Why the Vinyl Boom is Over - WSJ

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by seaisletim, Jul 22, 2017.

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  1. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Also, not all the stats presented in that article are accurate. Other publications have a different perspective.

    All I know is stores seem to be getting busier. When I first started buying vinyl again about eight years ago, there were plenty of times I was in stores alone or close to it. Unless it's a musty used only shop, these days when I go record shopping there are lots of other customers.
     
  2. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    It would be interesting information to know about the mastering of digitally sourced LPs. It would also be a snarky way of requesting the labels/engineers to admit and document that the LP is digitally sourced.

    99.99% of people wouldn't even care about what DAC was used. It could be useful info for people doing critical listening comparisons of different pressings or other critical listening reviews. Ultimately you are listening to the DAC that was used to cut the LP. Different DACs can sound different. Different enough that knowing what DAC was used could be useful info when doing critical listening to those LPs. There have been times and recordings where I've really wanted to know what AD converter was used to master a CD or high-res digital file because I hear some sort of magic happening with the recording and I want to know if the AD converter is responsible for or contributing to that magic. Would be the same with wanting to know what DAC was used to cut an LP if I hear something special going on in the sound.
     
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  3. fabgear63

    fabgear63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albany, NY USA
    It's a crapshoot out there, when it comes to quality issues, but then again, it has always been this way. I have exhanged so much vinyl over the past forty years, since I was a kid. Skips, scratches, warps, off center pressings, labels peeling off, artwork missing, bad plating and pressing. Sometimes you want to throw your hands up and just say "screw it, get me a Spotify subscription".
    But streaming is so uninvolving. Your emotional investment is zilch. Vinyl , and CD's to a lesser extent, give you a tangibility, something to hold onto.
     
  4. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me.

    Location:
    New Orleans
    One of my favorite possessions is the Iggy & The Stooges Metallic KO reissue on Munster. It's on 220(!) gram vinyl. An audience recorded concert.

    I almost think it's supposed to be an absurd joke, as it's one of the least audiophile things ever recorded. That said, I love it dearly.
     
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  5. Where are you Simon

    Where are you Simon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Wales
    I hope you open the box sets and check every LP on your shops or friends TTs ?
     
  6. Where are you Simon

    Where are you Simon Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Wales
    I really wondered when this vinyl set was released [​IMG] in the metal and cardboard Zippo boxes.
    How many people round the world bought them just as collectors items or as investments (never to be opened or played) just to be sold on at a later date for a large profit?
    I bought one to play when it was released and almost every record was warped.
    I ended up sending nine box sets and individual replacement LPs back to different online shops in the UK and EU
    I had many phone conversations with the record company over the months after its release and the last question from them on the phone was What make of turntable do i use?
    Like that was causing the records to warp :rolleyes:
    Because they had not had anyone else with this problem.
    I gave up for nearly a year until i noticed a new set going for £80 at hmv.
    That only had two warped LPs in it so got those replaced for flat ones and now have a nice set.
    Thats why i wonder how many have been sold and never opened ?
     
  7. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    That might be true for you, but it's certainly not true for me when it comes to the actual music. I'm not sure how much more involved I have to be other than to enjoy listening to the song. Whether I listen via streaming, cd or lp, if I hear a song I like, I still like it the same regardless of format.

    People react differently to music. Some needs that lp, that cd, etc and I get that. It's the world I came up in and it came be a lot of fun. But to me, a good song is a good song and I don't care how I hear it as long as I hear it.
     
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  8. Vinyl Dude

    Vinyl Dude Well-Known Member

    Agreed! Take reissues like the 2015 Queen box, as well as the spate of 180g Pink Floyd reissues from 2016-17, among others. They clearly went to significant pains to get it right in the mastering stages, enough so that my ears would've been fooled into thinking they were AAA if I hadn't already known otherwise. I heard none of the brittleness, harshness or graininess some claim digital is still associated with. On the other hand, I've heard my share of recent vinyl that clearly was nothing more than a straight transfer from a CD master (i.e., such as the 2008 re-press of the 1995 "Abbey Road" reissue that was topping vinyl best-seller lists during the beginnings of this resurgence. Absolutely TERRIBLE). In fact, if a company is so desperate to get a title out that they cut straight-from-CD, they just shouldn't bother at all. But then, that's just good ol' industry greed rearing its ugly head yet again.
     
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  9. Vinyl Dude

    Vinyl Dude Well-Known Member

    Seriously? Just because ONE ARTICLE and ONE ARTICLE ALONE tells you that the boom is over (when nothing at this point could be further from the truth...YET, anyway), you're going to let that Sgt. Pepper reissue sit on a shelf unopened and collect dust? PLEASE! I don't mean to come on so strong, but you need to follow your own judgement and instinct, NOT what a 'fake news' mainstream media outlet tells you! I say that when it arrives, fire up your turntable, crack that baby open and ENJOY IT!!!!! Just my two cents.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2017
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  10. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    I guess I should have added a smiley face.
     
  11. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    Okay. I'm going to open it up and listen to it.

    Because of your encouragement.

    If it ever arrives, that is.
     
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  12. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    This is a difficult concept for many to grasp in the digital age.
     
    Dave likes this.
  13. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    Just because I can't afford vinyl records at that moment doesn't mean the vinyl boom is over.^^
     
  14. andrewskyDE

    andrewskyDE Island Owner

    Location:
    Europe
    The lady behind the third one is kinda creepy.
     
  15. havenz

    havenz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    MOV is very transparent about their sources, as has been noted elsewhere in these forums. If you email, them as I have, and inquire about sources on specific releases they always write back. From their site:
    "We receive and use different kinds of masters: analogue tapes, original metal parts, lacquers cut from analogue tapes and high res digital files 192/96khz/24 bit. Music On Vinyl does not use CD's as masters."
    Source: About Us - Music On Vinyl

    I understand if one is not into digital to analog cutting, that is their prerogative. If however, you don't mind the sources, their vinyl releases of 90s artists sound very good in my experience. YMMV

    It is simply self-satisfying to accuse them of cutting from CD. So far as being honest about their sources, MOV are one of the good guys.
     
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  16. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    Vinyl boom over? Damn. Guess Japan hasn't gotten the word yet. Here's my most recent copy of Rekodo + CD Mappu (Record + CD Map). It's a 400+ page guide book to (mostly) record stores all over Japan. Published continuously since I've been here. No hint of boom or bust as far as I can see (although I noticed yesterday the little computer store in a the next town over just started carrying a little USB turntable). Last time I was in Shibuya branches of Recofan and Disk Union they were packed with customers both Japanese and foreign (I heard Italian spoken by one group). I guess it might be a fad elsewhere. A mainstay in the Tokyo region.

    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    More kids are getting into vinyl. The boom will continue especially as they get more disposable income. Look at the used Bowie prices. Still through the roof.
     
  18. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    There's also a difference between a commercial CD and an archive CD (or DVD) storing hires digital files. There are labels that use commercial CDs as their source (Plain, 4MWB, etc.), but unless I've missed something, that is not the case with MOV.
     
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  19. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    Plain and 4MWB should be avoided. I gave away my copies of Scott Walker 3 (4MWB) and Saint Etienne (Plain).
     
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  20. e.s.

    e.s. Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    A friend of mine had their Scott Walker albums. Fcuking shocking how bad those things sounded.
     
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  21. Vinyl Dude

    Vinyl Dude Well-Known Member

    Wow....I actually never thought about there being a difference between commercial and archived CD's. Are archived CD's of a higher bit-rate than the 16-bit used for commercial discs? Either way, I guess that totally gets MOV off the hook, in that they don't master from CD's of any kind. I've personally had nothing but GREAT experiences with all the MOV reissues I've picked up over the past several years. However, I've also had 4MWB reissues that I was mostly disappointed with, as well as a couple of Plain reissues that bit it big time! The other labels who "specialize" in "unofficial" reissues (Bootlegs, basically), such as Doxy, Wax Time, Vinyl Lovers, etc., are NOTORIOUS for cutting from commercial discs. I'd say THOSE, plus anything from 4MWB or Plain, are to be avoided at all costs.
     
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  22. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    I like the digital age.

    So much information to wade through.

    So little time.

    That's why I'm Oh So Glad that the WSJ clued me in.

    Only to be saved by the SHF and a helpful poster.

     
  23. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

  24. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

    Did you really think I was serious?
     
  25. DRM

    DRM Forum Resident

     
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