To me, the act of listening to music goes well beyond the sensation of what we hear. As the bassheads on here can attest *cough* Wayne *cough*, feeling the air pressure against your body provides a much different sensation than feeling those same pressure waves just hitting your ear. And for me, that concept extends past that as well.

Whether or not it sounds better, worse, or just different, here are some of the reasons I enjoy listening to Vinyl and why I think it's seeing a resurgence. The act of pulling out a vinyl and placing it on a player is almost ritualistic. There's big beautiful album cover. There's a tactile feel and smell associated; similar to those that still prefer reading paper books opposed to ebooks. Contrast that to a table of songs and albums with maybe a thumbnail of the album cover on a digital file.

And due to the limitations of the format, two things happen that make my listening to a vinyl a much more deliberate exercise. One, it's much more difficult to skip around to songs, so when I play a vinyl I know I'm in it for the full album; the long haul. I can't be as music ADD as I tend to be with the infinite well of digital audio files available, especially through streaming services. Two, every time that needle goes over the record, I know a tiny bit of that record is being destroyed. Even though consciously I know that I'd likely never hear a difference between the first time I listen to the record and the last, sub consciously I know it's happening which again makes me stop and make more deliberate listening choices.


TL;DR All that to say, the reason why LPs are making a comeback has nothing to do with the quality of the audio recording but more about the ritualistic experience of playing a vinyl record.

Hello Dark,

Some very interesting observations about your preference for vinyl. I have enjoyed preserving and rescuing some of my favorite vinyl recordings by cleaning them up and transferring them to CDs. As I said in a previous post in this thread - "To each his own".

Enjoy your LPs.

Best,

Art

Dark,

Great points! To a certain extent, I feel the same connection to my music with playing one CD at a time versus having a music server. While I still skip the songs I don't enjoy, I tend to listen to several songs from the same album. It's definitely a more deliberate exercise. I'm not sure I would like the thought of my music degrading each time I listen to it... I suppose that would be another argument for CDs in my mind. Great food for thought!

On another note, I really appreciate your posts. You don't chime in often, but when you do, it's significant!

Cheers,

T Cobe

Yes, Dark and all,
I appreciated the comments about the ritual of playing LPs, similar to the ritual of smoking, it is part of what makes is so hard for people to quit. I agree with T. Cobe, I am the same as you Dark when playing my CDs, I enjoy them much more than files. I play the whole thing, I don't skip songs.
I love looking for the CD I want, sorry I am lying here, NOT.
I love opening up the broken jewel cases and cussing them.
BUT yes, there is more to listening to music than just that fact.
GDHAL, I listen to SACDs and DVD Audios all the time when I am not listening to Blu-rays. I cheer those discs here all the time.
Why they did not take over from CDs? John Q. Public doesn't give a damn about quality, they listen to MP3s for pities' sake. And B**e speakers.
Few in this world care about quality, that is why I like you guys!!!!!
God Bless,
Wayne

T Cobe wrote: On another note, I really appreciate your posts. You don't chime in often, but when you do, it's significant!
T Cobe

T Cobe, you just made my day!

Happy holidays!
-Dark

Dark,

Happy Holidays to you and yours as well!

Cheers,

T Cobe