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The basic problem

Posted by Peter Gunn (M) on June 1, 2012 at 08:31:10

In Reply to: Vinyl Revival Causes Discord posted by samtellig on May 1, 2012 at 17:11:00:

Is that articles like this are always written by people who are just "straights", in other words non audiophiles, or rather people who never fully understood the entire situation.

The first main issue was they lied thru their teeth 30 years ago. It was not "perfect sound forever." It wasn't even close. What it was was a hell of a marketing scam. 80's CD's sounded horrible, 80's CD players sounded horrible and the way they recorded a lot of stuff then was very flawed.

Thirty years later however yes, you can own a CD player and play discs that sound every bit as good as a good vinyl setup. That said not every player can do this, and not even most can, but they are out there.

Also, anyone who knows knows a record need not have a pop or click, or wear, ever. Clean it before you ever play it, remove the mold release compound and use Last record preservative.

But the question then even isn't should you own a CD or Record. The question these days is why don't I just download it and buy nothing? (or rather, own nothing)

We don't need records, or CD's, or books anymore. If we can eliminate this trash we can get on to living in cubicles, and soon we won't need to worry about headphones or speakers either, we'll just plug our "device" into a USB slot in the back of our neck and "hear" the music right in our brain. It doesn't get more real than that, right? No loss, no more treating rooms etc... I laugh at the Star Trek parable about the Borg coming here to assimilate us. We'll be like them long before they get here, in fact maybe we ARE them.

The most visited museum in America is the Smithsonian. It's the one everyone wants to go to, in fact many families build entire vacations around it. Yet it is nothing more than an amalgamation of buildings that storehouse the "junk" of Americas past. It would not be wrong to call it Americas attic, because that's what it is, the repository of all the dusty, obsolete and forgotten ephemera of another age, just cobwebbed sentimentalism. Yet we long for it and we're emotionally moved when viewing these items, in direct contradiction to the futurists who tell us we need to abandon this materialism.

So, that's what it comes down to. If we assume we're at a point when every format sounds the same, or close enough, then it's a matter of choice. Not just what we want, but what we want to be as a society.

First is a download. That means you own nothing, and have nothing, including responsibility. (you need not clean it, take care of it etc... I understand having no responsibility is very popular these days)

Second is owning hard copy.

The fact is LP's look cooler than CD's, LP packaging is cooler than CD's and the cover and liner are more enjoyable to look at while listening than the insert that came with the CD. You can have colored vinyl, raised and embossed or gatefold sleeves, picture discs etc... they are far more magical.

The advantages the CD enjoys are if you own thousand and thousands of discs they are easier to transport if you move and easier to store when you get there. They are also transportable and playable in a car. (although records were once too but people can't use a phone and drive, image the chaos this would cause)

The point is, each has it's own advantages and disadvantages, but I cannot fathom why people want to own nothing. What's going to happen in 75 years, will your granddaughter go to her kid one day and say "Here is your great grandads "device". He wanted you to have it..."

Me, I'd rather great grandad leave me a garage full of well cared for records. I'll live with the weight and the bulk... and the humanity. The most tragic thing of this age is most young people have never "rummaged" thru a good, old fashioned record store. The thrill of the hunt, the joy at finding a long sought treasure, the marvel of the unexpected when the clerk puts on a record that you never heard but instantly loved. Meeting and finding friends with like interests, a sense of community, living like people.

Which format sounds better? That's the least of our problems.

It's all about the music...

Edits: 06/01/12

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

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