What best describes your position on the vinyl revival?

It's never been "or" but "and" for me.

I started buying vinyl in the 1960s and have never stopped.

I started buying CDs in the 1980s and have never stopped.

I have to admit with their current momentum, LPs are my primary focus, but if I want something and either it's only available on CD, or the best version is digital, that's what I'll buy.

 

Never left. There has always been a fair selection of new releases available on vinyl and shops selling them. The revival isn't primarily Classic Rock releases but these create the biggest stir on this forum. There was a period when a handful of audiophile labels provided most of my purchases. These days the majority of releases other than Classical and Country music get a vinyl release. It's a pity the pick up in interest didn't come sooner as most stores closed their doors around 10 years ago. Not noticed a great number of new vinyl outlets as reported in some parts of the world so most of the sales increase must be from on-line sources.

 

Back into it with enthusiasm. Nothing quite like hearing the latest sounds coming across at 33 1/3.

 

Been thinning out my music more than purchasing lately.
How many disc's do I need that I never listen too ?

 

They need to get the prices down for good quality new releases and rereleases on vinyl. They're gonna kill the golden goose. $25 for a catalog album simply too much.

 

Compare the average wage today with that when vinyl was the predominant medium..are they really more expensive today?

 

For me, two responses fit. They are:

"I'm buying some"

and

"Digital for me!"

I buy special releases on Record Store Day and chase down a few such titles online shortly afterwards, but I rarely buy vinyl at any other time. It has been years since I bought a used LP. By contrast, I am always buying new and used digital discs (CDs, SACDs, etc.).

All in all, Record Store Day is novel and fun for the collector in me, but vinyl is still a pain in the a**. I much prefer digital discs.

 

You are paying for the novelty of a record. A new CD (not considering audiophile releases) costs a fraction of a new LP. A big issue for me, and it is exacerbated by the price, is the poor quality control with vinyl today. There are far too many problems reported with new vinyl (noisy vinyl, off-center pressings, other pressing flaws).

 

The "vinyl revival" is mostly driven by the nouveau riche 20 something hipsters who are a part of any number of economic bubbles that are driving the economy today. I hate to admit it but the growing popularity of craft beer (or real ale as it has been known for centuries) is probably being driven in the same way.

 

I am the first to answer essentially that I tried it out buck have backed out. I tried it for alternatives to Loudness War CDs, some classic reissues, and some vintage finds. It was okay but never really clicked with me. I think it is cool especially if it gets folks listening to more music (instead of watching reality TV) and appreciating physical product. I feel the same for streaming services, as well.

I think I will try vinyl again when I can download it from the net, print the record on my home 3D printer, and play it on a laser turntable

 

This isn't true at all. Almost all new releases by new bands are now coming out on vinyl and younger people are buying them in great numbers.

It's not some 'rich elite' either, just like me when I was young it is just normal young people saving their money to buy a record once a month or whatever. It's not an expensive thing to do really compared to other things.

 

I got back into vinyl November 2012, and have bought an average of 6 records a month since then.

I still buy CDs and have bought a little over 100 in the same time frame.

I love a good-sounding record combined with a good pressing.

I love a good-sounding CD.

 

Well by now anyone who knows the stuff I post about knows that I'm not an audiophile; I guess the cat is out of the bag on that. Perhaps even more disconcerting, I am almost what you'd call the anti-audiophile. I've always believed in listening to music on whatever junk was available at the moment, no matter how big the rip in the speaker cone is, how wrinkled the cassette is, or how scratched up the vinyl is. For me, my focus has always been on the music, not the delivery medium.

I had started out as a vinyl collector, because that's all there was. By the time I was 21, I had over two thousand. In the late 80's, around the time I got out of college, I went through what one might call an aesthetic-spartan phase. Guided by the simple maxim, "he who travels light travels far", I tried to limit my worldly possessions. Moving cross country in 1989 to California turned out to be the excuse I needed to unload my vinyl (much of it wasn't even salable, given the crash in vinyl consumption at the time). I gave a lot of it away in a selfless act of generosity to three rabid collectors who got into literal tug-of-war fights over some of the records. It was a liberating experience for me, one that I never expected to enjoy so much. I felt free of a burden; I suddenly felt that I had been pulling a train by a chain my whole life, and the chain was ceremoniously cut.

Pumped, I left for California with a carload of junk, half of which I ditched upon arrival. For the next few years, I consumed music in an odd way. Still intent on maintaining my spartan 'don't let possessions weigh me down' credo, I would buy CD's and then trade half of them back in at Poobah Records in Pasadena for store credit, and pick up new ones. I made mix cassettes of the best songs from the ones I traded in, and figured I could always trade for one back if I needed to. In this way, I had an ever-rotating collection of no more than 100 CD's at a given time. Then, a move to Japan necessitated that I lighten up even more, so I sold off the CD's and ditched the last of my possessions, taking all I owned with me in a backpack.

In Japan, I rebuilt a large CD collection over an eight year span; I tried shipping most of it back to the US when I finally returned, but the boxes split open and smashed them (someone repackaged them an reshipped them, including three CD's that weren't even mine) It is not easy to properly box hundreds of CD's in bulk to ship, as it turns out. Although I replaced the jewel cases, the incident reminded me of what I hated about vinyl: its bulkiness.

The digital era is a lifelong dream come true. When I was a kid in the 70's, I used to imagine how great it would be if there were some kind of "magic music box" in which you could input any artist or any song, and play it, right there, on demand. Small enough that you could carry it with you, and use it anywhere you want to. I knew it was a childish dream and simply impossible, but it was fun to imagine anyway. As the world turned out, by the mid 2000's, this box had not only been invented, it had been refined far beyond the rudimentary concept I had dreamed of.

So to have music (all music, not just an album or CD) available at any place, at any time in a manner that is as portable as a pack of cigarettes is a dream come true. I can die any day a happy man for seeing this in my lifetime.

Vinyl was an aggravating monkey I was glad to get off my back. I've never looked back with regret, nostalgia, or sadness. Now I can hear digitally clear music of any type in my car or in my portable player, on the beach or in the mountains, the exact artist and song that suits the experience.

If people like collecting that stuff, I'm glad. I do believe in the preservation of history, no matter how trivial. I admire coin collectors and stamp collectors too.

But fer me--

Viva la revolución!

 

I am mainly in the digital camp, but still have about 1,000 LPs and a box of 45s that I've collected over the years. My vinyl purchases these days are mainly limited to RSD items and things from the used bins. Generally, I'm not paying twice the price of a CD (or more) for new vinyl. To quote Mr. Jagger, I'm "sittin' on a fence" when it comes to vinyl vs. digital. Though I did buy a Pro-Ject TT to replace my old Kenwood a couple of weeks ago...

 

Digital for me - I still play my old vinyl collection occasionally but I only buy CDs now.

 

I pick up the occasional re-issue if it is particularly lush or cool looking or very limited like some of the Music on Vinyl half-speed masters, etc. Otherwise I try to focus on finding records that aren't readily available as CD's. I recently found an amazing children's record by Burl Ives that I had never heard of, and a Bob & Ray stereo demonstration album with a full color cover by Jack Davis. I live for these things.

I still buy CD's because I like the physical medium and, now that they've been abandoned by the public at large (apparently) they are dirt cheap. Thank you America!

 

LPs have never stopped appearing in my record shops and I have never stopped buying them.

There were more record shops in London 5 years ago than now, so I don't see a revival, more publicity
yes, but no revival.

 

Amusement.

 

Both for me.

Some packages just make more sense on CD. The latest Bowie comp, for example. But other album are nice in their original format.

Never dumped my vinyl and I continued to pick up gem as I would see in vinyl bins in the 90s. Back when you could get org. vinyl for less then 5.00. Sometimes 1.00.

Nows the time to buy those discs your missing for for collection. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

 

I tried both but new vinyl is generally terrible and I find it all a waste of time. CD/SACD for me.

 

I think most of the vinyl resurgence can be attributed to nostalgia, a retro fad, or to owning large collections of LP's that one simply does not want to abandon. One smaller contributor could be the awful, over-compressed, loud mastering of so much popular music on CD's and digital files. As for me, I quit buying vinyl LP's in 1984 and have no intentions of buying anymore...although I do still have a turntable and I enjoy slapping a record on now and again. So, "never say never". And one more thing... The "mechanicalness" of LP playback can be enjoyable, as is simply watching the record go round and round.

 

I spent many years with record albums from 1977-1992. I've been over it for a long time. I do think the revival a very neat thing and I do watch/listen to needle drops and presentations on youtube.

I'm very content with CD/flac files for now.

 

Vinyl never died. It was just proving how cool it really was by keeping a low profile.

 

I generally only buy used vinyl these days, but it's refreshing to see new vinyl available again (if they don't kill it with price-gouging).

 

Digital for me! My vinyl days are in the past.