Why the Vinyl Boom is Over - WSJ

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

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  1. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    In my case, a record cleaning machine, a very good cartridge that is professionally set up alleviates many problems. Especially the record cleaning machine and L'art du son solution. I put records on that were really noisy but after a good cleaning were very good.

    I think those of that grew up with vinyl, may not be as sensitive to occasional crackling at the beginning of the first track or in between tracks.
     
    monte4, paolo, Norco74 and 3 others like this.
  2. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Looking at my discogs profile, there are 46 entries from the past 2½ years of "new" (sealed, recently pressed) LPs I purchased. The only dud in the bunch I can name is the Third Man reissue of Melvins' Houdini LP - and the only issue with that is the rather tame bass in the mastering (which does not befit the Melvins). But that's not a manufacturing defect, just the unhappy result of cramming too much playing time on a single LP. They should have made it a double, as they did with the excellent reissue of Stag.

    Keiji Haino - Watashi Dake? (Black Editions (2) - BE000LP)
    Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me (Warner Bros. Records, Rhino Records (2) - 081227940294, R1-45019)
    The Fall - The Marshall Suite (Let Them Eat Vinyl - LETV489LP)
    The Residents - The Ghost Of Hope (Psychofon Records - PR010)
    Laibach - Also Sprach Zarathustra (Mute - STUMM401)
    Weezer - Weezer (Geffen Records, UMe - B0025154-01)
    Weezer - Weezer (Crush Music (2) - 554625-1)
    Sonic Youth - Washing Machine (DGC, UMe - B0023559-01)
    The Terminals - Uncoffined (HoZac Records, HoZac Archival - HZR-189, #21)
    The Feelies - Time For A Witness (Bar/None Records - BRNLP-237)
    Brian Eno - The Ship (Warp Records - WARPLP272)
    Scott Walker - The Childhood Of A Leader (4AD - CAD 3620 )
    ESP Ohio - Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean (Guided By Voices Inc. - GBVI70)
    Melvins - Stag (Third Man Records, Third Man Records - TMR-297, TMR297)
    The Move - Something Else From The Move (Esoteric Recordings - ECLECEP 1002)
    Mushroom (3) - Psychedelic Soul On Wax (Little Mafia Records - LM097)
    Robert Pollard - Not In My Airforce (Guided By Voices Inc. - GBVi67)
    Wire - Nocturnal Koreans (Pinkflag - PF23LP)
    Kinks* - Mister Pleasant (BMG - BMG16001V)
    House & Hawk - Mick Jagger Solo Album (Heavy River Records - HVYRVR-VINYL-002)
    Ramones - Live At The Roxy August 12, 1976 (Sire, Rhino Records (2) - R1 555357, 081227945169)
    Parquet Courts - Human Performance (Rough Trade - RTRADLP810)
    Melvins - Houdini (Third Man Records, Third Man Records - TMR-295, TMR295)
    The Jesus And Mary Chain - Honey's Dead (Plain Recordings - plain168)
    The Monkees - Good Times! (Rhino Records (2) - R1 553592)
    Dusty Springfield - Faithful (Real Gone Music, Atlantic - RGM-0444)
    David Bowie - Bowie At The Beeb (Parlophone, BBC - 0825646095285, DBBBCLP6872)
    Zeitkratzer + Keiji Haino, Stockhausen* - Aus Den Sieben Tagen (Karlrecords - KR011)
    The Stone Roses - All For One (Columbia - none)
    Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (XL Recordings - XLLP790)
    David Bowie - ★ (Blackstar) (ISO Records, Columbia, Sony Music - 88875173871, 88875173871 S1)
    Barbara Lynn - You'll Lose A Good Thing (Not Now Music - NOTLP183)
    Eleventh Dream Day - Works For Tomorrow (Thrill Jockey - Thrill 395 LP)
    The Stone Roses - Turns Into Stone (Modern Classics Recordings, Silvertone Records - MCR 915 )
    Bob Dylan And His Band The Hawks (2) - The Original Basement Tape (Other Peoples Music - OPM 261)
    Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son (Mute, BMG - LPSEEDS6)
    The Singleman Affair - The End Of The Affair (Strange Weather Records, Cardboard Sangria - SW007, CS024)
    The Fall - Sub-Lingual Tablet (Cherry Red - BRED660)
    Eels - Souljacker (Geffen Records, Universal Music Group International - 602547306630)
    Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (Charly Records, Immediate - 101L, IMLP 012)
    Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last (Castle Face, Castle Face - CF 55, CASTLE FACE 55)
    Sunn O))) - Kannon (Southern Lord - sunn250)
    Bo Diddley - Is A Lover (WaxTime - 772067)
    Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain (Mute, Mute - STUMM188X, 5414939924460)
    Alan Vega · Alex Chilton · Ben Vaughn - Cubist Blues (Light In The Attic, Munster Records - LITA 126, MR 110)
    Dungen - Allas Sak (Mexican Summer - MEX207)
     
    Gaslight likes this.
  3. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Could you provide evidence of this 'fieryness' on this thread?

    Sounds like you are trying to pick an argument in an empty room.....
     
    melstapler likes this.
  4. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I hate that a great vinyl record can sound so spectacular and real. Who wants the sensation of being in the same room with the musicians, and having their musical intentions conveyed so clearly. It really sucks.

    Long live the mp3.
     
    teag and Psychedelic Good Trip like this.
  5. Erik Tracy

    Erik Tracy Meet me at the Green Dragon for an ale

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    There is this thing called Search here - lots of threads that have gotten closed over this feud.
     
    e.s. likes this.
  6. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    I am aware of the search facility obviously, I was wondering why the age old argument was brought up on this thread? Nobody was bitching about records versus CD's, it's good to see both formats more or less holding their own according to that report.
     
    Dave, Gramps Tom and Tullman like this.
  7. Erik Tracy

    Erik Tracy Meet me at the Green Dragon for an ale

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    Then we are in accord - sound trumps format! Ears on and enjoy the sonic goodness, whatever the format.
     
    Gramps Tom likes this.
  8. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I always have trouble understanding this. I have around 2,000 cds and enjoy listening to them. I also have a bunch of vinyl, which is great. There are many titles not available on vinyl that are on cd. While I prefer vinyl, it's really about the music and not the format. I enjoy the radio, downloads etc., as long as the music appeals to me.
     
  9. Yeah but the search engine here is really bad. Sorry to say.
     
  10. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    I think overall quality has been getting better, even from places with bad reps, like Rainbo and United. I don't hear nearly as much stitching and non-fill as I did 3 or 4 years ago. Honestly, the only new releases I've had to return in the last year or so have been Radiohead albums on XL....and I have no idea where those are pressed. But I gave up and ordered the Optomal versions from Amazon UK.
     
    Gramps Tom and Gavinyl like this.
  11. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Two things about that article that disqualify its contents:
    • The unproved conclusion in the article's title
    • Fremer quote
     
    e.s. and GetHappy!! like this.
  12. Fullbug

    Fullbug Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Ahh, another "I saw three green vans, Why America is Driving Green Vans" story. I'll pass, thank you.
     
    showtaper likes this.
  13. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I got a new Elton John pressing from GZ that was beautifully pressed.
     
  14. Erik Tracy

    Erik Tracy Meet me at the Green Dragon for an ale

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    Same here.

    Yet there are those who grind teeth and clench fists at night as they lay in bed fretting over how to bolster their agenda that one format is 'better'.
     
  15. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    That's another one who used to have an awful reputation.....they've really stepped up their game too.
     
    e.s., Gramps Tom and Gavinyl like this.
  16. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Yep, I haven't heard vinyl sound like a live concert in Symphony Hall.
     
  17. Starquest

    Starquest ‎ ‎ ‎

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
    ???

    Amazon makes returns easy. Compare this to the local record shop, whose employees get palpitations when I try to return crap vinyl.
     
    Gavinyl likes this.
  18. Bowieboy

    Bowieboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Louisville
    I've seen a lot of "I HATE VINYL!!!" "Vinyl is a fad", "I refuse to support vinyl", yadda yadda yadda arguments. I remember Videoman's comments that "vinyl is still dead" because of a comment where Daft Punk sold 50,000 copies of an album on vinyl a few years ago by bringing up the strawman argument that Thriller was moving more than 50,000 copies a given week (as opposed to a whole year for the Daft Punk record) back in 1983 when even the basest sense could tell you the difference between 1983, when vinyl was found in every department store vs. 2013 where vinyl is a niche format largely carried in mom and pop record stores (plus, a time where dept. stores have largely even phased CD's out and where outside of a few people like Bieber, Swift, Adele and Beyonce, nobody really moves large units of albums in general) but because the biggest album of all time in the height of its popularity being in the format that was dominant at the time moved more than an album 30 years later in a niche format that is twice the price of its cd/digital counterpart, obviously vinyl is still as dead today as it was in 1996.

    People seem personally affronted that this format they were glad to see die 25-ish years ago came back in some capacity.
     
    jmczaja, nosliw, e.s. and 3 others like this.
  19. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    Ironically, I think the pressings of new vinyl releases have improved of late....at least in my experience. I've had plenty of faulty ones over the years (im dubious of those who say they've NEVER had any defective pressings).

    Hopefully there's a movement to use hi-def files when all analogue is not an option ....rather than merely putting a CD on vinyl.
     
  20. redflag

    redflag Forum Resident

    I am so happy the vinyl boom is over. Now, can everyone please put all their records in boxes and leave them out at your next yard sale for a dollar apiece? That'd be great. I'll be by shortly.
     
    Blank Slate, Gavinyl and stetsonic like this.
  21. Bigbudukks

    Bigbudukks Older, but no wiser.

    Location:
    Gaithersburg, MD
    “What people do nowadays is take a digital file and just run vinyl off that,”

    That's where they lost me. Even if I could have read the entire article I wouldn't have. Sweeping statements like that which are purported to be factual make my eyes glaze over and my attention wander. I won't even bother naming the companies that we all know don't do any such thing and turn out great records these days.
     
  22. Aftermath

    Aftermath Senior Member

    For whatever reason, a high percentage of records they shipped me were warped and/or had surface marks. Amazon returns were easy....getting a decent copy from them wasn't.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2017
  23. DeRosa

    DeRosa Vinyl Forever

    It is an interesting article on the challenges of making quality vinyl in the era of digital recordings,
    but the title is really inexcusable click-bait for several reasons.

    The title "Why the Vinyl's Boom Is Over" has almost nothing to do with the content of the story.
    Does anyone actually believe that mainstream sales of music is founded on sound quality?
    This is also biased because of the view that digital music can't sound great.

    Furthermore, how does this theory explain the explosion of streaming and digital files?
    It's really a bogus and unsupported claim, because only a very small market share is about purist
    audiophile experiences. Pono should have been a home run if people cared about this stuff.

    Secondly, sure, low quality vinyl and high prices are an issue, but the article doesn't really speak to this.
    Third, they don't really back up their assertion that sales are actually slowing. Multiple sources, and
    lack of data really are required to make this claim.

    I could see writing an article as a nice piece about how Welch and Rawlings struggle to produce analogue records
    in the 21st century, why combine this with the "vinyl doom" message if not for click-bait? Epic fail.
     
    Jtycho, e.s., Krzych and 2 others like this.
  24. DeRosa

    DeRosa Vinyl Forever

    The records Amazon sells come from the same places as everyone else who sells records.
    So there is no connection to the rate of defect and where you buy it from.
    (unless you think Amazon is opening the jackets and putting marks on them)

    So it really doesn't make sense to stop buying from a particular company because you've had bad luck.
    I get bad copies too, from everywhere I buy. Defects, by the very nature of the process, are random,
    which is why having an easy return policy is a good idea.
     
    Starquest likes this.
  25. lesterbangs

    lesterbangs Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Indiana
    Glad they told me... excuse me while I throw all my lps in the trash
     
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