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Sony plans to make vinyl records again

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#151

Post by sosuke »

bcrescimanno wrote: post #144

As someone who started collecting vinyl about 3 years ago, it's about the difference between passive and active involvement in music. So much of our music consumption these days is a largely passive activity. We have music in our headphones while we work. We have music on in our cars while we drive. We have music on in the background of social events. While modern digital formats have given us true ubiquity of music…

You've hit on a very big part of listening to music that appears largely lost today. Composers would know that they had a captive audience for so long a time and would be able to create large narratives in their music that just can't be pulled off today.

I have a hard time imagining just sitting down to listen to music. Not listen to music and converse or eat. Not listen to music and browse the web. Just listening to music sounds like a hard task.

However when I am at a live concert it is very easy to completely focus on the music even over a couple of hours. I can see the instruments and my other senses are involved in the experience.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#153

Post by bcrescimanno »

amartya916 wrote: post #150
bcrescimanno wrote: post #144

As someone who started collecting vinyl about 3 years ago, it's about the difference between passive and active involvement in music. So much of our music consumption these days is a largely passive activity. We have music in our headphones while we work. We have music on in our cars while we drive. We have music on in the background of social events. While modern digital formats have given us true ubiquity of music…

This is very nicely framed, thank you. At the risk of going slightly off track, do you think this argument about active involvement also fits (physical and not electronic)books?

An interesting question, for sure! As someone who doesn't read a lot of fiction or lengthy non-fiction works, I'm definitely not an authority. That said, my gut tells me that the effect can't possibly be as strong--we don't tend to, "read in the background" the way we consume music. A certain active involvement is required to do more than move our eyes across the pages randomly.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#155

Post by Symbiote »

Declanomous wrote: post #116
cr1895 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12" x 12" artwork/inserts/posters/etc. vs. a small CD box. Many of the records I own are beautifully printed and satisfying to hold. Can be super informative too, with inserts/booklets (of course CDs can also have this info, but often not as nice). Analog is neat. To me, at least. There's a microscopic groove cut into some plastic in which a tiny chunk of diamond connected to a cantilever is pulled through, and the m…

I don't care at all for the act of playing vinyl, but I really love the artwork. I occasionally buy records just for the art. I wish they sold the art separately because it's kind of ludicrous to spend all that money for something that is kind of incidental to the actual product.

Some bands I like sell posters, but I've only seen them at concerts. I can't find any examples on their websites.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#156

Post by 24gttghh »

amelius wrote: post #114
OberstKrueger wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theres a middle-ground though that doesn't require you to go back to analogue listening from decades past. Use something like iTunes or whatever other equivalent application with your own music. If you're not comfortable with possible tracking from digital downloads, you can still rip CDs to it. Seems more convenient than going back to LPs and all of the physical management that that entails.

And you think that Apple can't detect which CDs you ripped?

Don't rip with iTunes?

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#157

Post by Symbiote »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #122
danmaz74 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Skipping to a certain part of a song is much more difficult with CD's. Are you serious?

Completely. Well, ok, not really :) I debated including it because it's not something I do very often. I do think it's true though. On a CD you hold the skip button and have to guess where you are (pretty sure none of my CD players showed a timecode when skipping but it's been a while). With vinyl you can see a physical representation of the length of the track and estimate much better (i.e. the solo is half way thro…

The first CD player I used, which my parents bought in about 1988, showed the current time when you held down the "Fast Forward" button. I don't think I've ever owned one that didn't do this.

Nowadays, a good professional CD player (or DJ equipment) will have something like an infinite-turn knob, which you can use to seek.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#158

Post by GuiA »

torrent-of-ions wrote: post #47
aarmenante wrote: post #20

If you're into house/techno/disco all the best records get released (or rereleased) on vinyl first, before eventually getting out as a digital download. Also for artists, the profit margins are higher selling an LP (or even better a cassette) then releasing it to a small fanbase on Spotify. It's a better way to connect with a band you like than just streaming a track on your iPhone. You get the artwork to look at, an…

Really? Last time I was into listening to new trance (pre ~2006) there were only a small handful of labels that still pressed vinyl. I haven't seen turntables in the wild for years, alas. Maybe it's different with more "underground" house and techno and disco, though.

The state of vinyl was much different pre-2006.

Re: Sony plans to make vinyl records again

#159

Post by zippergz »

amartya916 wrote: post #150
bcrescimanno wrote: post #144

As someone who started collecting vinyl about 3 years ago, it's about the difference between passive and active involvement in music. So much of our music consumption these days is a largely passive activity. We have music in our headphones while we work. We have music on in our cars while we drive. We have music on in the background of social events. While modern digital formats have given us true ubiquity of music…

This is very nicely framed, thank you. At the risk of going slightly off track, do you think this argument about active involvement also fits (physical and not electronic)books?

I find that an eInk Kindle is "close enough" to a paper book in terms of immersion for me. But reading on my iPad (or even worse, computer) definitely is not. I get notifications, there's always the temptation to jump out and "just check email," etc. With the Kindle there is no distraction, and for me that seems to be more important than the tactile experience of a printed book (though I do still enjoy printed books).
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