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Who asked for this?

I personally think the new 2-album 45 rpm craze is a PITA and that the record companies could have brought out a product that was 98% as good on one 33.3 rpm disc. Who wants to clean and store and extra disc with every record? Well, the vinyl industry must have heard my plea and is now releasing an even bigger abomination: FOUR single-sided 45 rpm discs per record. I'm sure you can't wait to get your hands on this stuff so you can spend even more time screwing around with the records and less time listening. (nothing personal - just a rant)

http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/61219/Dave_Brubeck_Quartet-Time_Out-45_RPM_Vinyl_LP
chayro
chayro OP
2,983 posts
 
MoFi - they may well sound excellent, but do you really think it's because they used 4 single-sided discs as opposed to using 2 double-sided? Or one 33.3 disc made with equal care and expense?
davt's avatar
davt
500 posts
 
I have to agree with you to a degree. I have a lot of two album 45rpm and a few of the Clarity Vinyl sets. They do sound nice. But, my best sounding LP's happen to be very well done 33 1/3. I would like to see higher quality 33 1/3. I don't mind changing the record on the 45's but am getting tired of having so many vinyl disks. I love my vinyl and if I only had one source it would be vinyl, but I think we are going to suffer from the retro bandwagon trends for awhile due to it's new found popularity.
hifiharv
351 posts
 
I don't have any, but I don't doubt that they (can) result in the best LP sound possible. The science of it just makes sense. I wouldn't mind the extra fuss, cleaning, etc. It would be worth it for superior sound. it's the price that keeps me away, too many discs in the box.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,212 posts
 
There are technical reasons why 45rpm discs could sound better than 33/⅓s, but one reason for the proliferation of 45rpms is that the number of craftsmen who know how to cut long playing sides has greatly diminished due to retirement and death. For the same length of music it is easier to cut a 45 than an equivalent 33⅓ at the same level of fidelity.
herman
2,251 posts
 
I have quite a few both single and double sided and the sound is definitely superior to the 33. In many cases it isn't even close. It simply is not physically possible to equal what can be done with a 45 when you slow it down to 33. I agree that I would pefer less discs for the sake of convenience, but if you want the best possible sound and have a vinyl playback system capable of extracting what these discs have to offer then this is it, warts and all. I would also prefer the convenience of ditching the vinyl all together and playing little shiny discs but that results in inferior sound too.
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