Question Newbies getting into vinyl fad

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There have been a few questions recently on this subforum regarding newbie members wanting to get into vinyl on somewhat limited budgets.
Can anyone explain this phenomenon?
Back when I was a youf vinyl, mainly my father's, was the sole media I had access to until those new fangled cassettes came along as I couldn't afford a feel to feel front end.
Back then vinyl was, in a sense, fairly cheaply available in relation to the kit you played it on.
With the somewhat limited playback potential and current prices of the black disc can anyone explain to me just why someone would want to start from scratch....excuse the pun, nowadays?
Yours, very curious.
 
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For some of us brought up with LPs and singles I can see the connection/nostalgia, but for young newbies I have absolutely no idea. It is possibly the hardest medium to get right when you are on a tight budget. The only reason I can think of is that it has bragging rights/potential, or, at worst, is becoming a lifestyle product.

Do these people not realise that with current releases they are just getting an analogue copy of the digital master available on CD... OK, with some extra work for the LP due to its constraints as a playback medium.

Analogue LP playback done on the cheap can sound dire... it needs a reasonable chunk of cash thrown at it to get a decent sound. Conversely, a digital system can sound far superior for much less money. Personally, I'm seriously thinking of ditching analogue playback as my turntable sees so little use now.

I'm sure the turntable manufacturers are rubbing their hands together, as are the music corps who decide to release onto vinyl.
 
I would agree to mo
For some of us brought up with LPs and singles I can see the connection/nostalgia, but for young newbies I have absolutely no idea. It is possibly the hardest medium to get right when you are on a tight budget. The only reason I can think of is that it has bragging rights/potential, or, at worst, is becoming a lifestyle product.

Do these people not realise that with current releases they are just getting an analogue copy of the digital master available on CD... OK, with some extra work for the LP due to its constraints as a playback medium.

Analogue LP playback done on the cheap can sound dire... it needs a reasonable chunk of cash thrown at it to get a decent sound. Conversely, a digital system can sound far superior for much less money. Personally, I'm seriously thinking of ditching analogue playback as my turntable sees so little use now.

I'm sure the turntable manufacturers are rubbing their hands together, as are the music corps who decide to release onto vinyl.
I would agree with most of your observations apart from the one regarding LPs being mastered from digital, many are not and none of the ones I purchase are, however point taken that quite a few are, and that certainly raises a few more questions as to why someone would want to spend so much on a piece of vinyl produced thus.
 
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Maybe it's because we are in such an automated digital connected world today that to see analogue at work has something of a novelty value attached to it. A bit like digital readout watches were all the rage, now the better watches are seen as those having an analogue dial.

You've got to admit that getting a sound out of a shiny black disk with just a needle an amp and speakers is a pretty amazing feat. It was an incredible invention... but so is digital.
 
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I would agree with most of your observations apart from the one regarding LPs being mastered from digital, many are not and none of the ones I purchase are, however point taken that quite a few are, and that certainly raises a few more questions as to why someone would want to spend so much on a piece of vinyl produced thus.
Point taken, but we weren't talking about you we were discussing newbies with their latest Adelle LP. You're different, cos you're older :)
 
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Gray

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Could just be following the example of parents / grandparents.
Maybe just seen as a 'cool' idea.
Then there's that fairly common message that "nothing beats the sound of vinyl" - a statement that I don't think anyone has actually ever given on this forum.
(Though I stand to be corrected on that).
 
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Could just be following the example of parents / grandparents.
Maybe just seen as a 'cool' idea.
Then there's that message that "nothing beats the sound of vinyl" - a statement that I don't think anyone has actually ever given on this forum.
(Though I stand to be corrected on that).
I must admit, Gray, that 12" single you brought over to mine was absolutely stunning, I've heard nothing better on my turntable or through my CD player.
 

Markmaguire

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One interesting positive side affect for me. I’ve been working from home since the beginning of lockdown one. All that sitting hasn’t done my back much good. Playing records during the day instead of streaming means I need to get up every 20-30 minutes to turn or change the record so I get some time away from sitting at the computer.
 
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Dave Faraway

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I am in my 40s just over what they call geriatric millennial and grow up in the CD era to streaming, my answer to it is it just sounds better, I bought my first album for my mother to be ripped in my new Sony PSHX500 and just by chance a scratchy copy of 1977‘s Rumours was around, I nearly cried on realising why they’d done to our music, I spent some money on my rig trying to live in a convenient world where I shouted Alexa for what I wanted and the bloody full digital rig only comes alive with analog fed vinyl. Back to your question, CDs are terrible mastered, hence digital streaming too, a big percentage of new people to vinyl are part of a retro vibe, true but I also completely agree that younger people have better ears and once they hear it they like it, just like I did. Btw something that it is going on since the late 2000’s isn’t a fad.
 

Dave Faraway

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I would agree to mo

I would agree with most of your observations apart from the one regarding LPs being mastered from digital, many are not and none of the ones I purchase are, however point taken that quite a few are, and that certainly raises a few more questions as to why someone would want to spend so much on a piece of vinyl produced thus.
just To comment the loudness war has improved but I am afraid some 90s albums are that dynamically compressed that in the process of cutting them into vinyl they loose a lot of it, I have some LPs that I am in the clear that were full digital productions but find their counterpart in vinyl way less tiring, the Queen remaster of Night at the Opera sounds stunning on vinyl but compressed on digital and this measurable not even my opinion, I mean LPs can also be a good container music obtained from Hi-Re masters.
 

daytona600

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Even Naim see a future in vinyl now (and looks like it might only be only £16,000.
Get your orders in):
£16k is mid price these days for a Turntable

If you're going to spend a year-plus in COVID lockdown, it doesn't hurt to have a million dollars' worth of turntables keeping you company, right? That's been my good fortune. Sounds like a roomful, but it's only three: the SAT XD1, the TechDAS Air Force Zero, and the OMA K3 $360,000,

Analog Corner #314: OMA K3 turntable & Schröder tonearm | Stereophile.com
 

Oxfordian

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My eldest son now 30 has just bought two albums, and received a few albums that he wanted from his friends for his 30th. Okay that’s fine nothing strange or unusual about that.

But, he doesn’t have a record player, all his music listening is via Spotify and Alexa?????

Why has he bought them / asked for them? They’re cool apparently!
 
I didn’t see this thread when it started. It’s certainly an interesting phenomenon. I wonder if today’s youth know only phones and downloads, and now streaming. CDs they probably see at their grandparents, and these youngsters don’t own a player. Dad’s new car no longer has a CD slot either.

But these stunning 12” covers, with the amazing artwork and all the publicity - and expensive too - they must be better, surely? Then that astonishing whirling thing called a turntable. I want one!!

I would definitely not start with vinyl today, I think. But of course I cannot unlearn what I experienced when I was a teenager, so it’s hard to be certain.
 
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My eldest son now 30 has just bought two albums, and received a few albums that he wanted from his friends for his 30th. Okay that’s fine nothing strange or unusual about that.

But, he doesn’t have a record player, all his music listening is via Spotify and Alexa?????

Why has he bought them / asked for them? They’re cool apparently!
No disrespect whatsoever intended towards your son but he's a plonker :)
 
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DCarmi

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It's a collector/obsessive/hoarder thing. (Something most of us here probably suffer from.) Spotify and their ilk are intangible. There is no physical "thing" to show appreciation. A vinyl collection is always a talking point.

The same thing happens with books. People often say they "prefer" paper books to ebooks. They have a Kindle because it is just so convenient but putting a Kindle on display on a shelf is not quite the same. On the other hand reading a paper book like American Gods or a Hilary Mantel in bed or the bath is something of a challenge given their size.

I probably have a collection of about 1000 records (discounting CDs and tapes). I probably play around 200 vinyls in a year (discounting streaming, CDs etc), some of them more than once. So of those 1000, I probably play 100 unique records in a year. Therefore, I haven't listened to 90% of my vinyl in at least a year. I'd class me as a collector/obsessive/hoarder person.
 
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A plonker for buying LP’s or listening to Spotify on Alexa? :)

He claims that he will buy a record player when he moves into a house, he alleges that his flat is too small for a music system. 🤦‍♂️
The former :) what he does with listening habits is his business, but buying LPs and no player... hmm, I rest my case.
 
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