Re:Manufacturing plant fire threatens worldwide vinyl record...
by wheels on Saturday February 08, 2020 @09:15AM
(#22275800)
I buy both. For the most part, it's nostalgia, not sound quality. In fact, if sound quality is the goal, CDs or losslessly compressed audio files are preferable. Virtually everything is mixed and mastered in digital now, so any notion of the "warmth of analog" is mostly horseshit.
But some of us have a soft spot for physical collections of things. I have around 500 CDs and 200 records (and 1000-ish books). Vinyl is prettier than a CD. They're big, there's a bit of a ritual to putting one one. They're nice to throw on when friends are over. I didn't even grow up with records: I was from the cassette and CD generation. I didn't start acquiring records until I inherited my dad's and started buying techno records.
Some people will spout some post hoc rationalizations about the sound of vinyl, but objectively, they're wrong. It's mostly just that we like collecting the things and that more often than not these days when you buy the vinyl you get a download code for the digital version, so you get the best of both worlds.
But some of us have a soft spot for physical collections of things. I have around 500 CDs and 200 records (and 1000-ish books). Vinyl is prettier than a CD. They're big, there's a bit of a ritual to putting one one. They're nice to throw on when friends are over. I didn't even grow up with records: I was from the cassette and CD generation. I didn't start acquiring records until I inherited my dad's and started buying techno records.
Some people will spout some post hoc rationalizations about the sound of vinyl, but objectively, they're wrong. It's mostly just that we like collecting the things and that more often than not these days when you buy the vinyl you get a download code for the digital version, so you get the best of both worlds.