50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player • Hacker News Board

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#111

Post by eudamoniac » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

thechao wrote: post #20

My dad grew up in the 50s & 60s. During COVID he purchased my daughters' the, I quote, "shittiest briefcase record players" he could find. Both girls listen to their music on their devices, but also buy vinyl. The other day, my eldest came down from her room complaining that her vinyl "sounded awful". I told her to bring it up with their Grampy. His response: "you can't appreciate good playback until you've heard awf…

This is fine, but I'd encourage anyone to test all new audio setups with a blind triangle test at least, because most people can't distinguish most differences. If you can't tell a difference, using cheap equipment is great!

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#112

Post by mrob » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 10:55 PM UTC

numpad0 wrote: post #107

mrob wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only additional data that (some) vinyl has over CDs is inaudible ultrasound. Ultrasound is intentionally omitted from CDs because they're intended for humans to listen to. In all audible aspects a correctly mastered CD release is closer to the original sound than any vinyl. And if you really want ultrasound (perhaps your dog enjoys it), you can get digital releases at higher sample rates.

People used to say human eyes can't perceive >60fps. It's also just CDs, not digital formats in general. Grab an audiophile and ask their opinions about digital PDM/PCM formats, high bitrate AACs even, against true vinyls. They wouldn't have as much opinions as they do against CDs. Also: 44.1kHz sampling rate != arbitrary waveform up to 22050Hz, unless music you're listening to consists of pure sine waves(and not eve…

Anybody can distinguish 60fps from higher frame rate just by looking at steady motion. The famous Blur Busters Test UFO makes it easy:

https://testufo.com/

But in the case of analog recording, nobody can distinguish a pure analog recording from the same thing but with a good ADC/DAC pair in the signal path in a blind test. It's theoretically possible to hear undithered 16 bit quantization noise if you turn the volume up extremely loud, but correctly mastered CDs should be dithered from higher bit depth.

And 44.1kHz sampling rate can theoretically represent arbitrary waveforms up to 22050Hz. The only complication is that this requires a brickwall filter, which is impossible to implement. That's why the sampling rate is set higher than needed to exceed the 20kHz limit of human hearing (in practice the limit for adult hearing is almost always lower). The higher sample rate allows for a practical filter with a shallower transition band to be used.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#113

Post by HPsquared » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 11:07 PM UTC

Rubberducky1324 wrote: post #109

numpad0 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People used to say human eyes can't perceive >60fps. It's also just CDs, not digital formats in general. Grab an audiophile and ask their opinions about digital PDM/PCM formats, high bitrate AACs even, against true vinyls. They wouldn't have as much opinions as they do against CDs. Also: 44.1kHz sampling rate != arbitrary waveform up to 22050Hz, unless music you're listening to consists of pure sine waves(and not eve…

> Also: 44.1kHz sampling rate != arbitrary waveform up to 22050Hz, unless music you're listening to consists of pure sine waves Every signal can be represented as a combination of pure sine waves. That insight is the basis of Fournier analysis / transform.

It's also (pretty much) how sound is processed by the inner ear. The different little hairs each pick up different frequencies.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#114

Post by detourdog » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 11:54 PM UTC

chrisweekly wrote: post #78

detourdog wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Introspect my favorite music media was cassette tape. I found them more robust and repairable then CDs.

Huh? IME cassette tapes often begin to stretch after fewer than a hundred plays, which permanently ruins them.

Never noticed that. My experience was that CDs were far from indestructible.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#115

Post by paxys » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 11:55 PM UTC

Not too surprising. Most vinyl records come with a digital download code. So you can still listen to it on your phone or wheverever else, and have a nice collectable to go with it.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#116

Post by bongripper » Fri, Jan 02, 2026, 12:05 AM UTC

thechao wrote: post #20

My dad grew up in the 50s & 60s. During COVID he purchased my daughters' the, I quote, "shittiest briefcase record players" he could find. Both girls listen to their music on their devices, but also buy vinyl. The other day, my eldest came down from her room complaining that her vinyl "sounded awful". I told her to bring it up with their Grampy. His response: "you can't appreciate good playback until you've heard awf…

[dead]

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#117

Post by IndySun » Fri, Jan 02, 2026, 12:16 AM UTC

The actual title of the article is "Why Gen Z is Driving the Vinyl Record Boom?".

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#118

Post by basisword » Fri, Jan 02, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

I know a lot of people who use them as decoration. As someone who has been buying and listening to vinyl records for a long time I find it a bit odd but I understand it. Going into a friends home and checking out their book collection or record collection used to be a fun thing and tells you a bit about someone. Now that everything is digital that is completely gone so having a few of your favourite records around, even if you don't listen to them fills that void.

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#119

Post by agumonkey » Fri, Jan 02, 2026, 12:21 AM UTC

sbarre wrote: post #6

I guess buying the vinyl is like buying a shirt or a poster now? I support artists I like by going to their shows and buying lossless digital copies where possible (even if I listen to their music elsewhere). But I don't want or need more physical "stuff".

some do it as speculative collectible too

Re: 50% of U.S. vinyl buyers don't own a record player

#120

Post by Imustaskforhelp » Fri, Jan 02, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

thechao wrote: post #20

My dad grew up in the 50s & 60s. During COVID he purchased my daughters' the, I quote, "shittiest briefcase record players" he could find. Both girls listen to their music on their devices, but also buy vinyl. The other day, my eldest came down from her room complaining that her vinyl "sounded awful". I told her to bring it up with their Grampy. His response: "you can't appreciate good playback until you've heard awf…

Reminds me of one other comment on a different thread about a person trying an old CP/M machine and seeing some restriction like I think it was 50x70 pixel restriction or similar.

The point I am trying to make is that nostalgia can seem really good as that comment also pointed that, we often only remember the good parts of the system.

It's only when we recounter them that the bad parts resurface again.

Now instead of taking the fair criticism and perhaps doing something about it if possible, your dad tried to use the old technique of "back in my day ..."

And I will tell you kids ABSOLUTELY hate this. It's more so, Gramps you were forced to deal with this thing, we got digital and you aren't willing to understand my problem so why should I be stuck with the problem or the countless other examples.

I don't know much about vinyl but if it's the record players, perhaps your father can buy them a good one which could help them solve the issue they are facing.