Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

pitchfork.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 163 posts

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#41

Post by NuDinNou »

eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

usually vinyls are not impacted by the loudness war[0] they are mastered for people who care about audio quality, have good audio equipment and listen to music in a silent environment. music mastered for radio/streaming is for people with earbuds who listen to music in a noisy environment and as a second activity (listening while driving, exercising, working, dancing)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#42

Post by isatty »

ngcc_hk wrote: post #27
eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

Spend us$300 for a vacuum tube and small real loudspeaker, even Bluetooth play is different. Then add a vinyl from time to time, it is music all over again. Btw may be not all human are the same. As said someone meat is ... it is not about human rights. Just music. Let us be different. Listen differently.

$300 won’t get you a real tube setup and that’s not counting the loudspeakers. Quality transformers are expensive.

You maybe able to get a tube buffer that sits before the solid state amplification stage though.

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#43

Post by basicplus2 »

eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

The microphones faithfully follow the soundwaves..

the A class amplifiers faithfully follow the sound waves..

the cutting needle faithfully follows the sound waves...

the grooves in the record faithfully follow the soundwaves..

the needle on the record faithfully follow the soundwaves..

the speakers faithfully follow the sound waves...

the soundwaves faithfully follow the soundwaves...

Even with a crackle and pop, you are hearing the real thing...you hear betweeen the noise..

You are there...

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#44

Post by scarejunba »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #40
eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

I do both. Digital music is way more convenient to initiate, continue, store and take with you -- so I use that the most. But, it's almost too convenient in some cases to the point where I often don't appreciate what is really happening and the music just becomes background noise. Although it's obviously possible, I rarely use digital music to sit and listen to an entire album anymore. On the other hand, when I liste…

That's probably just the groups you circle in. Our group chats were all buzzing after Lane8's latest release. People had opinions, posted their favourite remix, talked about songs that evoked similar feelings.

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#45

Post by timthorn »

Hamuko wrote: post #24
lrem wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Manual transmission has clear advantage in responsiveness. Being used to manual, I've just driven an automatic for three days. Despite having 50% more power than my old car, it felt terribly slow because of the gear shift delays.

No, manual transmissions are a clear loser when it comes to responsiveness. You have to manually disengage the clutch, manually change the gear and manually engage the clutch. For comparison, the dual clutch transmission in the Nissan GT-R can shift in 0.15 seconds and that's a 10+ year old car. The ZF 8HP, which is a conventional torque converter transmission used for example in the new BMW M5, is apparently able to…

But you can anticipate the correct gear from the road, rather than having to wait for the transmission to respond to a call from the engine. Going into a curve, you can set a manual gearbox up before you get there so you have the torque to pull the car all the way around, rather than finding the car losing power halfway around.

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#46

Post by hashmal »

hannob wrote: post #34
eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

Something that hasn't been mentioned so far: Some forms of DJ'ing kinda rely on vinyl. You can speed up or slow down the vinyl on the player by hand. There are devices that try to simulate this experience, I think they've gotten better over time. I think vinyl DJ'ing has been in decline in the past decade, however it's definitely still one factor that's been keeping vinyl alive.

I personally mix on vinyl for the feeling its provides. No screen to look at, you have to really be "in" the music, the touch is stellar.

Using CDJs or similar have clear advantages (weight when travelling, fewer chances to fuck up or hear imperfections, no skipping, etc) and I use them when performing for others, but I just don't like using them.

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#47

Post by bonestamp2 »

scarejunba wrote: post #44
bonestamp2 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do both. Digital music is way more convenient to initiate, continue, store and take with you -- so I use that the most. But, it's almost too convenient in some cases to the point where I often don't appreciate what is really happening and the music just becomes background noise. Although it's obviously possible, I rarely use digital music to sit and listen to an entire album anymore. On the other hand, when I liste…

That's probably just the groups you circle in. Our group chats were all buzzing after Lane8's latest release. People had opinions, posted their favourite remix, talked about songs that evoked similar feelings.

Fair enough, and I agree it is my groups. But, it didn't seem to used to matter which groups you were in. Sure, more than just the medium changed. But the Vinyl ritual is maybe even more rewarding today than it was when it was the popular option.

PS - I Loved Brightest Lights. I am also looking forward to Porter Robinson's next album -- it's been a long time since the last album and I didn't love this first single initially, but it has really grown on me (the ducking is still a little much in some areas).

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#49

Post by ahartmetz »

gen3 wrote: post #30
noizejoy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some genuine differences, but these are probably only discernible to a relatively small subset of humans, who have genuinely superior hearing to the rest of us - especially as we age. However, to the best of my understanding, the magic of vinyl also has to do with how some individuals consume music. From the appreciation of larger artwork on a physical medium to the act of making time for the process of lis…

Your totally on point. From an audio quality stand point, people will argue to the bone that it’s better because there is “infinite” resolution. In reality that doesn’t really matter because of the resolution things are pressed at, and since most music now a days comes from a digital source. The way sound can differ from a digital release is in the mixing. (Since the stylus is physically moving, a mix that’s too “hot…

The "warmer" sound I kind of disagree with. When music is played from vinyl in clubs, I would describe the sound as slightly metallic. Digital is neutral.

I think digital is best for fidelity (it's pretty much a scientific fact), and I see vinyl playing as an effect like an effect pedal and there is nothing wrong with that. If the mastering of the LP is better, I'll prefer it, too.

Re: Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record supply

#50

Post by WifeDuringLawti »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #40
eganist wrote: post #2

I haven't found an objective explanation for why some populations prefer vinyl analog over any digital renditions of a sound. Can anyone share some insight? (I've listened to both, and the description of vinyl or even analog sound as being generally "warmer" never resonated with me.)

I do both. Digital music is way more convenient to initiate, continue, store and take with you -- so I use that the most. But, it's almost too convenient in some cases to the point where I often don't appreciate what is really happening and the music just becomes background noise. Although it's obviously possible, I rarely use digital music to sit and listen to an entire album anymore. On the other hand, when I liste…

I think it's more likely your age group. When you were young listening to tapes on your parents' speakers, didn't it seem to you that kids and teens were much more into music than most adults?

I'm 20, I grew up listening to albums on YouTube, never owned a CD, tape, or record. But my experience is and was still exactly what you describe. My friends and I have countdowns on our phones ticking down the days to eagerly-awaited releases, we make plans to listen to it together at a 'premiere' hosted by whoever has the best speakers. If they live up to the excitement they get replayed to death, memorized backwards and forwards, and discussed endlessly. In middle/high school we'd write our own reviews to post online and sometimes get the artist replying to us on Twitter which made our month. The fact that we didn't have to buy a 4"-by-4" piece of plastic and put it into another piece of plastic before hitting play didn't prevent any of that and I can't imagine it making the music more exciting or engaging.

Post reply on HN