elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Since there was a discussion earlier today about a new Window's OS required a member here to purchase a new video card, so I felt compelled to my fellow members to share some thoughts about ... maybe we don't have to toss our hardware into a landfill if it, and its software, serves us well.

Let me share more 'food for thought', coming from my own students, and from my regularly listening to a radio station from London. Here it is:

Remember how, who, sales people? marketing departments? All those people?? Remember how we were "told" to toss all our vinyl records into the trash? DVD and BluRay movies? Compact Discs? And along with those pieces of 'software' (e.g. LP records, movie discs, and CDs), also toss CD players into the landfills, along with DVD/BluRay players, turntables/cartridges, etc. We were ""told"" toss all this into the trash and join the "new era of media"?? Remember that over the past 10 or 20 years?

In all fairness, I must say there are some advantages of being able to access a movie or digital book, literally, anywhere. But, all that stuff we were "told" to toss in the landfill?

Well, here is a reality update. My college students are purchasing LP records every day of the week, and turntables too. They've been doing this for more than the past ten years I've been teaching. Audiophile magazine shows ads for dozens and dozens of turntables and cartridges, some with shocking prices. Turntables and LP records are not gone or even going away ... they are on their way back, and doing quite well. As I listen to my favorite radio station from London, I'm hearing the artist there are insisting that their new music recordings must be delivered not only on the (1)Internet as downloads, but are insisting they they are also made available as (2) CDs and (3)LP records. I'm even hearing the there is a market for cassette recordings. I'm shocked to hear that, but apparently in middle European cities, they are available there.

So, my fellow members, don't be pushed so easily with the philosophy of "toss away everything you own, and replace it with what sales people say we should be purchasing".

I thought you'd like to know, I thought you 'should know' about how LP records and turntables are very much alive. And after studying this typic of Dynamic Range, for anyone who would like to experience Concert Hall Realism in their own home, the only media to deliver that is a compact disc.

I thought you would like to know all this.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I still have all my LPs from the late 60s, and a ton of 45s from the 50s.
Never got rid of them. (Not all LPs were made into CDs.)
(Have a TON of CDs also.)
Yes, I have a regular direct drive turntable, tuner/amp and a USB turntable.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Don't toss any of that away. And you are correct in that not all LPs have been made into CDs. I suspect it's because of 'lack of demand'. But be patient, that demand will return. And a direct drive turntable? My students would love to get their hands on one of those.

Here in St. Louis, there is a store dedicated totally to LP record sales and turntables too. They even have a unique section by their front door of -only- new LP releases.

dancers Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia

we have all our old LPs, I have around one thousand CDs.........not interested in movies.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

It appears to me that the advent of 'home theater systems', complete with sound bars and amplified subwoofers, as you see them advertised by Best Buy and others, is actually the precursor to the return of serious sound systems.

Terkat

A very good morning Elliot,

I absolutely could not agree more. I am nearly 72 (!!!) and have every guitar (Stratocasters / Fenders) and bass (Rickenbacker) I ever played including my 1967 Ludwig drum kit with the same set-up/design/paint scheme as Ringo's (special order) and my Dad's 1958 Hohner Chromatic harmonica with the neck support. And just about every LP I ever purchased since around 1964 (Meet the Beatles) and every 45 beginning with 1963's "Dawn" by The Four Seasons. I have quite a few CD's although mainly vinyl. I still regularly use my original Sony Discman (just 1 disc at a time) wired to a large sound system and remain the proud owner of a 1968 Dual 1019 turntable using an "idler drive" system (still functions like new with only occasional lubrication) which was all the rage back then. Belt drive kind of came and went when direct drive appeared. I also use a newer AudioTechnica direct drive table but the Dual just seems to provide a "warmer" sound although I probably just fell in love with the Dual those many years ago and that feeling just won't go away and likely affects my judgement to this day.
Anyway, newer is not always necessarily better.
Hold on tight to your dreams and your "older" gear.

All the best to you and yours,

Terry

edwdickinson Loc: Ardmore PA

Last year there were more sales of vinyl than cd's.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

Well, there are two concepts to understand here - the digital versus analog thing as well as IP (intellectual property) realities.

On the former, LPs never totally disappeared and indeed have been enjoying a resurgence in the past decade - new labels coming out with (rather pricey) LPs have popped up to fill the gap left by the "big boys". In truth, I personally believe much of this has to do with hype and fashion - yes, audiophiles have long pointed out that analog recordings sound warmer and such but the gear it typically takes to tell the difference is on the pricey side. And when multiple manufacturers offer turntables above $10K (and there are speakers to be had for a quarter million dollars, amps for $50K+ etc.) there are those who can afford the hardware. The $100 turntable found at Best Buy? Perhaps not so much, as compared to a CD or streaming music, but the (often college) people buying these remnants of past days are in it as much for the nostalgia as anything else.

Also, note that in the video realm, there has been no such resurgence of VHS or even Betamax, as those analog technologies have no advantage over their digital replacements.

On the digital side, though, consider these issues. First, if the time comes when optical disk (CD, DVD) players are no longer made, those disks are nothing more than coasters (or sometimes, Christmas tree decorations). Since digital data (sound, images, whatever) can be perfectly replicated there is no value in hanging on to recorded formats that might no longer be playable. If you rip a CD to a hard drive (preferably using a lossless format like FLAC rather than MP3) then thereafter you can copy it to the next neat technology, and will always be able to play or view it. As NASA allegedly discovered with their moon landing recordings, no longer having the equipment to play it back makes it useless. Much like anyone who has important stuff on their Jaz drive (remember those?) or DAT (digital audio tape) has figured out.

As for streaming services; yes, they offer convenience, but the laws surrounding the ownership issues get sticky. A famous case of this was in 2009 when Amazon removed the book "1984" from the Kindles of folks who purchased the digital version (and refunded their money). Amazon did not break into the houses of people who purchased the printed version and steal those back. The point is, while you think you "own" something, you in fact do not as far as the law goes sometimes. Most here should be aware that when you spend $50 (or $5000) on software, you are not in fact "buying" the software but rather are paying for the license to use that software. So it can be with other digital forms of media - if for some reason the powers that be decides a book or video you paid for should be removed from the public eye for whatever reason, to turn off your ability to read or watch it required nothing more than a flip of a switch, so to speak.

So, keeping vinyl records (assuming they are in good condition) was a good idea for those who did it (alas, I am not one of those) as with the right resources they can be played back sounding even better than they did in the first place. But keeping CDs makes sense only for as long as the playback equipment is available. And keeping recorded CDs or DVDs (as compared to the commercially released stuff, which are 'pressed' much like vinyl records are) might lead to disappointment if/when the recording layer oxidized over time, rendering the disk unreadable even if you have the proper hardware to play it.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Luckily, the technology for playing vinyl did not go away. It could have,
just like floppy drives. Yes, one can still get 3½ floppy drives, but I've not seen a 5¼ drive.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

When I moved to the Philippines a little over 5 years ago, I left MANY LPs and CDs in Phoenix, along with my (excellent) sound systems; the cost of transporting them here was just too much. Additionally, my hearing is not what it used to be/should be, unfortunately, so for me it didn't really matter.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I moved halfway around the world in 2004 and got rid of an LP collection the spanned from 1950's Elvis Presley to 1990's Don Henley. All were in near mint condition as starting in the late '60s I listened to each album only once to make sure it was not flawed from the store while copying it on tape for regular use. It was over 300 albums and I let it go at a garage sale for next to nothing including my Dual Audio turntable. I've been kicking myself ever since!

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

I still have turntables, speakers, receivers, cassette tape decks, R to R tape decks and equalizers.
I have close to a 1,000 LPs from mid 60s thru the 80s. I also have over 200 cassette tapes.
At one time I had 18 turntables. I sold a lot of my audio equipment as we didn't have the space for it all when we moved to a smaller house.
I even have an 8 track tape deck and some 8 track tapes.

will

lbrande

I still have my original stereo speakers, Heil AMT1B, that I use once in a while with my Sansui 9090dB receiver. My more current setup has Magnapan MgIIIb speakers driven by a pair of Perreaux amps having a Techniciks turntable and several cartridges that were expensive in the 80's and an Aiwa cassette deck, and a 15" reel to reel.
As to source material, I still have my parents "wax" 78's, many 33 1/3 and 45 records from the 60's through the 80's and CD's and DVD's.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Magnapan speakers? I'm impressed. Those several cartridges you have? By today's sales patterns, they would cost probably $250 to $400 each. I think today's companies are seriously taking advantage of buyers.

lbrande

Grado, Stanton, and Ruby.