I spent the first 27 years of my life collecting vinyl... and then CDs came along and I've spent the last 30+ years buying CDs. Never felt the need to go back. And being born with bad hearing issues, I can't detect any difference 'tween vinyl and CDs! Besides, CDs are cheaper. I'd much rather buy a 3CD deluxe edition of a classic album than buy a straight 180gm vinyl reissue at the same price as the triple CD release!
I'm late 60s. I grew up with vinyl - but never got rid of any of my LPs when we were "told to". I like to really explore music and when CDs were first introduced, I only slowly switched over because the sort of music I really loved wasn't available on CD at first - but how that changed! I still have about 800 or 900 LPs, but I now have about 4000 CDs, possibly more.
i share all your gripes, particularly about buying new records these days. been listening to vinyl my whole life so it’s just a shame with poor pressings/other release defects. that feeling of “testing” a new record to see if it’s OK is really no way to enjoy music, but i guess that’s how it is sometimes nowadays…
I grew up with vinyl but couldn’t get rid of it fast enough when a better format (CD) came along. To my ears CD’s still sound better. Sure, the gatefold LP artwork you get with vinyl looks nice but to my mind the pluses of the CD format vastly outweigh those of the vinyl format. Whether it’s down to production costs or price gouging by the record companies, it is ridiculously expensive to buy vinyl and they have now killed the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg. I think the current infatuation with vinyl is now starting to wane and I can only see this trend continuing.
I'm a vinyl guy, but cds sound good. I just feel that you should have the format pertaining to the era of release. If I buy a 1964 album, it should be vinyl. A 1994 album should be cd. 1990 is a good cutoff point to switch to cds. 2010 is the year, you should have either stopped buying media altogether, or gone back to vinyl. I don't think the vinyl bubble bursting will do anything for cd sales, other than used cds at thrift stores. You can rarely find cd new releases at a walmart or most chain record stores. I don't see anything changing, other than people loading up on 2 for a dollar cds from thrift stores. Most former cd buyers I know, just stream or TH-cam music. They don't buy anything
@@dawnpatrol700 As is evident from the comments for this video, there are many serious CD collectors and buyers still out there. CD sales rose last year, albeit not by much, but the notion that they're a thing of the past is an urban myth - it's kidology. There are many many labels, particularly classical, who have not even given vinyl a second thought.
CDs at thrift stores in my area have gone up from $1 to $1.50 Prices on used CDs on eBay have gone up for sure. You could find good used CDs for $3.49 with free shipping a few years ago. Today, good used CDs are anywhere from $6.50 to $12.00 with free shipping on ebay. If I can find good used vinyl at used record stores for less than $10 I will buy it. Format doesn’t really matter to me. I find it easier to play CDs and it takes a little more effort to flip the vinyl. I play music on TH-cam to find new music I haven’t heard before. I still listen to the radio in my car. I hear XM radio at work. All formats work for me.
@@bigb2020 Yes, that's very interesting and I agree. I buy lots of CDs on eBay, but I've noticed in my morning notification emails that prices are rising for the CDs I'm interested in - particularly new condition items. My local charity shops are sometimes quite naive, but even so the ladies who work in these shops have told me that people are coming in to look at the CDs. Their DVDs are pretty well dead, but certainly not CDs. I have quite esoteric taste in music, but I find that most sellers are clued up enough to spot the more interesting CDs and price accordingly - which is fair enough. However the bucketshops aren't quite so savvy and despite their price matching software, I still pick up bargains for £2 or £3. My mantra is "it's not about the format, it's about the music". I have piles of old cassette mixtapes I made up 30-40 years ago and I still enjoy these massively while I'm cooking. I have about 800 LPs which I still play, but I generally steer clear of buying vinyl nowadays because I'm such a worrier I can do without the hassle of dealing with bad pressings etc... LOL!
I love vinyl but I've never felt the need to buy any of the expensive remasters. As you say there are some brilliant CD reissues that don't cost a fortune. Hearing loss is something that a lot of us have. Years of listening to loud music, especially at gigs has taken its toll on my hearing. For about the last 10 years I've been wearing earplugs at gigs but the damage is done. The most common form of hearing loss occurs at high frequencies. This is what I have. Effectively what happens is that low frequency sound drowns out the high frequencies. But having invested in some hearing aids that equalise volume across the range I'm now hearing music as it should be. Cheers Mike
I bought vinyl from the late 70s up to the late 80s and then CDs, CDs at first weren't as good as vinyl but boy has that changed, the dynamic range of a CD is 95db and higher, whereas vinyl is 70db, so CDs to my ears will always sound better in the loud and quite moments of an album, you have no pops and clicks, no changing of needles or cartridges, no real cleaning as such, I still have a few LPs but CDs are way better value and so easy to play and listen to. I enjoyed your video.
Totally agree with you. It seems like record companies have taken people to the cleaners and ripping them off with pretty coloured pieces of plastic and so-called one-step pressings knowing that gullible people will buy them at ridiculous prices. It’s almost like people have forgotten why the CD was invented in the first place and whilst I do like vinyl records I would say that in most cases in my experience that nearly always the CD sounds better and will often contain extra material and even sometimes a bonus DVD or Blu-ray all at a fraction of the price.
I remember my brother-in-law and myself welcoming CDs as a genuine breath of fresh air back in the late 80s - it was a joy to be free of bad pressings, scratches, warping etc etc. Now that vinyl has returned, all those problems still exist but now you pay 5 times the price for the privilege. Vinyl can sound fantastic if everything is right - but that's maybe 1 in 4 LPs? Likewise CDs can also sound fantastic, but 3 out of 4 do. When people talk about CDs sounding harsh, this is usually because of compression or "loudness wars" - many mass market pop CDs were blighted by this after about 1999? They sound okay on a mini-system or in the car, but a good HiFi reveals how blooming loud they are. Sadly this same idiocy also applies to many modern vinyl releases! The bottom line is whether music has been skilfully mastered to disc - vinyl or CD. My mantra is: it's not about the format, it's about the music.
Completely right opinion! It is the reason I buy only old vinyl records - end of 60th to middle 80th. I only started to collect vinyl and have only near 500 records, also 1500 CD and musical DVD, near 3000 albums in digital lossless format, and I listen all of them and enjoy by music every day!
Over the last two years I have returned over 100 seriously damaged new records. Replacements have arrived with different damage -- often severely warped. I have contacted the record labels involved, and they absolutely do not care. :0/
It's one big hassle isn't it? I can't help wondering how many folk overlook these defects, not realising they're being seriously short changed. Here in the UK, outlets like HMV are now charging £35 for many vinyl reissues - that's a lot of money to shell out for a load of hassle.
Those Pretenders albums are among my favourites. Didn’t know about those special editions, but have just ordered them. Really looking forward to checking them out, great packaging too. Thanks for posting, great video
The only reason I keep my turntable is to play the vinyl that I bought before CD arrived. Some LPs are replaceable with CD, but some are rare (read expensive) or the CD versions are too compressed. I can tell the difference: the vinyl is the one with the scratches, dust and background hum. If available, the CD is usually superior, unless it has been compressed to hell.
I like vinyl and CD. I use 8track, cassette, MD and DCC as well. I just hate the loudness wars nonsense that happened with CDs. I've got some fantastic pressings on vinyl and same with CD. Njoi the music!
I have loved music since I was 8. I’m now 63. I’ve collected thousands of vinyls, cassettes, CDs and digital downloads. I have never stopped for a second and sweated over minuscule variances in sound quality (or even large variances). Waste of time and life’s too short. Just enjoy the songs. Don’t fret the sound
Well, it's all about making vinyl worth listening to and there is one, old 1975 year Japanese, transcription style turntable that you can have at low price, and it's an Aurex Sr-410 Direct Drive. All you need are some you know, bargain Aurex amplifiers and stuff and you know, it's the back door to high end Hi-Fi. But don't expect anybody to be happy that you chose the brand because they'll be filled with envy and unable to share your satisfaction. It's a little known about name and prices are low because few know how to look them up, but some do. After a year of this comment, just watch the prices rise!
I understand what you're saying and I agree - it's not about the format, it's about the music However some hifi systems can sound amazing, making music sound fantastically lifelike - and even lifesize.
I was mad about music as a child too! I'm 68 and was so lucky to grow up in a house where my Mum and Dad bought the Stones, Beatles, Donovan etc. My dear old Mum was particularly open minded - she may have grown up with Bing, but she loved everything from classical music to Richard Thompson and David Gilmour. She'd have been 95 this month. Mum's folks in Wiltshire were musical it has be said.
For me the vinyl bubble burst with the release of the infamous Adele triple vinyl in 2022 with the anticipation of huge sales with 20 lp's stocked at our local Walmart. I don't think any sold over the next year until our Walmarts in Canada phased out vinyl and CD's altogether.
If you've spent thousands on a top notch turntable and cartridge you are gonna buy vinyl. Personally I've never had a record that out performs a CD. But then I've never spent thousands on a record deck...
@@MOJOPIN1960 yes. If your gonna spend more then it's bound to sound better. No what you get is 'deminishing Returns' for your kit. A £20 hi end cap In you hifi amplifier won't change much at all
With regard to the hearing issue I had this happen to me after seeing The Who in the Locarno ballroom Glasgow in 1968. I described it as being like standing next to a Boeing 747 taking off. I lost my hearing the next day but thankfully it recovered later in the day. It was quite a scary experience. though and since then, like you, I have been very careful to protect myself. Funnily enough the gig had to be abandoned when Roger Daltry's swung microphone hit a girl in front of the low stage. The Glasgow gang who had been causing trouble all night took this as a cue to invade the stage. The Who ran for the dressing room and that was the end of it. Happy memories. Thanks for a great channel.
That feeling you describe of actually feeling nervous when you drop the needle onto a new LP you've bought is VERY familiar to me, or WAS perhaps I should say. I don't buy vinyl at all now, not new or used - maybe the only exception would be something exotic for pennies, maybe an esoteric world music gem or something similar. I really respect you for making this video and being so honest about the situation. Thank you!
I saw so many loud shows in my youth I’m surprised I don’t have significant hearing loss (Soundgarden, Flaming Lips, and Alice Donut stand out as the loudest). I’m building up my music collection again, and I’m just going with whatever format suits me in the moment, although I’m leaning toward CDs. I’m a renter and moving loads of LPs can be a drag.
I use to have 200 funk & soul 1970s / 1980s albums. I now have 100 cds 💿 approx. The sound is crisp and as pure as water. You can plug in your headphones 🎧 drink some beer 🍺 and dance 🕺 🎶 the night away via your remote control. You can't do that with snap crackle and pop jumping vinyl / albums. Plus you can still get excellent art work and artist info via cd covers. Albums / vinyl = a sprint but cds 💿 = a marathon when it comes to music life.
Almost every brand new blu ray disk I have bought since 2020 have come with a scratch on it. Poor manufacturing at the plant in Mexico has led to the downfall of even attempting to collect any new movies.
Something ive noticed lately; in the early days of the "vinyl revival" albums would come with a download code. I loved this - i would put a cooy on my phone and burn one for the car. But theyve stopped doing that. They probably assume everyone subscribes to a sreaming sevice now, but i think its skimping - it basically cost them nothing.
Plenty of pre 2000 vinyl records out there, in great condition, way cheaper than new vinyl and no harshness sound from some cd,s. Also, no digital vinyl recordings, which cost a fortune and are really giant cd,s. Record fairs are obviously chock with old vinyl.
Unfortunately, the biggest part of my collection is on CD. When they appeared in the 80's, it seemed like finally there was the perfect format to listen to music. Sadly, many of my CD don't work anymore. And it's really frustrating. So, 6 or 7 years ago I went back to vinyl records, and that was my best decision. I know that prices are crazy but there's always the chance to find records at a reasonable cost.
"Sadly, many of my CD don't work anymore" You might need to explain that! There are some wonderful CD players on the market now, what a joy to buy 35 year old CDs for pennies and they just sound fantastic.
Being buying records since the mid-70’s and obviously started buying cd’s too when they became an option. Still buys albums today, but not in the same amount as when in my 20’s and 30’s. Today it’s mostly vinyls I buy and, unfortunately, due to the awfull compression of today, mostly 2’nd hand or re-issues and the ones when my favourite bands sends out a new album. If you have a decent stereo equipment with a pickup in good shape the vinyls do give you more than the cd’s.
I have been into making music and in my own studio. Always was a Vinyl Guy for listening. But it was in paralell to building up my studio with all the equipment. For the last while I started building up a Modular Synth setup (or a few really), and that made me recently realize that a new vinyl release today costs more money than a pretty good module for my synth setups. And nowadays I only buy records for artists I know well releasing something new. I think I have all the backcatalogue I want, But I do not ever anymore buy a record because it looks interesting for one reason or another. I basically have to know it is really good. And that goes for used vinyl too, It's too expensive to take a gamble on something unknown. And no, I do not discover anything by streaming, the only streaming I do is directly from my own Roon server (via Arc). I get recommendations from trusted sources, and I take a listen, and if it's good I have to eigh if it's a digital buy, CD-buy or a Vinyl Buy. More and more it is simply a no buy. Even a proper legal digital download buy is too much...
I’ve been reasonably lucky with new vinyl but I have had a few I’ve had to return. As for CDs, I still enjoy spinning them and in some cases I prefer the sound to the equivalent vinyl. I also subscribe to a streaming service and I have discovered lots of new music through it so I can’t think of a better time than this for music fans, we are spoiled for choice. 🎶🎶👍
If you can't tell the difference, or prefer dealing with one format or the other, then yeah, it's about enjoying the music so go with what makes the music listening experience best for you. I personally am in a really weird situation I've not heard of anyone else being in, my hearing has been rubbish since birth, and to me the sound difference between vinyl, CD and digital is just something deeply noticable to me. I quite like what I hear from vinyl records, they feel much easier for me to pick up on the sound personally. But hearing is a very personal, subjective experience. The absolute rubbish being produced over the last 5 years or so from some of these pressing plants is completely not subjective, they are objectively awful. So I have pretty much abandoned buying new presses of things and gone back to hunting out vintage records in good nick
I had numerous albums and cassettes as a younger person and foolishly gave most of them away when I went into the ministry! Haha… by the mid 80s I was collecting cds like no tomorrow and have been since…however, now in midlife, nostalgia got the better of me and I’ve begun to collect vinyl once again. There is a depth to the sound that is unbeatable and harkens me back to my youth. I’ve tried to make a rule that I will not replace what I already have on cd… accept for a few classic rock albums. I am trying to make my purchases of vinyl, minimal, and used if possible. This helps keep the costs down. My turntable was 300$ and sounds pretty good. Still listen to my cds - but I find a lot of modern ones are too loud and the bass too high.
You start off saying you dont want to get into the CD/Vinyl argument and then the overarching question is you can really hear the difference (anymore). I think as all music enthuasiast we all jumped through the same hoops and then at one point stopped jumping cause we noticed how silly "HiFi" is and all that super hi-resolution digital audio and having thick expensive heavy duty analog cables for ridiculoussy large speakers that cost half a mortage... however deep you go in this rabbit hole, you have to stop at the thing you like and that brings you the most joy and stop fuzzing about the details, because there is always "better" and always "more expensive" and none of us will either have the funds or the ears to appreciate these options. I buy vinyl because i like the big artwork, the memories i have with the albums and i like looking at my possessions with pride and it makes me smile. Are there formats, players, headphones, amps and speakers that could make everything sound 10 times better? Yes! Do i care to explore and can i fund that journey? No.. So back to what brought me joy: buying vinyl to look at. - Quality or ease of use isn't the deciding factor here, i find.
nice video. I like the Pretenders third record also. BTW you say you left that gig because it was to loud. When I encountered this I just out some tissue in my ears. It helped a lot cutting down on the shrill treble sound. And believe me I did this a lot since I used to go to many hardcore shows and stand up front. Seems like a simple solution, no?
Calico Silver on You Tu be did a fab chat on format snobs,well worth a listen. I couldnt afford CDs in the early nineties (95) but as vinyl availabiltity stopped l was forced into jt. Now l am also in the snipers sights l wont go back, l just cant be bothered with the BS, and the price of CDs is more realistic etc l wont be a sheep and follow the herd(to mix my metaphors).Nice chat.
I started buying vinyl when it was the only game in town. Long before CDs, the Internet and all of that stuff. When CDs came out I started buying those but I kept my vinyl collection and still listen to my records. I do not feel the need to choose between the two formats. Too many "remastered" CDs are nothing but overly compressed crap. My stereo system has a volume control. If I want music louder I just raise the volume. I want to be in charge of that, not some CD engineer. I will always love vinyl because it's my roots.
I’m fast approaching 60 and like you, my hearing is in poor shape. Years of headphone use and loud gigs and guitar jams. I have to wear a hearing aid and I can’t attend loud gigs any more because it’s almost painful (and to me it usually sounds bad anyway). I’ve lost a lot of upper frequencies in my hearing so I’ve actually reached the point where CDs now seem to sound clearer and more detailed to me than my vinyl does. To any youngsters reading this - LOOK AFTER YOUR HEARING!! Don’t fall asleep with headphones on, don’t stand in front of speakers at gigs and take attenuated ear plugs to gigs in case it gets stupidly loud. Remember, if your ears are ringing the morning after a gig that means you’ve probably permanently damaged your hearing. It might only be by a little bit but that accumulates over many gigs and one day you’ll realise what danage has been done and you won’t be able to do anything about it. Just imagine not being able to hear properly when music is your big passion in life. Trust me, it’s no laughing matter.
Pete Townsend now suffers from really bad tinnitus. I wonder how many other musicians suffer from this terrible affliction? I first became aware of my tinnitus at the age of 40 and I learned to live with it, most times it's masked by background noise, but I'm now 73 and it is getting progressively worse. I think the worst damage to my hearing was done going to a Chicago concert way back in the 70's, man that brass can really rip into your hearing. I should have been like a friend of mine who wisely had cotton wool stuffed in his ears. Anyway, look after your hearing, it's a precious gift.
@@noelmurray1 and there is no current treatment that works for tinnitus. The best advice I’ve received is to “just try to ignore it”. That’s all you can do. I bet thousands of musicians suffer with it. I used to think it hadn’t been a good gig unless my ears were ringing but now I’ve learned the true cost.
There are a number of videos like this now appearing on TH-cam, brave souls daring to suggest that maybe vinyl isn't all it's scratched up to be (intentional pun!). The killer though is the comments underneath where so many people are speaking up for CDs, over and over again in fact.
It never was, once CDs came along. The vestibulocochlear nerves that relay sound to the brain have a NCV (nerve conduction velocity) sampling rate that is very close to to the sampling rate of CDs. So higher resolution sound sources (e.g. analogue) have content that our brains _can't even perceive_ . Add to that the relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio of vinyl, and what have you got? An inferior sound-distribution medium in a nice big sleeve. If you want the sleeves _and_ the audio in a resolution your brain can process _and_ excellent signal-to-noise ratio, go for Japanese 'papersleeve' CDs. Your ears, eyes and bank balance will thank you.
I never got into records because as a kid in the early 80's, I was always scared to death to use my dad's record player. I was always worried that I'd scratch them or break something. And that fear stayed with me my whole life.
You make a very good case. There is a very real issue with modern vinyl production. The power of marketing is so strong to resist. I find it very difficult to once it’s got into my head. Morrisey got it spot on in “Paint a vulgar picture” off Strangeways here we come.
I've sworn off new vinyl. Most of it is digitally recorded so may as well buy a CD or stream it. But I agree with your main point, the products now are poor quality. And the (perhaps) uncomfortable truth is that recording, production, mixing, mastering and pressing (i.e., the whole process) was perfected over 50 years ago and we don't seem to be able to get anywhere near it now. Just think Abbey Road, DSOTM, Crime of the Century, LZ IV, to name a few, not to mention jazz labels like Blue Note and (especially) CTI. I still enjoy the hobby, but it's limited to vintage only. I'm very unlikely to buy anything produced since the 80s.
I love both formats, vinyl and cd. I find that it can be hit and miss with both though. A fine example of this is when The Beatles albums first came out on CD back in '87 and like everyone else I snapped them up, but I play them now in 2024 and they sound awful, the later re releases and remasters and remixes sound far better and are my go to CD's when I want to hear Rubber Soul or Revolver for example. I have not had the bad experiences with new vinyl that you seem to have had, but there are times when I wonder if for what new vinyl costs these days if we're not being scammed here in a way, that with the current world economic climate and the spiralling price of oil, that cheaper products are being sourced to manufacture our vinyl albums. Unless it's an album I really want I will these days wait for either a drop in price or buy it second hand in a few months time. I attend what record fairs I can and I must say that the ones I do get to are well attended. There is a demand for both physical forms of CD and Vinyl, there's something about holding that record or cd, reading the liner notes and enjoying the album artwork. Don't get me wrong I also stream, but you can't do that with a series of binary numbers which is what, after all streamed music is. As a footnote I've just taken delivery of a new CD player, and I have to say it's got to be the best one I have ever owned, the sound is amazing. So I'll keep on playing both my vinyl and CD's, and finally I'm with you on which Pretenders albums you prefer on vinyl, because their first two albums are their best ones.
I collected 45,s they have a better dynamic sound to me cd can sound fantastic if its remastered properly as for new records it digital so you might as well by the cd .
I agree that you get more bang for your buck with CD's, especially wIthen you get those nice sets. However, I still prefer listening to vinyl, it just gives me a more magical feeling. Where I really agree with you is the state of modern pressings, especially compared to originals. It seems that 99% of the time the originals sound better.
I still have every record I ever bought plus I have CDs too. Enjoy both formats equally. And yeah you still have to clean cds every so often due to fingerprints dirt etc getting on them plus you need to clean the laser in the cd player at least twice a year.
Ditto that - EXCEPT, I literally threw away the debut Jason Donovan CD. And now tempted to throw away two Robbie William CDs, just because I can’t stand the man….. I do have some “cool” stuff 😊
I only buy vinyl becouse i dont like cd,i dont jumped on that cd train in the 90's that mostly everyone did. I continued collect vinyl even then,i get many of them for free! So its has always been vinyl for me folks. I am soon 60 so i dont see a reason to change my opinion. Rock on everybody.
The Pretenders' first album always sounded like crap to me because they were shoving a lot of music onto smaller grooves. Not only does the VOLUME suffer, but also the frequencies. What MFSL or "MoFi" should have done is to split the album onto 2 LPs and THEN use the original master tapes, AND AS A BONUS - cut it at 45 RPM. They would have had a winner there. There is one other thing: the album is no "Aja". It wasn't recorded "audiophile quality" to begin with. It was just another guitar driven band, so I doubt they would have had the best recording studios or engineers. They were competent, but also in a hurry. I've heard that album on CD and though it's far from a great audiophile experience, it is far better than the vinyl releases. No matter who cuts that record, they have to compromise heavily in order to make it fit on one disc.
I agree many pitfalls to buying new Vinyl. There was much better quality control in 70’s! Pressing plants clearly rush jobs. You often get cloudy look to vinyl as they have put into iner sleeves before vinyl has cooled. I think also the quality of CD’s has improved! I feel for people that dispensed with them all in favour of streaming subscriptions. i do have a spotify subscription but prefer CD’s. However I recently bought a Ruark Audio Bluetooth speaker and I enjoy streaming through it !
Between '70s and late '80s, I bought records and cassettes, after that I bought CDs. I can certainly tell the difference, CDs don't have the snap, crackle & pop that vinyl has. Of course I'm not going to buy any more records, 1) They're far too expensive, 2) I no longer have a record player. BTW back in the day I don't think I ever called records, "vinyl" or "vinyls".
The original 1992 Automatic For the People (not to mention Out ot Time and Monster for that matter) is, like most early to mid-90s WEA German pressed vinyl, pretty poor. Long since upgraded to £1 charity shop CD copies.
I saw a SINGLE ALBUM in WalMart for $27.00 and I thought, what planet am I on? That is insane and get over the I have to hold the physical medium crap, I am 65 and have a shit load of vinyl albums in storage just wasting away. Digital downloads - Lets say I sample every vinyl album at CD quality. Lets also say every CD is 650 MB. I have a 1TB SSD that weighs a few ounces and that would hold 1600 CDs. Figure each album weights one pound. There is over a ton and a half of weight. The SSD weighs about 1/100 of a single pound. I don't hear anyone saying, oh grammophone records, you can't get much better than a shellac 78 ... if you have a good needle!
@@TalesofWiltshire Hey, I remember in 1995 I was involved in music production, and am also a pro musician. I can hear things others cannot. Even at 60+ people say my hearing is akin to a German Shepherd, thanks but, well ok. My little friend a 15 year old computer geek in 1995 (now an IBM whiz) told me about the joy of the mp3. I was ranting about it is "lossy compression" and rubbish. Then I found out the DCC I was using to make rudimentary masters was actually hardware encoded mp3 style lossy just encoded onto a cassette. I got the best sound card back then and really couldn't tell a CD from MP3 certainly if a loud song, but even a quiet song it's near impossible. I think the codec was that Fraunhofer IIS and it sounded fine to me. No matter what I would do, the clicks, pops, and inevitable scratches even micro scratches were too much and I wanted to run each vinyl through software to remove them which pretty much brings it to near CD quality of 44.1 and 16 bit Easier to get pro music on a service now, I have to move 10 boxes of scratchy albums to a new house soon, oh boy!
Yes, there are a lot of lousy pressings these days. Even the most mainstream and thinnest albums from the 80's are often better pressed than these new 180 gram reissues. And. That. Is. Really. Really. Sad. I keep digging those old second hand crates though...
It's not the cd that you hear it's the internal dac. Get a cheep cd player with a coaxial or digital out. But a good external dac. You don't need a flash cd player but you will here much more from the dac
If I had continued and if all the releases had been able to purchase everything I have bought (instead of other media) I would have no room in the living room. Also my NAD deck decided to pack up and I'm left with a not great Mitsubishi deck. Saying that I do still buy vinyl now and again mostly old stuff which I can't find on digital, I absolutely hate downloads, but sometimes I do because of availability or price of the cd. As an aside the loudest band I ever saw was Slaughter & the Dogs, even louder than Motorhead.
Likewise, love the "in the sniper's sights". I'm in the sniper's sights so just keeping my old crackly vinyl and selling the better stuff because I can always stream from Tidal. As for MoFi I would not bother.
Oh I hope he says "it IS still worth buying vinyl" because I spent a lot of money on my records. If he says "no," I will be in despair...let's listen and anxiously await his verdict...
The LPs today are just a big con and nothing else.I am in my late 70s and have a very large collection of classical CDs.As you know these first appeared in 1983 and I have never looked back,I could not wait to get rid of the dreadful LPs.Today's prices are extortionate and too many people are falling for this outrageous b---------t
I totally agree. I'm 68 and I only really started to explore classical music properly in the CD era. I know some folks rave about Decca SXLs and the like, but vinyl from that period was a whole different story than the many LPs that followed. I remember Decca pressings from the late 80s that were shocking, horrible floppy things, digitally mastered and tiny tiny grooves. CDs and SACDs are a godsend for listening to chamber music AND the massed forces of a full orchestra. Neither fared very well on vinyl in my experience.
i HAVE THE sHANKER, X RAY SPECS, REED AND PATTI LPS THE OTHER COULD BE THE JAM. nEVER HEARD OF TH EOTHER ONE. When the Pretendersd lp was first released there was also a foreign 12" with tracks not on the lp but it was dearer than the lp so I left it.
There's a certain nostalgia, if you are of an age. There is also the fact that the sheer inconvenience of the medium means you are likely to pay more attention. Sonically, they are pretty awful though; especially at the bass end. Oh and a 12" sleeve makes a perfect rolling surface.
Your disappointment with the comparative lifelessness of the expensive mobile fidelity record, is because it is digital, as you say. My own experience with digital recordings is the same.
As I understand it, analogue recordings on vinyl have no upper limit on frequency range. Although the human hearing range is limited, the higher frequencies create what's known as harmonics which give the impression of warmth and depth. But as almost all modern recordings are made digitally, where the top end of the frequencies are limited at 20,000 hertz, there is no benefit sonically in transferring digital source material to vinyl. Quite the opposite-even with a fantastic vinyl mastering engineer the best you can possibly hope for is that the vinyl sounds as good as the digital source. Ps-I have terrible tinnitus from playing guitar in loud bands-they're not cheap but Elacin moulded earplugs have great attenuation so you get a pretty accurate representation of what you're hearing at safe levels. And, to my ears, in a live situation, you can hear much more detail in the sound. pps You're spot on about The Pretenders, JHS had an edge to his sound and playing that was never replicated. I'd imagine they went from a band of equals to a group where Chrissie was very much in charge.
With a high end CD player, it's possible to hear CDs that sound just as warm and realistic as vinyl sometimes does. CDs have a greater dynamic range - google it.
But other reI find vinyl pressings are way more inconsistent than CDs. You could get very good sound out of some records but very often you could have other recordings average or meh. CDs you can almost trust that there is good quality sound and they are mostly good value for money.
I have a fairly new pressing of Jackson’s Thriller…. it sounds pretty lifeless to my ears. I got a modern day LP of Bowies Young Americans and it sounds great. Just seems a bit hit or miss with modem pressings these days so I mostly look for original vinyl at charity shops!
@@user-ze3nl2kc2f Can you give some examples of a records that where ripped from youtube? Many are digitally sourced but i very much doubt many are ripped from youtube😂
The really rare stuff. Soul,reggae and jazz. A few years ago there was a brilliant soul re issue 12" that was retailing for quite a lot. Somebody noticed it had clicks in exactly the same place as the only TH-cam upload and it caused quite a stir. I can't remember the name but I'll dig around on my hard drive to find out and report back after the weekend
This is simply not true. 192 or 96/24 files are the general standard, but there are labels like Analogue Productions cutting all analog although I appreciate this is not on a wide scale. I’m not sure anyone other than shady labels are cutting using MP3 files.
Doesn't it come down to how a record or CD has been mastered. I have some great sounding records and some awful sounding ones, ditto CD. Some new vinyl is poor, I recently bought Weather Report 8.30 on vinyl and it sounds awful compared to the CD or streaming on Tidal, but I also bought the Doors LA Women on vinyl and it sounds so much better than the CD or stream from Tidal. I have never been a great headphone listener so maybe my ears have survived as I am 64 years old. For the most part listening on mid to high end systems apart from in my youth. Also don't forget new vinyl is taken from a digital file these days.
No, it was created from the wish to have something better than cassette tapes in the automobile sector. And also as a convienient and easy to use item to musiclistening at home.
@ But still more expensive to buy. At least in Denmark that is. When they were introduced the cd was sold to 159 danish kroner while the vinyl was sold to 129 danish kroner.
Correct. CDs were the next step in the mass distribution of recorded sound. Just as records superseded cylinders, CD superseded vinyl in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and ease of distribution.
i had my cd player packed away for years and recently hooked it back up..from the few cds i've compared to vinyl the vinyl often sounds better to me. not by a huge margin but generally less "compressed". I'm sure its not always though.
You'd need to have serious hearing problems not to be able to distinguish between those formats. When CDs arrived in the 80s I was delighted, even despite the early problems with mastering, and I eventually gave away all my LPs to a charity shop, sold my nice Dual turntable... and I have never regretted it.
Back in day had about 100 lps had new ones never played the cleaning was a pain so had cassette first I brought both .but CDs where cool much better there not compressed that's what producers did in studio to make sound lound I had technics high end CD player know a nice old Kenwood and sounds good then brought technics slp 1200 dj table it's bloody nice but it's still time consuming I mostly listen on my phone as wife watches tv in lounge Spotify not as good as a vf ditto Netflix itsint same watching a Blu ray movie I like hard copy's even games like buy the disc these things take up room though I think future be all streaming boring no atmosphere no aticpation waiting get something it's all on demand binging it's lost something
I have 1000s of CDs, been buying since 1990. Only 2 so far have disc rot and they are of the same band, which leads me to think it was a one off manufacturing mistake.
Interesting you don’t like the Mo-Fi pressing. I have a couple, one of which is a genuine analogue pressing, the other is digital. I was somewhat underwhelmed with the analogue pressing for being, as you say, just too polite. I bought the digital one of Alison Krauss because the original master was also digital, so nothing to lose. Side 3 on this album has horrible distortion caused by a problem in the pressing process. Totally unacceptable in an audiophile version at a premium price. Never buying another. If you want a great pressing, pick up anything by Analogue Productions. Not cheap but on another level. The rest of the time I try to hunt down decent original UK pressings and then, yes, give them a clean on my machine. 5 minutes well spent, just once when I first get it home! 😉
Hi great informative video, I buy LPs from charity shops but I have bought some new like dire straights love over gold for £24, J M Jarre zoo look for £17, and I did by M Oldfield 50 year anniversary for £34 and sound good , sorry to here about the 2 bad pressing for that album . I have rega p3 with elyis2 cartridge done a A-B between tubular bells 3 cd and lp and can’t really hear the difference bith sound good with my ears . Regards. Mark
I've collected vinyl since 1979 and it's getting to the stage that I'm now grinding my vinyl collecting to a halt. I recently purchased 2 box sets. Pink Floyd Pulse and The Who Whos Next. Both brand new straight out the wrappers and the clicks and pops made them virtually unenjoyable. Both pressed by GZ Media in the Czech Republic. People used to laugh at the LPs that were advertised on TV by K-TEL and Ronco ......every copy played fine without any issues.and they were all around £2.99. The 2 box sets cost me nearly £150. I'm slowly turning back to CDs......because of the quality and price.
I spent the first 27 years of my life collecting vinyl... and then CDs came along and I've spent the last 30+ years buying CDs. Never felt the need to go back. And being born with bad hearing issues, I can't detect any difference 'tween vinyl and CDs! Besides, CDs are cheaper. I'd much rather buy a 3CD deluxe edition of a classic album than buy a straight 180gm vinyl reissue at the same price as the triple CD release!
I'm late 60s. I grew up with vinyl - but never got rid of any of my LPs when we were "told to". I like to really explore music and when CDs were first introduced, I only slowly switched over because the sort of music I really loved wasn't available on CD at first - but how that changed! I still have about 800 or 900 LPs, but I now have about 4000 CDs, possibly more.
i share all your gripes, particularly about buying new records these days. been listening to vinyl my whole life so it’s just a shame with poor pressings/other release defects. that feeling of “testing” a new record to see if it’s OK is really no way to enjoy music, but i guess that’s how it is sometimes nowadays…
I grew up with vinyl but couldn’t get rid of it fast enough when a better format (CD) came along. To my ears CD’s still sound better. Sure, the gatefold LP artwork you get with vinyl looks nice but to my mind the pluses of the CD format vastly outweigh those of the vinyl format. Whether it’s down to production costs or price gouging by the record companies, it is ridiculously expensive to buy vinyl and they have now killed the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg. I think the current infatuation with vinyl is now starting to wane and I can only see this trend continuing.
Exactly, my thoughts entirely.
I'm a vinyl guy, but cds sound good. I just feel that you should have the format pertaining to the era of release. If I buy a 1964 album, it should be vinyl. A 1994 album should be cd. 1990 is a good cutoff point to switch to cds. 2010 is the year, you should have either stopped buying media altogether, or gone back to vinyl. I don't think the vinyl bubble bursting will do anything for cd sales, other than used cds at thrift stores. You can rarely find cd new releases at a walmart or most chain record stores. I don't see anything changing, other than people loading up on 2 for a dollar cds from thrift stores. Most former cd buyers I know, just stream or TH-cam music. They don't buy anything
@@dawnpatrol700 As is evident from the comments for this video, there are many serious CD collectors and buyers still out there. CD sales rose last year, albeit not by much, but the notion that they're a thing of the past is an urban myth - it's kidology. There are many many labels, particularly classical, who have not even given vinyl a second thought.
CDs at thrift stores in my area have gone up from $1 to $1.50
Prices on used CDs on eBay have gone up for sure. You could find good used CDs for $3.49 with free shipping a few years ago. Today, good used CDs are anywhere from $6.50 to $12.00 with free shipping on ebay.
If I can find good used vinyl at used record stores for less than $10 I will buy it.
Format doesn’t really matter to me. I find it easier to play CDs and it takes a little more effort to flip the vinyl. I play music on TH-cam to find new music I haven’t heard before. I still listen to the radio in my car. I hear XM radio at work.
All formats work for me.
@@bigb2020 Yes, that's very interesting and I agree.
I buy lots of CDs on eBay, but I've noticed in my morning notification emails that prices are rising for the CDs I'm interested in - particularly new condition items. My local charity shops are sometimes quite naive, but even so the ladies who work in these shops have told me that people are coming in to look at the CDs. Their DVDs are pretty well dead, but certainly not CDs.
I have quite esoteric taste in music, but I find that most sellers are clued up enough to spot the more interesting CDs and price accordingly - which is fair enough. However the bucketshops aren't quite so savvy and despite their price matching software, I still pick up bargains for £2 or £3.
My mantra is "it's not about the format, it's about the music".
I have piles of old cassette mixtapes I made up 30-40 years ago and I still enjoy these massively while I'm cooking.
I have about 800 LPs which I still play, but I generally steer clear of buying vinyl nowadays because I'm such a worrier I can do without the hassle of dealing with bad pressings etc... LOL!
I love vinyl but I've never felt the need to buy any of the expensive remasters. As you say there are some brilliant CD reissues that don't cost a fortune.
Hearing loss is something that a lot of us have. Years of listening to loud music, especially at gigs has taken its toll on my hearing. For about the last 10 years I've been wearing earplugs at gigs but the damage is done. The most common form of hearing loss occurs at high frequencies. This is what I have. Effectively what happens is that low frequency sound drowns out the high frequencies. But having invested in some hearing aids that equalise volume across the range I'm now hearing music as it should be. Cheers Mike
I bought vinyl from the late 70s up to the late 80s and then CDs, CDs at first weren't as good as vinyl but boy has that changed, the dynamic range of a CD is 95db and higher, whereas vinyl is 70db, so CDs to my ears will always sound better in the loud and quite moments of an album, you have no pops and clicks, no changing of needles or cartridges, no real cleaning as such, I still have a few LPs but CDs are way better value and so easy to play and listen to. I enjoyed your video.
Totally agree with you. It seems like record companies have taken people to the cleaners and ripping them off with pretty coloured pieces of plastic and so-called one-step pressings knowing that gullible people will buy them at ridiculous prices. It’s almost like people have forgotten why the CD was invented in the first place and whilst I do like vinyl records I would say that in most cases in my experience that nearly always the CD sounds better and will often contain extra material and even sometimes a bonus DVD or Blu-ray all at a fraction of the price.
I remember my brother-in-law and myself welcoming CDs as a genuine breath of fresh air back in the late 80s - it was a joy to be free of bad pressings, scratches, warping etc etc. Now that vinyl has returned, all those problems still exist but now you pay 5 times the price for the privilege.
Vinyl can sound fantastic if everything is right - but that's maybe 1 in 4 LPs? Likewise CDs can also sound fantastic, but 3 out of 4 do. When people talk about CDs sounding harsh, this is usually because of compression or "loudness wars" - many mass market pop CDs were blighted by this after about 1999? They sound okay on a mini-system or in the car, but a good HiFi reveals how blooming loud they are. Sadly this same idiocy also applies to many modern vinyl releases! The bottom line is whether music has been skilfully mastered to disc - vinyl or CD.
My mantra is: it's not about the format, it's about the music.
Completely right opinion! It is the reason I buy only old vinyl records - end of 60th to middle 80th. I only started to collect vinyl and have only near 500 records, also 1500 CD and musical DVD, near 3000 albums in digital lossless format, and I listen all of them and enjoy by music every day!
It's about the mastering, too^
The damn loudness war mastering has given CD's a bad name which this great audio medium does not deserve.
@@lucalone Exactly, spot on. Which is why there's a small but growing community of people buying vintage CDs.
@@TalesofWiltshire From my experience those from '82-'86 sound the best.
Over the last two years I have returned over 100 seriously damaged new records. Replacements have arrived with different damage -- often severely warped. I have contacted the record labels involved, and they absolutely do not care. :0/
It's one big hassle isn't it? I can't help wondering how many folk overlook these defects, not realising they're being seriously short changed. Here in the UK, outlets like HMV are now charging £35 for many vinyl reissues - that's a lot of money to shell out for a load of hassle.
Those Pretenders albums are among my favourites. Didn’t know about those special editions, but have just ordered them. Really looking forward to checking them out, great packaging too. Thanks for posting, great video
The only reason I keep my turntable is to play the vinyl that I bought before CD arrived. Some LPs are replaceable with CD, but some are rare (read expensive) or the CD versions are too compressed. I can tell the difference: the vinyl is the one with the scratches, dust and background hum. If available, the CD is usually superior, unless it has been compressed to hell.
I like vinyl and CD. I use 8track, cassette, MD and DCC as well. I just hate the loudness wars nonsense that happened with CDs. I've got some fantastic pressings on vinyl and same with CD. Njoi the music!
I have loved music since I was 8. I’m now 63. I’ve collected thousands of vinyls, cassettes, CDs and digital downloads. I have never stopped for a second and sweated over minuscule variances in sound quality (or even large variances). Waste of time and life’s too short. Just enjoy the songs. Don’t fret the sound
Well, it's all about making vinyl worth listening to and there is one, old 1975 year Japanese, transcription style turntable that you can have at low price, and it's an Aurex Sr-410 Direct Drive. All you need are some you know, bargain Aurex amplifiers and stuff and you know, it's the back door to high end Hi-Fi. But don't expect anybody to be happy that you chose the brand because they'll be filled with envy and unable to share your satisfaction. It's a little known about name and prices are low because few know how to look them up, but some do. After a year of this comment, just watch the prices rise!
I understand what you're saying and I agree - it's not about the format, it's about the music
However some hifi systems can sound amazing, making music sound fantastically lifelike - and even lifesize.
I was mad about music as a child too!
I'm 68 and was so lucky to grow up in a house where my Mum and Dad bought the Stones, Beatles, Donovan etc.
My dear old Mum was particularly open minded - she may have grown up with Bing, but she loved everything from classical music to Richard Thompson and David Gilmour. She'd have been 95 this month. Mum's folks in Wiltshire were musical it has be said.
Beautifully argued. Agree totally about the first listen squirm! Cheers! 🙏
I buy both, cds sound amazing, i just have a small amount of vinyl just for the hobby of it.
For me the vinyl bubble burst with the release of the infamous Adele triple vinyl in 2022 with the anticipation of huge sales with 20 lp's stocked at our local Walmart. I don't think any sold over the next year until our Walmarts in Canada phased out vinyl and CD's altogether.
If you've spent thousands on a top notch turntable and cartridge you are gonna buy vinyl. Personally I've never had a record that out performs a CD. But then I've never spent thousands on a record deck...
@@MOJOPIN1960 yes. If your gonna spend more then it's bound to sound better. No what you get is 'deminishing Returns' for your kit. A £20 hi end cap In you hifi amplifier won't change much at all
With regard to the hearing issue I had this happen to me after seeing The Who in the Locarno ballroom Glasgow in 1968. I described it as being like standing next to a Boeing 747 taking off. I lost my hearing the next day but thankfully it recovered later in the day. It was quite a scary experience. though and since then, like you, I have been very careful to protect myself. Funnily enough the gig had to be abandoned when Roger Daltry's swung microphone hit a girl in front of the low stage. The Glasgow gang who had been causing trouble all night took this as a cue to invade the stage. The Who ran for the dressing room and that was the end of it. Happy memories. Thanks for a great channel.
That feeling you describe of actually feeling nervous when you drop the needle onto a new LP you've bought is VERY familiar to me, or WAS perhaps I should say. I don't buy vinyl at all now, not new or used - maybe the only exception would be something exotic for pennies, maybe an esoteric world music gem or something similar.
I really respect you for making this video and being so honest about the situation. Thank you!
I saw so many loud shows in my youth I’m surprised I don’t have significant hearing loss (Soundgarden, Flaming Lips, and Alice Donut stand out as the loudest). I’m building up my music collection again, and I’m just going with whatever format suits me in the moment, although I’m leaning toward CDs. I’m a renter and moving loads of LPs can be a drag.
I use to have 200 funk & soul 1970s / 1980s albums. I now have 100 cds 💿 approx. The sound is crisp and as pure as water. You can plug in your headphones 🎧 drink some beer 🍺 and dance 🕺 🎶 the night away via your remote control. You can't do that with snap crackle and pop jumping vinyl / albums. Plus you can still get excellent art work and artist info via cd covers. Albums / vinyl = a sprint but cds 💿 = a marathon when it comes to music life.
Almost every brand new blu ray disk I have bought since 2020 have come with a scratch on it. Poor manufacturing at the plant in Mexico has led to the downfall of even attempting to collect any new movies.
The Loudness Wars Database confirms that some modern vinyl releases are also noticeably compressed.
Something ive noticed lately; in the early days of the "vinyl revival" albums would come with a download code. I loved this - i would put a cooy on my phone and burn one for the car. But theyve stopped doing that. They probably assume everyone subscribes to a sreaming sevice now, but i think its skimping - it basically cost them nothing.
Plenty of pre 2000 vinyl records out there, in great condition, way cheaper than new vinyl and no harshness sound from some cd,s. Also, no digital vinyl recordings, which cost a fortune and are really giant cd,s. Record fairs are obviously chock with old vinyl.
Unfortunately, the biggest part of my collection is on CD. When they appeared in the 80's, it seemed like finally there was the perfect format to listen to music. Sadly, many of my CD don't work anymore. And it's really frustrating. So, 6 or 7 years ago I went back to vinyl records, and that was my best decision. I know that prices are crazy but there's always the chance to find records at a reasonable cost.
"Sadly, many of my CD don't work anymore"
You might need to explain that!
There are some wonderful CD players on the market now, what a joy to buy 35 year old CDs for pennies and they just sound fantastic.
Being buying records since the mid-70’s and obviously started buying cd’s too when they became an option. Still buys albums today, but not in the same amount as when in my 20’s and 30’s. Today it’s mostly vinyls I buy and, unfortunately, due to the awfull compression of today, mostly 2’nd hand or re-issues and the ones when my favourite bands sends out a new album.
If you have a decent stereo equipment with a pickup in good shape the vinyls do give you more than the cd’s.
So does a £3k CD player - take my word for it!
I have been into making music and in my own studio. Always was a Vinyl Guy for listening. But it was in paralell to building up my studio with all the equipment. For the last while I started building up a Modular Synth setup (or a few really), and that made me recently realize that a new vinyl release today costs more money than a pretty good module for my synth setups. And nowadays I only buy records for artists I know well releasing something new. I think I have all the backcatalogue I want, But I do not ever anymore buy a record because it looks interesting for one reason or another. I basically have to know it is really good. And that goes for used vinyl too, It's too expensive to take a gamble on something unknown. And no, I do not discover anything by streaming, the only streaming I do is directly from my own Roon server (via Arc). I get recommendations from trusted sources, and I take a listen, and if it's good I have to eigh if it's a digital buy, CD-buy or a Vinyl Buy. More and more it is simply a no buy. Even a proper legal digital download buy is too much...
Why spending 50 £ for The Pretenders when you can find almost original mint copies for a tenner? Just asking.
People are trick into buying it. The original is going to sound a lot better.
£50 for a new LP is just pure greed on the part of the industry and the big shops like HMV.
I’ve been reasonably lucky with new vinyl but I have had a few I’ve had to return. As for CDs, I still enjoy spinning them and in some cases I prefer the sound to the equivalent vinyl. I also subscribe to a streaming service and I have discovered lots of new music through it so I can’t think of a better time than this for music fans, we are spoiled for choice. 🎶🎶👍
Is it true that CDs sound better on poor/bog standard equipment, and vinyl sounds better on good quality (expensive) equipment?
If you can't tell the difference, or prefer dealing with one format or the other, then yeah, it's about enjoying the music so go with what makes the music listening experience best for you. I personally am in a really weird situation I've not heard of anyone else being in, my hearing has been rubbish since birth, and to me the sound difference between vinyl, CD and digital is just something deeply noticable to me. I quite like what I hear from vinyl records, they feel much easier for me to pick up on the sound personally. But hearing is a very personal, subjective experience. The absolute rubbish being produced over the last 5 years or so from some of these pressing plants is completely not subjective, they are objectively awful. So I have pretty much abandoned buying new presses of things and gone back to hunting out vintage records in good nick
I had numerous albums and cassettes as a younger person and foolishly gave most of them away when I went into the ministry! Haha… by the mid 80s I was collecting cds like no tomorrow and have been since…however, now in midlife, nostalgia got the better of me and I’ve begun to collect vinyl once again. There is a depth to the sound that is unbeatable and harkens me back to my youth. I’ve tried to make a rule that I will not replace what I already have on cd… accept for a few classic rock albums. I am trying to make my purchases of vinyl, minimal, and used if possible. This helps keep the costs down. My turntable was 300$ and sounds pretty good. Still listen to my cds - but I find a lot of modern ones are too loud and the bass too high.
"...in the sniper's sights," love it! Audiophiles are a strange bunch alright but the we're all peculiar in our own way
You start off saying you dont want to get into the CD/Vinyl argument and then the overarching question is you can really hear the difference (anymore). I think as all music enthuasiast we all jumped through the same hoops and then at one point stopped jumping cause we noticed how silly "HiFi" is and all that super hi-resolution digital audio and having thick expensive heavy duty analog cables for ridiculoussy large speakers that cost half a mortage... however deep you go in this rabbit hole, you have to stop at the thing you like and that brings you the most joy and stop fuzzing about the details, because there is always "better" and always "more expensive" and none of us will either have the funds or the ears to appreciate these options. I buy vinyl because i like the big artwork, the memories i have with the albums and i like looking at my possessions with pride and it makes me smile. Are there formats, players, headphones, amps and speakers that could make everything sound 10 times better? Yes! Do i care to explore and can i fund that journey? No.. So back to what brought me joy: buying vinyl to look at. - Quality or ease of use isn't the deciding factor here, i find.
nice video. I like the Pretenders third record also. BTW you say you left that gig because it was to loud. When I encountered this I just out some tissue in my ears. It helped a lot cutting down on the shrill treble sound. And believe me I did this a lot since I used to go to many hardcore shows and stand up front. Seems like a simple solution, no?
Calico Silver on You Tu be did a fab chat on format snobs,well worth a listen. I couldnt afford CDs in the early nineties (95) but as vinyl availabiltity stopped l was forced into jt. Now l am also in the snipers sights l wont go back, l just cant be bothered with the BS, and the price of CDs is more realistic etc l wont be a sheep and follow the herd(to mix my metaphors).Nice chat.
Total agreement.
Great video. Wooden Shjips are amazing. I've only had the fortune of seeing Moon Duo live. They were amazing too.
I started buying vinyl when it was the only game in town. Long before CDs, the Internet and all of that stuff. When CDs came out I started buying those but I kept my vinyl collection and still listen to my records. I do not feel the need to choose between the two formats. Too many "remastered" CDs are nothing but overly compressed crap. My stereo system has a volume control. If I want music louder I just raise the volume. I want to be in charge of that, not some CD engineer. I will always love vinyl because it's my roots.
I’m fast approaching 60 and like you, my hearing is in poor shape. Years of headphone use and loud gigs and guitar jams. I have to wear a hearing aid and I can’t attend loud gigs any more because it’s almost painful (and to me it usually sounds bad anyway). I’ve lost a lot of upper frequencies in my hearing so I’ve actually reached the point where CDs now seem to sound clearer and more detailed to me than my vinyl does. To any youngsters reading this - LOOK AFTER YOUR HEARING!! Don’t fall asleep with headphones on, don’t stand in front of speakers at gigs and take attenuated ear plugs to gigs in case it gets stupidly loud. Remember, if your ears are ringing the morning after a gig that means you’ve probably permanently damaged your hearing. It might only be by a little bit but that accumulates over many gigs and one day you’ll realise what danage has been done and you won’t be able to do anything about it. Just imagine not being able to hear properly when music is your big passion in life. Trust me, it’s no laughing matter.
Pete Townsend now suffers from really bad tinnitus.
I wonder how many other musicians suffer from this terrible affliction?
I first became aware of my tinnitus at the age of 40 and I learned to live with it, most times it's masked by background noise, but I'm now 73 and it is getting progressively worse.
I think the worst damage to my hearing was done going to a Chicago concert way back in the 70's, man that brass can really rip into your hearing.
I should have been like a friend of mine who wisely had cotton wool stuffed in his ears.
Anyway, look after your hearing, it's a precious gift.
@@noelmurray1 and there is no current treatment that works for tinnitus. The best advice I’ve received is to “just try to ignore it”. That’s all you can do. I bet thousands of musicians suffer with it. I used to think it hadn’t been a good gig unless my ears were ringing but now I’ve learned the true cost.
The first album by the Pretenders is fantastic 😊
There are a number of videos like this now appearing on TH-cam, brave souls daring to suggest that maybe vinyl isn't all it's scratched up to be (intentional pun!). The killer though is the comments underneath where so many people are speaking up for CDs, over and over again in fact.
It never was, once CDs came along.
The vestibulocochlear nerves that relay sound to the brain have a NCV (nerve conduction velocity) sampling rate that is very close to to the sampling rate of CDs. So higher resolution sound sources (e.g. analogue) have content that our brains _can't even perceive_ .
Add to that the relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio of vinyl, and what have you got? An inferior sound-distribution medium in a nice big sleeve.
If you want the sleeves _and_ the audio in a resolution your brain can process _and_ excellent signal-to-noise ratio, go for Japanese 'papersleeve' CDs. Your ears, eyes and bank balance will thank you.
Yes, spot on.
I never got into records because as a kid in the early 80's, I was always scared to death to use my dad's record player. I was always worried that I'd scratch them or break something.
And that fear stayed with me my whole life.
You make a very good case. There is a very real issue with modern vinyl production.
The power of marketing is so strong to resist. I find it very difficult to once it’s got into my head.
Morrisey got it spot on in “Paint a vulgar picture” off Strangeways here we come.
I've sworn off new vinyl. Most of it is digitally recorded so may as well buy a CD or stream it. But I agree with your main point, the products now are poor quality. And the (perhaps) uncomfortable truth is that recording, production, mixing, mastering and pressing (i.e., the whole process) was perfected over 50 years ago and we don't seem to be able to get anywhere near it now. Just think Abbey Road, DSOTM, Crime of the Century, LZ IV, to name a few, not to mention jazz labels like Blue Note and (especially) CTI. I still enjoy the hobby, but it's limited to vintage only. I'm very unlikely to buy anything produced since the 80s.
Spot on.
I love both formats, vinyl and cd. I find that it can be hit and miss with both though. A fine example of this is when The Beatles albums first came out on CD back in '87 and like everyone else I snapped them up, but I play them now in 2024 and they sound awful, the later re releases and remasters and remixes sound far better and are my go to CD's when I want to hear Rubber Soul or Revolver for example. I have not had the bad experiences with new vinyl that you seem to have had, but there are times when I wonder if for what new vinyl costs these days if we're not being scammed here in a way, that with the current world economic climate and the spiralling price of oil, that cheaper products are being sourced to manufacture our vinyl albums. Unless it's an album I really want I will these days wait for either a drop in price or buy it second hand in a few months time. I attend what record fairs I can and I must say that the ones I do get to are well attended. There is a demand for both physical forms of CD and Vinyl, there's something about holding that record or cd, reading the liner notes and enjoying the album artwork. Don't get me wrong I also stream, but you can't do that with a series of binary numbers which is what, after all streamed music is. As a footnote I've just taken delivery of a new CD player, and I have to say it's got to be the best one I have ever owned, the sound is amazing. So I'll keep on playing both my vinyl and CD's, and finally I'm with you on which Pretenders albums you prefer on vinyl, because their first two albums are their best ones.
I collected 45,s they have a better dynamic sound to me cd can sound fantastic if its remastered properly as for new records it digital so you might as well by the cd .
I agree that you get more bang for your buck with CD's, especially wIthen you get those nice sets. However, I still prefer listening to vinyl, it just gives me a more magical feeling. Where I really agree with you is the state of modern pressings, especially compared to originals. It seems that 99% of the time the originals sound better.
I still have every record I ever bought plus I have CDs too. Enjoy both formats equally. And yeah you still have to clean cds every so often due to fingerprints dirt etc getting on them plus you need to clean the laser in the cd player at least twice a year.
Ditto that - EXCEPT, I literally threw away the debut Jason Donovan CD. And now tempted to throw away two Robbie William CDs, just because I can’t stand the man…..
I do have some “cool” stuff 😊
I only buy vinyl becouse i dont like cd,i dont jumped on that cd train in the 90's that mostly everyone did. I continued collect vinyl even then,i get many of them for free! So its has always been vinyl for me folks. I am soon 60 so i dont see a reason to change my opinion. Rock on everybody.
The Pretenders' first album always sounded like crap to me because they were shoving a lot of music onto smaller grooves. Not only does the VOLUME suffer, but also the frequencies. What MFSL or "MoFi" should have done is to split the album onto 2 LPs and THEN use the original master tapes, AND AS A BONUS - cut it at 45 RPM. They would have had a winner there. There is one other thing: the album is no "Aja". It wasn't recorded "audiophile quality" to begin with. It was just another guitar driven band, so I doubt they would have had the best recording studios or engineers. They were competent, but also in a hurry. I've heard that album on CD and though it's far from a great audiophile experience, it is far better than the vinyl releases. No matter who cuts that record, they have to compromise heavily in order to make it fit on one disc.
I just bought a vinyl in first time in 30 years. Picture disk framed on the wall. I stream high rez or Atmos when i listen to music now.
If you can tolerate pops and clicks + ridiculously priced vinyl good for you.
Well said 🎉🎉
I agree many pitfalls to buying new Vinyl. There was much better quality control in 70’s! Pressing plants clearly rush jobs. You often get cloudy look to vinyl as they have put into iner sleeves before vinyl has cooled. I think also the quality of CD’s has improved! I feel for people that dispensed with them all in favour of streaming subscriptions. i do have a spotify subscription but prefer CD’s. However I recently bought a Ruark Audio Bluetooth speaker and I enjoy streaming through it !
I've got two pairs of Ruark speakers both from the 90s - they still sound great.
Look a bit dated though... not that I care!
Between '70s and late '80s, I bought records and cassettes, after that I bought CDs. I can certainly tell the difference, CDs don't have the snap, crackle & pop that vinyl has. Of course I'm not going to buy any more records, 1) They're far too expensive, 2) I no longer have a record player. BTW back in the day I don't think I ever called records, "vinyl" or "vinyls".
The original 1992 Automatic For the People (not to mention Out ot Time and Monster for that matter) is, like most early to mid-90s WEA German pressed vinyl, pretty poor. Long since upgraded to £1 charity shop CD copies.
Bog roll in the ears is surprisingly effective at loud gigs!
Very handy if you get the runs too!
I saw a SINGLE ALBUM in WalMart for $27.00 and I thought, what planet am I on? That is insane and get over the I have to hold the physical medium crap, I am 65 and have a shit load of vinyl albums in storage just wasting away. Digital downloads - Lets say I sample every vinyl album at CD quality. Lets also say every CD is 650 MB. I have a 1TB SSD that weighs a few ounces and that would hold 1600 CDs. Figure each album weights one pound. There is over a ton and a half of weight. The SSD weighs about 1/100 of a single pound. I don't hear anyone saying, oh grammophone records, you can't get much better than a shellac 78 ... if you have a good needle!
£35 is now quite normal in the UK - that's about $45 in the USA.
It's all one big rip-off I'm afraid.
@@TalesofWiltshire Hey, I remember in 1995 I was involved in music production, and am also a pro musician. I can hear things others cannot. Even at 60+ people say my hearing is akin to a German Shepherd, thanks but, well ok. My little friend a 15 year old computer geek in 1995 (now an IBM whiz) told me about the joy of the mp3. I was ranting about it is "lossy compression" and rubbish.
Then I found out the DCC I was using to make rudimentary masters was actually hardware encoded mp3 style lossy just encoded onto a cassette. I got the best sound card back then and really couldn't tell a CD from MP3 certainly if a loud song, but even a quiet song it's near impossible. I think the codec was that Fraunhofer IIS and it sounded fine to me.
No matter what I would do, the clicks, pops, and inevitable scratches even micro scratches were too much and I wanted to run each vinyl through software to remove them which pretty much brings it to near CD quality of 44.1 and 16 bit Easier to get pro music on a service now, I have to move 10 boxes of scratchy albums to a new house soon, oh boy!
Yes, there are a lot of lousy pressings these days. Even the most mainstream and thinnest albums from the 80's are often better pressed than these new 180 gram reissues. And. That. Is. Really. Really. Sad. I keep digging those old second hand crates though...
It's not the cd that you hear it's the internal dac. Get a cheep cd player with a coaxial or digital out. But a good external dac. You don't need a flash cd player but you will here much more from the dac
If I had continued and if all the releases had been able to purchase everything I have bought (instead of other media) I would have no room in the living room. Also my NAD deck decided to pack up and I'm left with a not great Mitsubishi deck. Saying that I do still buy vinyl now and again mostly old stuff which I can't find on digital, I absolutely hate downloads, but sometimes I do because of availability or price of the cd. As an aside the loudest band I ever saw was Slaughter & the Dogs, even louder than Motorhead.
If it's cheap and in good condition then yes vinyl is worth buying.
Likewise, love the "in the sniper's sights". I'm in the sniper's sights so just keeping my old crackly vinyl and selling the better stuff because I can always stream from Tidal. As for MoFi I would not bother.
Oh I hope he says "it IS still worth buying vinyl" because I spent a lot of money on my records. If he says "no," I will be in despair...let's listen and anxiously await his verdict...
I just grabbed that Pretenders LP for $2. Yes, it’s still 100% worth buying records.
The LPs today are just a big con and nothing else.I am in my late 70s and have a very large collection of classical CDs.As you know these first appeared in 1983 and I have never looked back,I could not wait to get rid of the dreadful LPs.Today's prices are extortionate and too many people are falling for this outrageous b---------t
I totally agree. I'm 68 and I only really started to explore classical music properly in the CD era. I know some folks rave about Decca SXLs and the like, but vinyl from that period was a whole different story than the many LPs that followed. I remember Decca pressings from the late 80s that were shocking, horrible floppy things, digitally mastered and tiny tiny grooves.
CDs and SACDs are a godsend for listening to chamber music AND the massed forces of a full orchestra. Neither fared very well on vinyl in my experience.
"The LPs today are just a big con and nothing else." This is fucking absurd. 😆
i HAVE THE sHANKER, X RAY SPECS, REED AND PATTI LPS THE OTHER COULD BE THE JAM. nEVER HEARD OF TH EOTHER ONE. When the Pretendersd lp was first released there was also a foreign 12" with tracks not on the lp but it was dearer than the lp so I left it.
Never could understand the attraction of vinyl and especially paying the exorbitant prices for it.
There's a certain nostalgia, if you are of an age. There is also the fact that the sheer inconvenience of the medium means you are likely to pay more attention. Sonically, they are pretty awful though; especially at the bass end.
Oh and a 12" sleeve makes a perfect rolling surface.
Yes you are right. Life's too short.
Your disappointment with the comparative lifelessness of the expensive mobile fidelity record, is because it is digital, as you say. My own experience with digital recordings is the same.
I think vinyl attracts collectors
I have simply grown out of wanting to re buy old pop music .
As I understand it, analogue recordings on vinyl have no upper limit on frequency range. Although the human hearing range is limited, the higher frequencies create what's known as harmonics which give the impression of warmth and depth. But as almost all modern recordings are made digitally, where the top end of the frequencies are limited at 20,000 hertz, there is no benefit sonically in transferring digital source material to vinyl. Quite the opposite-even with a fantastic vinyl mastering engineer the best you can possibly hope for is that the vinyl sounds as good as the digital source. Ps-I have terrible tinnitus from playing guitar in loud bands-they're not cheap but Elacin moulded earplugs have great attenuation so you get a pretty accurate representation of what you're hearing at safe levels. And, to my ears, in a live situation, you can hear much more detail in the sound. pps You're spot on about The Pretenders, JHS had an edge to his sound and playing that was never replicated. I'd imagine they went from a band of equals to a group where Chrissie was very much in charge.
With a high end CD player, it's possible to hear CDs that sound just as warm and realistic as vinyl sometimes does.
CDs have a greater dynamic range - google it.
I have a friend that buys and sells vinyl for his living, but he says the new vinyl today is rubbish. Which is sad really!
As a fellow music aficionado and audiophile…yup..tinnitus is a bitch
But other reI find vinyl pressings are way more inconsistent than CDs. You could get very good sound out of some records but very often you could have other recordings average or meh. CDs you can almost trust that there is good quality sound and they are mostly good value for money.
I have a fairly new pressing of Jackson’s Thriller…. it sounds pretty lifeless to my ears. I got a modern day LP of Bowies Young Americans and it sounds great. Just seems a bit hit or miss with modem pressings these days so I mostly look for original vinyl at charity shops!
You must’ve read my comment on Melinda’s channel ?
A lot of new vinyl is not audiophile quality. It’s just mp3 digital files pressed onto vinyl. Always buy originals.
So true. A lot of them are just ripped from TH-cam
@@user-ze3nl2kc2f Can you give some examples of a records that where ripped from youtube? Many are digitally sourced but i very much doubt many are ripped from youtube😂
The really rare stuff. Soul,reggae and jazz.
A few years ago there was a brilliant soul re issue 12" that was retailing for quite a lot. Somebody noticed it had clicks in exactly the same place as the only TH-cam upload and it caused quite a stir. I can't remember the name but I'll dig around on my hard drive to find out and report back after the weekend
This is simply not true. 192 or 96/24 files are the general standard, but there are labels like Analogue Productions cutting all analog although I appreciate this is not on a wide scale. I’m not sure anyone other than shady labels are cutting using MP3 files.
What kind of turntable an cartridge do You have?
I learned the hard way. Now I use earplugs. No exceptions.
Doesn't it come down to how a record or CD has been mastered. I have some great sounding records and some awful sounding ones, ditto CD. Some new vinyl is poor, I recently bought Weather Report 8.30 on vinyl and it sounds awful compared to the CD or streaming on Tidal, but I also bought the Doors LA Women on vinyl and it sounds so much better than the CD or stream from Tidal. I have never been a great headphone listener so maybe my ears have survived as I am 64 years old. For the most part listening on mid to high end systems apart from in my youth. Also don't forget new vinyl is taken from a digital file these days.
Got rid of my vinyl in the 90s and no wish to return to it. Might be sacrilege but all my music is mp3s.
The CD was born because of dissatisfaction with the records/LPs.
No, it was created from the wish to have something better than cassette tapes in the automobile sector. And also as a convienient and easy to use item to musiclistening at home.
@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 And it didn't hurt that cds are much cheaper to produce and, due to their size and weight, cheaper to distribute.
@ But still more expensive to buy. At least in Denmark that is. When they were introduced the cd was sold to 159 danish kroner while the vinyl was sold to 129 danish kroner.
@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 That's true. I seem to remember cds being about twice the price of records and cassettes in the UK. Greedy old record companies.
Correct.
CDs were the next step in the mass distribution of recorded sound. Just as records superseded cylinders, CD superseded vinyl in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and ease of distribution.
i had my cd player packed away for years and recently hooked it back up..from the few cds i've compared to vinyl the vinyl often sounds better to me. not by a huge margin but generally less "compressed". I'm sure its not always though.
You'd need to have serious hearing problems not to be able to distinguish between those formats. When CDs arrived in the 80s I was delighted, even despite the early problems with mastering, and I eventually gave away all my LPs to a charity shop, sold my nice Dual turntable... and I have never regretted it.
Back in day had about 100 lps had new ones never played the cleaning was a pain so had cassette first I brought both .but CDs where cool much better there not compressed that's what producers did in studio to make sound lound I had technics high end CD player know a nice old Kenwood and sounds good then brought technics slp 1200 dj table it's bloody nice but it's still time consuming I mostly listen on my phone as wife watches tv in lounge Spotify not as good as a vf ditto Netflix itsint same watching a Blu ray movie I like hard copy's even games like buy the disc these things take up room though I think future be all streaming boring no atmosphere no aticpation waiting get something it's all on demand binging it's lost something
Time to go down to the Pub and lift a pint or two.
Er...yes. Glad about yer ears matey. Wot a scare.
I have stopped buying new vinyl, got sick of the shit quality
the problem I have with CD's is they get disc rot 😥
Never experienced one since 1991 on any of the albums I own on cd Do you? If you are talking about cd-r that is a difference.
It does happen but fairly rare.
I have 1000s of CDs, been buying since 1990. Only 2 so far have disc rot and they are of the same band, which leads me to think it was a one off manufacturing mistake.
no they don't.
@@suartgilmour4540The nineties PDO cd's. They became infamous for that issue. I've got a pair of it.
Interesting you don’t like the Mo-Fi pressing. I have a couple, one of which is a genuine analogue pressing, the other is digital. I was somewhat underwhelmed with the analogue pressing for being, as you say, just too polite.
I bought the digital one of Alison Krauss because the original master was also digital, so nothing to lose. Side 3 on this album has horrible distortion caused by a problem in the pressing process. Totally unacceptable in an audiophile version at a premium price. Never buying another.
If you want a great pressing, pick up anything by Analogue Productions. Not cheap but on another level. The rest of the time I try to hunt down decent original UK pressings and then, yes, give them a clean on my machine. 5 minutes well spent, just once when I first get it home! 😉
Is anything worth buying?
If you’re interested or you care about it. Yes.
Simple as that.
I love vinyl but don't buy the new stuff as it sounds just like the CD version
Not if they are scratched.
Hi great informative video, I buy LPs from charity shops but I have bought some new like dire straights love over gold for £24, J M Jarre zoo look for £17, and I did by M Oldfield 50 year anniversary for £34 and sound good , sorry to here about the 2 bad pressing for that album . I have rega p3 with elyis2 cartridge done a A-B between tubular bells 3 cd and lp and can’t really hear the difference bith sound good with my ears . Regards. Mark
I bought new record of Alan Parsons and it had scratches too. NO for new records !
Well if you buy old VG+ records from years ago they aint gonna be digital in any way. Cheaper too than digitally sourced new rip offs.
i don't spend anything over 25 on an lp
I've collected vinyl since 1979 and it's getting to the stage that I'm now grinding my vinyl collecting to a halt.
I recently purchased 2 box sets. Pink Floyd Pulse and The Who Whos Next.
Both brand new straight out the wrappers and the clicks and pops made them virtually unenjoyable.
Both pressed by GZ Media in the Czech Republic.
People used to laugh at the LPs that were advertised on TV by K-TEL and Ronco ......every copy played fine without any issues.and they were all around £2.99.
The 2 box sets cost me nearly £150.
I'm slowly turning back to CDs......because of the quality and price.