VINYL RECORDS — WHY YOU SHOULD CARE (PT 1)
Listening to and collecting vinyl records might seem out-of-date to some and pointless to others. These days, we’ve got iPods, mp3s, and sometimes even a CD or two. So why spend time and money on heavy, old records?
1) They can be cheap – you can find vinyl records for bargain-basement prices, if you know where to look.
2) They are still around – cassettes and 8 tracks are gone. CDs are on the way out. DATs ain’t where it’s at. Reel-to-reel tapes aren’t doing great. But vinyl has managed to stand the test of time. I think they’ll stick around for at least the next 20 years.
3) They are collectible – record covers look great on a wall and some people will pay big bucks for the right record.
4) They can be converted into any other format – Play the record and record the playback. Then burn a CD, make an mp3, etc.
5) They are made for DJs – you can find turntables in virtually every club in NYC, to this very day! It’s easy to touch and manipulate, cue, and adjust the tempo. Many of the new DJ software / hardware out there today still either uses record players or borrows heavily from the vinyl experience.
And finally,
6) They are a part of history. For a significant part of the 20th century, music was released exclusively on vinyl. Much of this music has not been re-released on CD or digitally! There are songs and artists out there to be re-discovered and enjoyed.
Next time I’ll talk about gearing up… buying a record player, needles, etc.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Good start and indeed vinyl records allow you to discover new genres of music.
April 4th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
definitely good reasons to pay attention to vinyl, but I have to take issue with point (4). sure, records can technically be converted into any format. but come on, let’s be realistic, you’re not converting these into mp3s to put on an iPod. even if you’re willing to take the time and effort to do such a thing, it just doesn’t sound good when listening to something like that.
April 10th, 2007 at 12:40 am
You negeleced to add that vinyl just sounds better than its sterile counterparts…analog vs digital, there is no comparison. But, then again, I am a bit biased.
Robert
www.collectingvinylrecords.com
April 12th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
robert: i agree with you that vinyl sounds better.
the difference (to those not in the know) is that vinyl is continuous data. With CDs, 44 samples are made per second to approximate the continuous data.
sivan: you are right that it takes time and effort to convert vinyl into mp3. let’s just say that it not something you’d do for any record. With regards to what you said about sound quality, I am pretty sure you didn’t use a RIAA phono preamp when you transfered that crusaders record from vinyl to mp3. I will explain more about gear issue in part 2…
April 13th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dave meant to say that CD’s have 44 thousand samples per second, not 44 samples per second. CD’s are recorded in a 16-bit 44.1khz audio format (note the ‘k’ in ‘khz’).
April 20th, 2007 at 4:00 am
yes, yes, the “k” key on my keyboard is sticky