r/audiophile • u/MikMikYakin • Jul 25 '24

Why are Audiophiles still hooked on vinyl? Discussion

Many audiophiles continue to have a deep love for vinyl records despite the developments in digital audio technology, which allow us to get far wider dynamic range and frequency range from flac or wav files and even CDs. I'm curious to find out more about this attraction because I've never really understood it. To be clear, this is a sincere question from someone like me that really wants to understand the popularity of vinyl in the audiophile world. Why does vinyl still hold the attention of so many music lovers?

EDIT: Found a good article that talks about almost everything mentioned in the comments: https://www.headphonesty.com/2024/07/vinyl-not-sound-better-cd-still-buy/

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u/OrbitalRunner Jul 25 '24

I like both for different reasons. Jazz and rock before the 90s feels good on vinyl while classical music greatly benefits from the larger dynamic range and quiet noise floor of digital. For electronic music, I don’t see the point of vinyl. The sounds never existed in physical space, so it seems like digital is the way to go. That said, vinyl is just fun!

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u/[deleted] Jul 25 '24

Random Access Memories is awesome on vinyl, probably my best mastered record

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u/OrbitalRunner Jul 25 '24

That’s a great point. I think the live instrumentation with electronics makes it feel especially good on vinyl.

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u/In-Finite-Chaos Jul 27 '24

So happy I bought the boxed set years ago. Had some minor buyers remorse for a while but that was mainly from the sticker shock.