High fidelity vinyl "never goes obsolete!"

[Kristin Simard]

Yesterday I visited a friend who recently inherited a huge collection of 33 rpm vinyl records from an audiophile who had bought them new and kept them in good collection. She also had one of his many stereos, a nice Sony from the 1970's.

This man seemed to have every Original Broadway Cast Recording from the 1950's and 1960's, among other things. One of the first discs I noticed was "Mary Martin in a New Musical Play 'The Sound of Music' ". I couldn't locate a release date on the cover.

What made me laugh was what I read on the back cover.

"This Columbia High Fidelity recording is scientifically designed to play with the highest quality of reproduction on the phonograph of your choice, old or new. If you are the owner of a new stereophonic system, this record will play with even more brilliant true-to-life fidelity. In short, you can purchase this record with no fear of its becoming obsolete in the future."


Keep collecting!

[Spankey]

I wouldn't laugh too hard. Depending on the quality the album was kept in, and the system it's played on, it may rival any CD pressing to date.

[ShawnE94SL]

Originally Posted by Spankey

I wouldn't laugh too hard. Depending on the quality the album was kept in, and the system it's played on, it may rival any CD pressing to date.

This is true. Vinyl is still a prefered choice for true audiophiles.

[Blubaru]

This was my laugh this week:

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by Blubaru

This was my laugh this week:

Yeah, nothing beats that, I guess

[tron3]

Oh geeze. Enough already of RoboCop's human Slurpy. Ok, I laughed too, but now it is going back to just being gross.


...Love RoboCop.

[X-Ninja]

Originally Posted by Blubaru

This was my laugh this week:

I do indeed love your location.

Tonight... YOU! No!

[buckshot]

there are still vinyl releases today. i just listened to a hardcore band (straight faced) on vinyl that was released about 4 years ago. vinyl is amazing and always will be. I'm interested to hear CCR on SACD because i have several LPs from them and my father has the rest. let me just say that the "remastered" digital cds pale in comparison. hence why i want the sacds. and don't get me started about the white album. VINYL DESTROYS ALL!

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by Spankey

I wouldn't laugh too hard. Depending on the quality the album was kept in, and the system it's played on, it may rival any CD pressing to date.

The sound quality is surprisingly good, but in one way I will differ with you. Vinyl 33 rpm is obsolete. Musical groups no longer routinely release their recordings on 33 rpm and haven't done so for a long time. CDs are also obsolete, though they are still widely used.

For me and my friend it was fun looking through these old releases, and it was a laugh, since we've mostly been hearing about Blu-ray recently.

[Blew Away]

Originally Posted by Spankey

I wouldn't laugh too hard. Depending on the quality the album was kept in, and the system it's played on, it may rival any CD pressing to date.

it does not rival CD sound, it dominates it. It also dominates most DVD and more than most blu-rays.

Not all records sound better, but I must admit, more than most

[hardcore_canadian]

Vinyl Will make it's Comeback, mark my words.... May only be a Niche, but it's a growing Niche.

Also, my store is selling more and more every month, the sales report say so

[WriteSimply]

Using a low- to mid-end system, SACD can be close to or on the same level as a high-end vinyl. Too bad it didn't catch on because the record companies were in panic mode over MP3s.


fuad

[buckshot]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

Using a low- to mid-end system, SACD can be close to or on the same level as a high-end vinyl. Too bad it didn't catch on because the record companies were in panic mode over MP3s.


fuad

i do wish sacd would make a comeback. they are more convenient than my vinyl, and easier to store.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by buckshot

i do wish sacd would make a comeback. they are more convenient than my vinyl, and easier to store.

What about BD Audio? Wouldn't it have a better chance at adoption? I really wish enough people would get of the mp3 bandwagon so it would be viable.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by Rob71

What about BD Audio? Wouldn't it have a better chance at adoption? I really wish enough people would get of the mp3 bandwagon so it would be viable.

BD Audio. This is what I am hoping for.

[Kristin Simard]

Originally Posted by hardcore_canadian

Vinyl Will make it's Comeback, mark my words.... May only be a Niche, but it's a growing Niche.
Also, my store is selling more and more every month, the sales report say so

A store in the town where I live sells the new generation vinyl records, too. What I find interesting are the laser turntables, not the ones that just find the center of the space between audio tracks and drop the needle there, but the ones that actually read the analogue signal without a needle. When CDs first came out, they used these to clean up old analog recordings as the laser could read parts of the groove that a needle could not. Then they converted the analog signal to digital. Those turntable / converters were priced at about $125,000 USD. I think they found that the correct needle worked almost as well and cost a lot less. The rest could be filtered (to some degree of success) digitally.

The new ELP laser turntables use 5 lasers to read the groove and cost "only" about $15,000 USD. But I wonder if vinyl is the best medium for the soundtrack in this system. Mylar is chemically more stable than vinyl, unless they have done new things with vinyl that I don't know about.

In any case, IMO the old vinyl record and playback system is still "obsolete".

[richteer]

Originally Posted by Kristin Simard

The new ELP laser turntables use 5 lasers to read the groove and cost "only" about $15,000 USD. But I wonder if vinyl is the best medium for the soundtrack in this system. Mylar is chemically more stable than vinyl, unless they have done new things with vinyl that I don't know about.

In any case, IMO the old vinyl record and playback system is still "obsolete".

You're entitled to your opinion (no matter how wrong it is). :-)

That ELP turntable is hardly new. It was first released more than 10 years ago. I'll take my Forsell Air Reference/Lyra Parnassus front end over the ELP any day of the week.

[guitarist155]

I have well over 300 vinyl albums and 3 turntables. one of my favorites is coast of marseilles by jimmy buffet and imho the cd will NEVER sound like the vinyl, ever, it has some pops yes but that's also one of the reasons i love it so much, it has a life of it's own. i just bought all 4 of jack johnson's albums on vinyl also, in my house vinyl is more alive than cd's

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by guitarist155

I have well over 300 vinyl albums and 3 turntables. one of my favorites is coast of marseilles by jimmy buffet and imho the cd will NEVER sound like the vinyl, ever, it has some pops yes but that's also one of the reasons i love it so much, it has a life of it's own. i just bought all 4 of jack johnson's albums on vinyl also, in my house vinyl is more alive than cd's

I have them as well....love JJ!