, turntables, cartridges held all our attention. We gathered great numbers of albums, albums easily available at department, drug, record, discount stores. Even allowing for inflation, albums were relatively cheap, we could use allowance or paper route money to purchase records. And I could go on and on. This was the golden age of audio to my mind, records dominated in so many ways. Today it is only niche, certainly there has been a renaissance, but this has been from near extinction levels. If I compare youth today to those of my time, vinyl is practically or totally non-existent for them. Between many, many youthful relatives and friends of theirs, the only youth I know involved with vinyl are DJ's, not a single one has turntable or home stereo system, most have or have had albums owned by parents in the home, all sold or cast off in garage or attic. I hear about this vinyl resurgence but don't see it with youthful masses, the only youth I observe becoming involved with vinyl are the budding audiophiles, relatively few and far between

I have fond memories of vinyl, lament the vast majority of today's youth won't  have these experiences and memories of a particular music format. I love steaming, but these vinyl experiences and memories cannot be replicated by streaming for the youth of today.

@sns

+1

To me the real key to longevity is performance. Sure, there is nostalgia, or cachet. Take for instance the wrist watch. As a child… young adult… adult I saw the Rolex the mark of a successful man. I had lusted after one since a kid. So ten or fifteen years ago I was in a work position that it would have been appropriate to wear such a accoutrement. My experience with luxury stuff was that in addition to being a work of art… they were functionally far superior… I mean… high end, fountain pens, audio gear, cars.. etc. You get superior performance AND great aesthetics. My Lexus was a tremendous surprise, it exceeded my expectations in performance in every way… it was a bargain. That is the definition of luxury stuff to me… expensive, but a bargain. 

So I bought a Tag Heuer as a tip toe in before I spent $10- 15K on a Rolex. I was shocked at its poor time keeping performance. Plus or minus a couple seconds a day. I got it fixed by the manufacturer to keep time to a second a day. That is good for a mechanical Rolex or Tag. I was practically living in Japan. There can be two trains within 1 minute… you need to know the exact time… not some generality. I don’t want to be spending all sorts of tie fiddling with my $15K watch. How is that luxury? I was really disappointed and disillusioned.I want back to the drawing board.

So after lots of research I found the Seiko Astron for a few thousand. Beautiful, but accurate within 1/10,000 of a second for 10,000 years, solar powered, and automatically changed time zones where you walked off the plane. Absolutely no question I was getting on the right train. Now, that is a luxury good! It doesn’t have the gold and recognition… but it is superior in performance and looks great.

My point is that when a good looses its performance edge… it’s appeal becomes all nostalgic… which will appeal to a hugely smaller population. so, as digital gets the sonic edge in all cost categories the renaissance will be over. Sure, there will be folks that continue to love it… but the audience will drop to tiny.

i sure wish i could listen past surface noise. but my brain won't let me. 

Yes, utility is a good thing.