Poll: Are We Passing the Peak of Vinyl?

Last year our music store had an 8' section of vinyl. This year it has expanded to 30'

It's the CD section that is currently getting smaller and smaller.

 

I get lots of enjoyment from my unnecessary CD players so this is of no concern to me. The point here is the comparison on playback between the CD and vinyl album. Both enjoyable with the right equipment.

 

I grew up with CDs, I still don't feel I have the album unless I have the CD. I love streaming to find new stuff but if I like it, I buy it. Always.

 

Still love me vinyl and my thousands of cds. I have 4 of these in rotation in mint condition.


Look at this on eBay Sony CDP-CX335 Mega 300 CD Changer »

 

I have had a 200 CD Sony for around 20 years. It has been gathering dust for the past 5 or 6 though. I have ripped all of my (considerably more than 200) CDs to lossless files and play them through a digital music player. I am thinking about putting all of the CDs into the loft because they take up so much space and are just dust magnets these days.

My vinyl, however, lives on and gets listened to frequently

 

Hear ya much. Can't stop technology.
A vinyl collection takes up much more space than cds. Guess everyone is getting rid of their cds, they take up space but not as much as the vinyls. Love it either way.
At least you enjoy some form of physical media.

 

And you realize by my monicker that I am speaking tongue in cheek?

I'm aware, and that's why I used it in a slanderous way to describe when I was working in a record store, CD's were introduced but not selling, and so the suits of all the major record labels decided to stop pressing vinyl to improve new format sales.

Hence my comment of "a momentary lapse of reason".

I wasn't trying to be too cryptic.

 

Technically speaking, the peak of vinyl was in 1982.

30 years of the music industry in 30 seconds | Geek-Cetera | Geek.com »

 

I do not think the resurgence has peaked yet, but I think the rate of growth will slow.

 

I used to go in that store. I think the reason it went under was that there prices were ridiculously high. With the vinyl resurgence, that were many alternative sources to buy at much lower prices. Plus rents where the store was located went through the roof.

 

The idea that vinyl has an enduring appeal, and might not be a ridiculously fickle fad or lurching fashion statement, seems to drive a lot of people crazy.

One way the appeal of vinyl could be undercut is if there was a solution to the scandalous absence of a standard for providing the album art / liner notes / visual design that vinyl still does better than any other medium. Even the lavish combo of files / digital booklet / hour-long film you get with a release like Beyonce's Lemonade feels slightly half-assed next to the sumptuous booty of a physical LP.

With rare exceptions CDs are pathetically miniaturized Honey I Shrunk the Album jokes (to me, anyway) as visual / informational design objects.

And no matter how good an HD download sounds, it's usually a sadly orphaned thing bereft of anything to immerse yourself in visually and textually.

 

I have some CD's that I always found to be pleasing as physical objects, some CD's had great booklets with pictures and information. Unfortunately as I get older it's harder to read them, even with glasses. But as far as I'm concerned, CD's appeal as a physical format was greatly enhanced by actually needing the disc and a disc player to listen to the music. Now that every CD I buy is immediately ripped to FLAC, the disc and its packaging is less relevant. I still own many CD's and sometimes I do actually listen to the discs when at home (I think CD's played back via my Oppo DVD player sound a little better than the FLAC files played on the same system), but playing the CD is not an essential experience. Even if every CD was sold in sumptuous LP-style packaging, I don't think it would make it that much more attractive when the same sound can be had from a portable file.

 

...and shoving a disc (which is something you can buy at Office Depot) into a player, where it disappears, just isn't as fun as puttin the needle on the groove and watching the turntable/tonearm do its magic. It just isn't. And you've got a 12x12 piece of art to look at while it does. It's like real cooking vs microwaving.

 

Folks, let's try to refrain from making disparaging comments about the CD format. There are many CD diehards on this forum (some who have never looked back) who may be checking this thread about the demise of vinyl, and such comments and comparisons can often be taken as offensive and hurtful - especially to those who are easily offended or hurt (e.g., CD diehards).

 

I undisparagingly love listening to my many hundreds of CDs. *Hate* the physical format, though, which to me is central to the comparative advantage of vinyl and why it became relevant after being left for dead.

 

#MakeCeeDeesGreatAgain

 

it is a fad.......kids only buy used vinyl because sound quality simply does not matter at all, and most importantly, it is ridiculously cheap. common albums in used record stores are $1 or less, and it's even cheaper in the thrift stores.

the people buying new vinyl (with it's exorbitant pricing) are the old guys who still like it better than CD's.

in about 10 years the next generation will want old CD's really cheap, and they will probably get them as we die off and our heirs give them away to get them out of the house

 

1) I'm saying that many of the HDTracks are not that special but only copies of the cd with software ran to "guess" at the missing info pulled out (compression). Or worse they are copies of new remastered cd. (Many times meaning even poorer quality)

2) If the koolaide reference is a dig implying a lack of intelligence hopefully implying my point is less valid due to spelling then I urge you to meet miss Sloan my 3rd grade English teacher.... She could spell anything but she didn't know squat about audio.

 

This discussion is pointless. What's important is the mastering not the format. Badly mastered 96/24 will always sound worse than properly mastered 16/44.1. A properly mastered CD will sound better than a badly mastered vinyl and so on...

 

Fuller explanation.

"Drinking the Kool-Aid" is a figure of speech commonly used in North America that refers to any person or group who knowingly goes along with a doomed or dangerous idea because of peer pressure. The phrase oftentimes carries a negative connotation when applied to an individual or group. It can also be used ironically or humorously to refer to accepting an idea or changing a preference due to popularity, peer pressure, or persuasion.

The phrase derives from the November 1978 Jonestown deaths, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, who were followers of Jim Jones, died, many of whom committed suicide by drinking a mixture of a powdered soft drink flavoring agent laced with cyanide (with the remainder, including 89 infants and elderly, killed by forced ingestion of the poison).

 

Fortunately the overwhelming majority of LP's I buy are properly mastered. My average for CD's is somewhat lower.

 

So, how many years has it been since you were actually in a record store?

 

I agree, that's the problem with cd's these days.

 

nice, but i give you the courtesy of an answer since you asked.

2 days ago. the exchange...in boardman, ohio...they have new/used vinyl, CD's and movies.

and there were two teens in there looking at vinyl and complaining about how much it cost...and, they were looking in the bargain bin.

 

Nice of you to speak for all kids and why they buy vinyl. I'm sure their proud to have you as their spokesman.