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

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

#341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CDs are annoyingly delicate to handle. Vinyl does not care about your finger tips. Vinyl sleeves are also more attractive than CD cases and easier to store on a shelf or bucket.

That's simply not true. If you scratch a vinyl record, you've introduced a defect to it. If you scratch a CD, it's probably fine. Some CD players don't like scratched CDs, but for the most part CDs are very durable. Plus if you damage a CD, simply rip it and burn it to a CDr. (did I mention that ripping a damaged CD usually works?) You are right about vinyl sleeves being more attractive, though. I think that's its ma…

You can usually polish scratches out of CDs as well.

Where they’re actually much more vulnerable is on the printed side because the data layer sits just beneath that. Still more resilient than vinyl though, unless/until they get the dreaded rot.

They can also crack if dropped but that’s just as true of vinyl, if not moreso.

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

#342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By any measure, both of your statements are patently false. You’re almost making a valid point somewhere in there but the hyperbole buries it.

What hyperbole?

If you can’t see the hyperbole in claiming that all studio albums only having one decent song is the norm then I can’t help you

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

#343
post #167
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 15 years ago I got rid of almost all of my physical media. I was moving a lot at the time (I've moved 13 times over the last 20 years, several times to different cities) and I had hundreds of CDs, DVDs and books.. It was literally a quarter of my boxes every time I moved.. So I sold and donated all of it, kept what had special value, and re-acquired a lot of it digitally. I still think I made the right decision…

Moving that many times is enough to make a person give up interest in all physical possessions, not just media.

You're not wrong.. At one point I could fit all my worldly possessions in a cargo van. It actually felt pretty nice, although I wouldn't want that to be the case at this point in my life.

The only "cheat" was a half-dozen boxes of childhood keepsakes in my parents' basement - that are now in my basement. ;-)

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

#344

Guilty party, here. I feel I can explain myself though, or at least offer context about why I own about a dozen records and no way whatsoever to play them. I’m a recovering audiophile. I got into the hobby because I enjoy technology in its myriad aspects, and had discovered that good speakers can make things sound better . As I began accruing CDs and re-ripping into lossless audio, I also began collecting vinyls via…

>> One day I’ll get to enjoy them, but today is sadly not that day. I've got news for you: you won't. Your post reads like you're letting perfect be the enemy of good enough. Also it's 2026, and being the first day of the new year the PERFECT time to just go ahead and do it. You could probably buy a used record player today for < $50 and be listening to a record.

> Your post reads like you're letting perfect be the enemy of good enough.

As someone with OCD: guilty!

In all seriousness though, I do have bigger, more important projects that consume the limited Capital I have first: finding new employment for one, replacing the sagging IKEA furniture and wobbly Amazon TV stands with something more resilient and long-lasting (eyeballing Salamander Designs for that), likely a new mattress for the bedroom, the list goes on.

That said, you're right in that I should be keeping a list of components updated with pricing and watching for deals. I know what I need, I just haven't chosen it yet, and that's the first step in any project build.

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

#345
post #94

Guilty party, here. I feel I can explain myself though, or at least offer context about why I own about a dozen records and no way whatsoever to play them. I’m a recovering audiophile. I got into the hobby because I enjoy technology in its myriad aspects, and had discovered that good speakers can make things sound better . As I began accruing CDs and re-ripping into lossless audio, I also began collecting vinyls via…

To second the other commenter, just go for it! Music doesn’t have to be blaring to be enjoyed. Just buy some turntable and begin enjoying your collection. Heck, you could even use headphones. I have a pair of open back headphones with a cable that is like 15 feet in length. So I can easily connect to my receiver and sit back and listen on the couch.

Other than the greenhorn (who is clearly baiting), you and skeeter did rightly call out my waffling and delaying. The kicker is that I already have 99% of the kit, and all I'm missing is a phono stage and turntable to get going. The issue remains that real life keeps jumbling my priority list, and thus I delay and delay it for other things.

At the very least, I need to sit down and choose the turntable and phono stage I want, at a price point and feature set that matches my current kit. I can then setup deal monitoring to help me reprioritize that project upward if something good emerges.

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

#346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the associated rituals and the physicality of vinyl records. The large format album art, liner notes & inserts are great as well. As for sound quality I'm no audiophile so I won't pretend to make any claims of vinyl being better or worse than any other music medium, but I will say I don't get the same intentionality of listening with the streaming services I've tried: Google music, Amazon music, Spotify, etc w…

I’ve never had Apple Music add random songs to my library and the closest thing to an AI DJ is AutoMix which is easily disabled and I’ve never had it re-enable itself. Can also add your own music to iCloud Music Library with the Apple Music app on Mac and (I think) Windows. Think this requires iCloud+ though but I’m not 100% certain. Annoyingly can’t do it on the web app or an iPhone :/

I don't think it requires an additional subscription. Apple music started as solely an "upload your music to play anywhere" service. I use apple music over the other offerings solely for this feature and for a large portion of it I didn't even have any apple devices and so didn't have iCloud+.

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

#347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never had Apple Music add random songs to my library and the closest thing to an AI DJ is AutoMix which is easily disabled and I’ve never had it re-enable itself. Can also add your own music to iCloud Music Library with the Apple Music app on Mac and (I think) Windows. Think this requires iCloud+ though but I’m not 100% certain. Annoyingly can’t do it on the web app or an iPhone :/

I don't think it requires an additional subscription. Apple music started as solely an "upload your music to play anywhere" service. I use apple music over the other offerings solely for this feature and for a large portion of it I didn't even have any apple devices and so didn't have iCloud+.

Good to know there's at least one sane streaming service option left out there, although at this point I'll stick to my physical media. I've been burned by music providers enough times to think that Apple will eventually follow the same path as the rest.

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

#348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it requires an additional subscription. Apple music started as solely an "upload your music to play anywhere" service. I use apple music over the other offerings solely for this feature and for a large portion of it I didn't even have any apple devices and so didn't have iCloud+.

Good to know there's at least one sane streaming service option left out there, although at this point I'll stick to my physical media. I've been burned by music providers enough times to think that Apple will eventually follow the same path as the rest.

Absolutely the right move, I buy as much physical media as makes sense (hence using Apple Music so I can merge the two listening types)
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