Vinyl Is Dead

I suppose some of these [ZombieTechnologies] will eventually die, as vinyl records have recently. --

What makes you think vinyl is dead? I know of two stores in Saint Louis doing a booming business in new and used vinyl records (and tapes & CDs). -- JeffGrigg

Dead was too strong a word. You only mentioned two stores - overall you've got to admit the bulk of the trade has shifted to CDs. --

Electronic music is primarily released on vinyl. In fact, there are roughly 3000 new records released every week -- and that's just house music, which is only one genre of electronic music. The difference is that the CD trade is controlled by major record labels; the vinyl trade is controlled by tiny independent record labels.

You can tell that I'm getting old. I still buy music ;-) --

How long before those tiny independent record labels can no longer afford to press vinyl? Right now CDs in quantity are pennies (Don't get me started on the price of a CD at the store vs. the cost to make it) and it's getting close to being a no-brainer to have your own burner for moderate numbers. How many places still press vinyl and how long before it becomes a tiny niche for certain audiophiles. I know a couple of people who can reproduce photographic processes from the 1800s, and their results are marvelously unique and beautiful, but you won't get a daguerrotype done down at the one hour lab. -- StevenNewton

Most people don't own vinyl any more, but the form will probably live for a while due to the demand from DJs. In a lot of different dance music scenes, being a good DJ involves getting the rarest/newest tracks, and those very often come out on vinyl. There a number of reasons, I suppose, including snob appeal, use of older tracks for sampling, etc.

And, yes, there are variable-speed CD players now, and some that even simulate various vinyl-based scratching effects. I'm sure those are being used by some DJs, but in a lot of different dance scenes, you will get absolutely zero respect for using them.

Niche != Dead.

Sorry, but respect != getting paid for a gig. The people who need to make a living by DJing music are doing it with digital DJ stations. These include circular pads that act like a turntable in terms of motion and the translated effect on the music. Hauling around a ton (more or less) of vinyl records, setting up actual turntables, keeping the vinyl clean, storing all the junk involved, yada yada yada, doesn't appeal to people trying to pay the bills.

Audiophiles value analog technologies because, in theory and in practice, the amount of information available on the disk is only limited by the technology used to read it. By contrast digital technologies rely on reconstructing the missing information, and inevitably this results in some degradation. 20 bit plus, directly digitally amplified systems are only just starting to threaten the enormously refined vinyl and tube systems that are produced at huge expense. It is worth finding one of those retro-geek audiophile shops, and ask the guy to show you what is possible for those who don't mind remortgaging their house for an aural buzz :). --RichardHenderson .

This discussion is interesting, but it's derailed from the point. Eight tracks are dead. So is core memory. Vinyl doesn't die because for some sufficiently economically valuable problem it is still technically superior to any other solution. Those other technologies don't share that crucial attribute.

It could be folded back to ZombieTechnologies . Many 'older' technologies are far from dead, they are just unfashionable.

I know you all mean records, but what about the bigger picture? The one in which vinyl has replaced copper. Talking about yer plumbing waste system, where all big pipes are plastic today. Vinyl's not dead, it's just down the drain. -- WaldenMathews

Well, then again, vinyl has all but disappeared from automotive seat cushions, and you almost never see vinyl slipcovers on couches anymore, so vinyl's still down by one. ;-) --MikeSmith

Wire recording, which were popular in the 30s and 40s, were obsoleted by Magnetic Tape. However, wire recording aficionados have been able to create modern players that play wire recordings flawlessly -- no static or noise. Apparently the medium is VERY durable. Vinyl might be dead, but there's a whole lot of data out there that will NEVER be burned or ripped.

The reason vinyl survives on the dance music scene is because it can easily be used for scratching (where the record is manhandled while on the player), mixing (which involves changing the speed of the player over a continuous range) and various other manipulations. There are now variable-speed CD players, but they're rare, and i don't think there are scratchable ones yet. DJs need vinyl, so vinyl survives. I think there is also a strong retro-cool element. Plus, as i discovered recently, when you mail-order vinyl, you get loads more freebies, because the envelope is bigger!

As for vinyl sounding better (the MythOfVinyl?) - bunk. See :

http://users.belgacom.net/gc247244/myths.htm

This site uses evil framing, so you might need to click the button marked 'myths' on the left. Basically, "CD's sampling rates and 16-bit word length provide *more* information than the human ear can detect", and "CD was invented to be perfect sound without waste. The 90db signal to noise and dynamic range provides a noise floor that is lower than you can get from any analog source in the recording studio today. The air current in the room of the recording studio is louder than the noise floor on CD. When you use ANY microphone, you will pick up the room air noise.".

Yeah right. Most CD players don't even make it to 60dB signal-to-noise ratio on the power supply rails, effectively giving you no more then 10 bits of resolution. Putting 16 bits per sample on the CD (with $$$ studio equipment) is one thing -- extracting them with a $50 cd player is another.

That's a problem with the CD player, not the underlying technology. CD players with good power supplies, good (linear, jitter-free) D/As, and good amplifier stages certainly exist. Agreed, you wont find one for $50.

Yeah, right. "Perfect sound, forever" was the slogan at one time, I believe. Of course, this is ridiculous. If 16/44 was so damned "perfect", then why do we have DVD-A and SACD today, with their 24-bit resolution and 96 KHz sampling rates, eh? Just so they could be a little more perfect? Or maybe because the original wasn't perfect in the first place? --MikeSmith

Vinyl is definitely a ZombieTechnology?: it is technologically obsolete, but is retained for cultural reasons.

-- TomAnderson

Well many would disagree with both your statements. E.g.: http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/linnreport.html

Therefore, de facto, vinyl is not dead. I might add some more examples of life if I get the inclination :).

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