Why Vinyl Records

The continuing audiophile fascination with lps is a mystery lps are ancient tech records can be noisy they re fragile expensive and they take up a lot of space.

Why vinyl records.

Buying vinyl records today is the only way to purchase music that is likely to give you a return on your investment. Both used records and used cds are inexpensive. This means that no information is lost. Some people even buy vinyl records just because they love the packaging.

Vinyl records on the other hand have shown themselves to be a worthwhile investment. A significant factor that can affect a vinyl record s value is the format. There s another far superior reason why vinyl is better than lossy digital formats. In a comparison of analog and digital recording vinyl s analog imperfection adds warmth and crackle to sound that listeners enjoy.

You can t resell a digital file and in most cases cds have almost no value on. Between 1957 and 1968 records were usually sold in both mono and stereo and between about 1972 and 1976 a few records were available in 4 channel quadraphonic sound. If these things are even offered by streaming services you better know where to click. Sonically vinyl has both strengths.

It can be fed directly to your amplifier with no conversion. The best turntables high. The output of a record player is analog. Vinyl record sleeves are nice to look at.

On the other hand vinyl records are physical items that you can collect hold in your hands purchase in person and discuss endlessly with record store clerks and fellow music lovers. A shelf full of vinyl record have more impact compared to a shelf full of cds or a media player with billions of music files. A vinyl record has a groove carved into it that mirrors the original sound s waveform. Vinyl for the most part avoided the loudness war with the rise of digital music cds included it s possible to make a track sound louder than it naturally should.

A vinyl record is more expensive 30 40 and more easily scratched or damaged but comes with larger sized album art liner notes and perhaps a poster or t shirt. They have more aesthetic appeal compared to cds or tapes. The vinyl lp is a format based on technology that hasn t evolved much over the last six decades. Until 1957 records were sold only in mono.

In some ways it s the audio equivalent of driving a ford pilot.