Quote:
Originally Posted by binaryhermit
I'd guess audiophiles have a fetish for using a demonstrably worse format and insisting it's totally better.
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As a vinyl enthusiast I must respectfully object to this and the other dismissive comments. True, it's a fiddly format and there are about a thousand ways to get vinyl playback wrong. But that's part of the charm. To get good results you have to invest in a half decent turntable, cartridge, and preamp, and put in some work to get it right. But if you do that, the results can be truly magical. Forget about clicks and pops - they don't exist with a clean, good condition record in a proper setup. Also, the records themselves and their sleeves are fascinating historical artifacts and are beautiful to display.
These are some of the many valid reasons why vinyl has made a comeback. It's just plain wrong to dismissively chalk it up entirely to hipster-ism. Though admittedly, that's a part of it, and I'm as baffled as anyone at the cassette resurgence.
Don't get me wrong, I love digital music. Digital can sound great, too. I love playlists and on-the-fly song queuing. I have a full Roon setup, and a Qobuz subscription. But digital recordings are often brickwalled (no dynamic range i.e. "loudness war") which is impossible with vinyl, and the sound can be quite sterile and even harsh at times in certain recordings.
Anyway I just had to stick up for vinyl and offer a counterpoint to some of the comments. I guess my point is, as is the case with pbooks and ebooks, digital and vinyl both have different charms, as well as less charming aspects. There's room for both.