CBS Evening News: In This Digital Age, Vinyl Records Are Making A Comeback
CBS Evening News
August 19, 2008
Harry Smith sitting in for Katie Couric.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/19/eveningnews/main4364986.shtml
Anthony Mason reporting:
(CBS) Sixteen-year-old David MacRunnel loves his record collection.
“I have approximately 1,200,” he said.
They’re all vinyl LPs. Scratch the iPod.
“You experience the music versus hearing the music,” MacRunnel said.
For 18-year-old Lukas Glickman, LPs have become an obsession.
“I spend all my money on it. It’s a problem,” he said.
They’re true believers in a vinyl revival. Yes, in this digital age, the LP is coming back from the dead, CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports.
The group REM released its latest album on vinyl. So did Bruce Springsteen with his album, “Magic.” Madonna’s “Hard Candy” came out on vinyl and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” as well. A new LP costs about $20.
“It’s a business decision. The major labels are doing it, because there’s a lotta demand for it,” said Matt Wishnow, president of Insound, an online indie music store.
Vinyl records now account for nearly half of Insound’s sales.
“If you’re a music fan and you want to have music ‘stuff,’ this is the most prized ‘stuff’ you can have in your music collection,” Wishnow said.
The vinyl plastic LP was created in the 1940s.
But by the 1990s, CDs had made LPs all but obsolete.
Two years ago, only 850,000 vinyl albums were sold in the United States. This year that’s expected to nearly double.
Record Technology, a California vinyl plant, has a nearly 4-month backlog of orders.
“Have you actually played your album on vinyl?” Mason asked Grammy-Award winning vocalist Shelby Lynne.
“Shoot, yeah!” she said.
Lynne was thrilled when her 10th album was her first to come out on vinyl.
“Because look how big that picture is!” she said. “It’s just the whole thing. The touchin’ it. The puttin’ the needle down.”
Wishnow calls it the avid music fan’s response to the fleeting nature of the digital age.
“This is not a trend. This is going to be there for a long time,” Wishnow said.
Believe it. Vinyl is groovy again.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Duration : 0:2:36
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@Mortison77577
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@Mortison77577
SACD sounds absolutely amazing compared to CD, next to vinyl its my favorite format for sound quality, so far I only have 2 SACDs and only one SACD player but from what ive experienced and from my tests ive done there is definitely an improvement over CDs. (I did this with hybrid discs that have both a CD and a SACD layer)
I have vinyl …
I have vinyl records that I bought in the 70′s and the “remastered” CD of the same thing. No comparison, the vinyl wins hands down. It’s not even close and I have a $750 transport with a $800 tube DAC that’s going up against a used refurbed $199 TT with a $200 cart. I know why it is but I’m struggling to put it into laments terms but it has to do with binary conversion. look at a digital tune vs. analog under an oscilloscope and you will see with your eyes what I’m trying to say with my mouth
@truefaith00
I’m …
@truefaith00
I’m pretty sure if you get your iPod to play wav files, then it’s as good as CD, but that takes up more storage space.
@peckishere
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@peckishere
Here’s two more ways in which CD beats vinyl: better low frequencies and more independence for the left channel and right channel. The only possible way that vinyl beats CD is with the amplitude resolution issue you’re taking about. Even if that were true, it might still be possible that SACD would solve that problem, I don’t know. Supposedly CD sounds that same as SACD.
@peckishere
In …
@peckishere
In terms of total dynamic range, I’m pretty sure CD beats vinyl. But the resolution of detail within the dynamic range may be a different story. What would that correspond to on a perceptual level? Would the music just somehow sound less detailed? Would it be harder to hear differences in timbre? I still think that 44.1/16 digital beats vinyl in this way too, but I’m not sure how to make a good argument for that.
@Mortison77577
As …
@Mortison77577
As i said to someone else here your thinking of frequency range, humans can tell the difference in bit rates and resolution of the audio, it is also dependent on the quality of pressing, the quality of the turntable and the quality of the cartridge / pickup and for CDs its also dependent on the quality of mastering and the quality of the D/A converter inside the player. I suppose it boils down to what people think is better but i personally think vinyl is better for sound quality
TheTexanAtheist:
…
TheTexanAtheist:
SACD is rip-off. It’s bases on the same mistake that makes people think that vinyl is better.
JOELL1971:
If you …
JOELL1971:
If you buy old CDs, they won’t be compressed, but I’m not sure how you find out which ones weren’t compressed and which ones were. But overall, CDs just blow vinyl away.
peckishere:
No, …
peckishere:
No, CDs are much better for sound quality than vinyl. CDs can do anything that vinyl can do and they can do it better. Sometimes vinyl will sound better because of a pleasing form of distortion that the cartridge or tonearm produces or because it’s mastered better. If the bit rate is higher than 16 bit, that is not something that vinyl can handle because CDs have a better dynamic range than vinyl and/or because it’s outside the limits of human hearing.
@larierre Passing …
@larierre Passing them on to your son huh? That is great!!! I hope he adds to it and one day passes it to his kids. Music is one thing, but the history and the change of times that is passed down with something like a vinly collection is priceless!! You are a good dad lol! Take Care my friend!!
@mrhoffame I WAS a …
@mrhoffame I WAS a collector, but am downsizing, and GAVE my collection to the son of a friend, who has a personal memorabilia and car museum. They get played, and will be well taken care of. I had about 2300 albums and 1900 45′s. I didn’t start out to collect, I just bought a few at yard sales. THEN, folks would say “Take the whole box, for $5.” Heh heh heh, I ended up with some very rare and special records. Good luck to you.
@larierre Yeah… …
@larierre Yeah…it is amazing the comeback that vinyl is seeing. …and you know these companies..if they see a buck can be made they are all on board lol. Best wishes to you Larierre. Ps..are you a big vinyl collector yourself?
@mrhoffame Wow! …
@mrhoffame Wow! Thanks for settin me straight, buddy. I had NO idea about Hip Hop. Good luck, and enjoy your music, I sure did!
Good for you my …
Good for you my friend. Go for it. I tell you what though…there is a lot of great music out there. I would recommentd you don’t limit yourself to just hip/hop. Explore a bit.
How many are out …
How many are out there….? Thousands my friend!! I say this because i have only been collecting for about 4 years and I have a few hundred hip/hop pieces on Vinyl. Have to remeber that Hip Hop was very, very big in the early to mid 80′s when vinyl and cassettes were the only thing. Not to mention that many, many new artist release vinyl as well. I just got Jay-Z’s new lp a couple of weeks ago on vinyl. Not to mention the TON of reissues I have bought!
they have, lady …
they have, lady gaga, muse, the prodigy etc are releasing albums on the good o’l vinyl
VINYL!
I will …
VINYL!
I will never buy another CD let alone Mp3 again.
But I don’t want to feel like I live in the past, and hope for more contemporary artists to put albums out on vinyl!
I’m sorry, but I …
I’m sorry, but I HAD to laugh, GDBeatz. You’re starting a vinly hip hop collection??? Heh heh heh, how many do you think are out there, buddy? I just gave my vinly collection to a friend’s son, for their Classic Car museum. It was 2100 LP’s and 1900 45′s. Everybody owns things for a while, then ownership changes, then more can enjoy them. Thanks for the laugh, GDB!
I m getting …
I m getting turntables, so i m starting a vinyl collection, hip hop though
@ybrik222 yes I did …
@ybrik222 yes I did get a few records this Christmas ^^
It’s all about …
It’s all about sound, right?
Did you get any records during the holidays (if you celebrate those)?
@ybrik222 WOW!! I’m …
@ybrik222 WOW!! I’m 15 to and I get the exact same reaction from my schoolmates. It’s great to see another person my age that is keeping vinyl alive!
@ybrik222 WOW!! I’m …
@ybrik222 WOW!! I’m 15 as well and I get the same reaction from most of my other classmates. It’s good to see another person my age keeping vinyl alive! ^^
There ya go!
There ya go!
He is so right!
He is so right!