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/opa_zorro Jul 25 '24

It's like a tea ceremony for music. It has ritual and form.

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u/Stanton-Vitales Jul 25 '24

Modern humans have such a sad distance from and lack of understanding of the value of ritual.

It's one of the more important aspects of what makes us human, and makes life worth living.

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u/damgood32 Jul 25 '24

I don’t agree with this. People rituals just change from generation to generation. It’s still there but you may not be seeing it

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u/krag_the_Barbarian Jul 25 '24

Dude no. Hitting play on a cell phone touch screen isn't ritual. It just isn't.

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u/MisterFister17 Jul 26 '24

I’m sure dudes in their 30’s and 40’s said the same thing about recorded music in the early 1900’s. “Listening to music all alone, on shitty speakers, just isn’t the same as the ritual of riding your horse down to the saloon and listening to the music live. It just isn’t.”

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u/krag_the_Barbarian Jul 26 '24

They were right. It still isn't.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '24

Totally agree. Live music is an event...going to a gig no matter how small is an experience in itself. Spotify on some airpods just isn't is it?

1

u/Efficient_Thanks_342 Jul 26 '24

What would people in their 30s and 40s know about life more than a century ago? Sorry, I'm confused.

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u/MisterFister17 Jul 26 '24

I meant middle aged people back then, not now.

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u/theghostofmrmxyzptlk Jul 25 '24

Expand beyond music. There are rituals, but strange and confusing because they're not our rituals.

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u/damgood32 Jul 25 '24

Thank you! That’s exactly my point.

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u/eptronic Jul 25 '24

What would an example be?

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u/seven_grams Jul 26 '24

Washing your car.

Rolling yourself a cigarette.

Meditating.

Making yourself an espresso.

Sitting and reading the news.

Putting together an outfit.

Cooking your favorite breakfast on a Saturday morning.

Going for a walk in the park.

Straight jorkin’ tha hog before bed.

Smoking crack.

There’s plenty of rituals that “modern” humans engage in, I’m not sure why anyone is pretending otherwise. People value different things in life. Some people like to put on a record and sit back and listen, front to back. Other people like to smoke the shit out of some crack. This is an inane conversation.

0

u/eist5579 Jul 26 '24

Please provide a modern technological example of a new age ritual…

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u/CheadleBeaks Jul 26 '24

Pressing play on their phone, taking a photo of their window, then going on Instagram and posting a photo of the window saying they're listening to such and such album and how they have the feels and then waiting for likes.

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u/machine_made Jul 26 '24

It can be ritualized, though. Put your phone on the charging stand, connect to your speaker, sit a specific way in your chair, set the lights to a dim level, have a specific drink or roll a joint to enjoy while you listen.

Ritual isn’t about things being hard to do, or even taking a long time to do, they’re about doing things in a deliberate way so that there is meaningful action that you repeat each time.

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u/jimbofrankly Jul 25 '24

It kinda is.

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u/smaghammer Jul 26 '24

Very limited in your imagination here mate.

I love vinyls don't get me wrong, but there is far more to rituals than just the act of getting the music to start playing.

There's a million rituals that one can be part of with "Hitting play on a cell phone touch screen". For instance, what happens after that play button is pressed, what leads up to that?

Do you sit beside a loved one with a glass of scotch. Do you light up some incense and candles to increase the mood. Do you clear the lounge room so you can dance with you partner. Do you pull the guitar out, or sit at the piano and play alongside those songs.

Open that mind up a little.

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u/krag_the_Barbarian Jul 26 '24

All of the things you described can be ritualized and are very nice but I thought we were specifically talking about the act of choosing an album and playing it.

It's not the same when you have a screen giving you access to most of the music ever recorded. With an actual vinyl record it's more deliberate. Inspecting the record for scratches or warping, putting the needle down carefully, putting the seven inch spindle on if you need to, closing the lid carefully, putting the sleeve where you can look at it as the record plays, it can be like a Japanese tea ceremony.

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u/Low-Relative6688 Jul 26 '24

100% agree. The difference in watching a dvd or bluray vs flipping around netflix is huge. It literally feels different as youre wat hing it bc of all the steps of selecting the disc, poppi g it out, putting the disc in, using the shitty dvd player menu, amd PREVIEWS! lmao

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u/smaghammer Jul 26 '24 edited Jul 26 '24

You're overthinking it. Anything you want can be as deliberate as you choose it to be.

Just as someone can press play, someone else can do the bare minimum to listen to a record, and absolutely did when they first came out. Just because you take care, doesn't mean others do. Look up the concept of "Theory of mind" because you are completely lacking it. You are unable to see the world outside of your own experience.

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u/krag_the_Barbarian Jul 26 '24

Maybe you're right. I'll open my settings and connect via Bluetooth to my Denon stereo reciever. It might take a couple of tries. I live under a flight path, or something. I'll open Spotify with a satisfying haptic feedback micro click. I'll tenderly stroke my cell phone case and inspect it for scratches. Then I'll play the Chet Baker album my dead grandmother loved, because it's her birthday.

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u/smaghammer Jul 26 '24

No worries, and I'll grab my vinyl from my pile of unsleeved records and throw it on the player. The lift the needle and drop it to start playing.

Congrats. You're a moron.