As a recording engineer, I find it funny that most people don't realize that almost every album released since the late 90's, was recorded digitally. All that the vinyl is doing is reproducing the digital content on a different format.
100%. Most of the sound quality doesn't come from the format, but the system they're using to play it on as opposed to listening through crappy headphones. Personally, I dig it for the nostalgia and experience factors. 🤷♂️
I’m probably more of a hobbyist. I like the gear side a bit cuz I like good sound, but don’t quite consider myself an audiophile. I don’t have a huge collection. I just buy the records that I plan to listen to pretty regularly. I don’t feel a need to replace my entire CD collection on vinyl. I enjoy the experience of sitting down and hearing a great record on vinyl, not just having it on in the background. I don’t really stream at all, but I do own CDs. No cassettes.
See, I totally agree with you. That’s why I was kinda surprised by a number of the comments that touched on the distinction between considering yourself a collector vs just having records you listen to…
I just bought my first record player yesterday. I'm turning 41 in March. I feel into the trap of nostagia. My father had a record player where I used to listen to his records. He had everything from Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Kate Bush, Saga, ELO, Boston and so on. Music is playing all the time in our house, and I can't live without it. But we only have streaming. Don't even have a cd anymore. So other than the nostagia, I want to slow down the experience of listening to my favorite music. I want the whole tactile experience of putting it on, looking at the cover, and just get lost in it. Do I want all of John Mayers or Linkin Parks records as a collection...? Well yes. But that comes second.
You can find collectors vs users in everything. People that collect bicycles but don't ride, buy guns but don't shoot, and yes, buy vinyl but don't listen. I'd guess that music lovers and gun enthusiasts do both. You have the safe queens, guns like the Colt SAA that can cost in the thousands, and the Ruger Vaquero, a Colt clone that cost a fraction of what the Colt goes for. Same with vinyl. A first-edition Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album on Parlophone (with the yellow and black label, of course), especially in mono, is a collector's album that can sell for hundreds of dollars. A collector might keep that one in storage while playing a later edition on Capital or Parlophone in stereo.
Hi Andy, I’ve been digging on your videos lately. I’m like you. Music has always been my life. I was consumed with it at an early age because I have the coolest parents. They constantly were playing cool music. Hell, they named me Brian after Brian Jones from The Rolling Stones. So yes, I am a listener but I am a very serious collector and this is definitely my hobby. I’ve managed a record store, I make videos and I spin and hunt all the time. Cheers, Brian☘️
Very cool! Awesome namesake! I’d say that my parents didn’t influence my listening much, but I had a friend in middle school that got me into exploring new music after he introduced me to The Smashing Pumpkins in 1993 (sadly he passed last fall). Glad you’ve been enjoying the videos of late! Just subbed.
1,000% a collector. I buy physical copies things I love so that I can own them and cherish them. Music, books, movies. And I’d rather listen to my analog remaster of Sgt Pepper than my mint 1st UK mono pressing.
But what’s the point of having these special editions then? Do you have them framed on the wall, or just hidden on the shelf among others? Genuinely curious; I also am extra careful with my more precious vinyl, but can’t imagine never playing it at all
I do both , I also use the analogy of coffee, mp3 is instant coffee, CD is pre-ground coffee, vinyl is grinding your own beans, reel to reel tape (15 ips, half-track) is growing & cultivating your own coffee plant & beans, & roasting them.
I do think the vinyl industry is ridiculous. They've created a boutique industry where I think a lot of people buy records to just be cool. I have purchased some Record Store Day stuff, but I agree, in recent years it has become a cash grab.
love this channel. Seriously, I have major OCD and I just got into collecting vinyl myself after recently getting a good turntable and being a music fan for years, and don't get me wrong, I'm loving it, only its also giving me a lot of anxiety lol. I'm obsessed with keeping everything neat and in perfect condition, especially the art work on the Jackets, and anytime I notice a small new dent or crease on the cover, or buy a new record with a bit of jacket damage or imperfections it triggers the fuck out of the me hahaha.
I am a collector and a listener. I have bought shrink wrapped 1960s LPs and then opened them to play them. People keep saying that they're less valuable now. Well if I have no intention of selling them it makes no difference. It only affects my children when they come to sell them after I've shuffled off this mortal coil. Part of the joy of record collecting for me is nostalgia. It takes me back to my youth when record buying was the way that virtually everyone consumed their music. People underestimate the pleasure that can be got from flicking through the albums, reading the liner notes, holding the record in your hand and putting that stylus down on that shiny black disc. I personally think the music sounds better on vinyl than on CD and certainly better than streaming. Maybe that's just a perception based on my own bias. Even if it is, it doesn't make it a less valid reason for me listening to it this way.
Absolutely. I find myself in this odd middle ground, where I consider myself a collector, but I strive to only hold onto the stuff I enjoy listening to. Still, the collector in me pays close attention to how I handle and store my records. Definitely find everyones different processes and ideas around the topic fascinating! Thanks for chiming in!
Oh absolutely! Especially considering that one out of every 15 albums purchased in the US last year (2023) was a Taylor Swift album. I'm sure a lot of those are just for the sake of having for many of the younger folks. 🤔
Definitely not exclusive to vinyl. I don't have a problem with flippers as I've done some of that as well (not much, but I have done a little), but they have kind of ruined the concept of Record Store Day. Even then, they aren't alone in that either!
I am first listener, and than collector. However it is not so simple. New records are hit and miss because lot of labels are simply pressing CD/streaming masters on a record, which is a clear sonic difference compared to material mastered to sound good on a record (nothing against CD master, just why buy a record if it sounds like cd..then I would simply buy a cd or stream). Recently I bought few new records which sounded like mp3, seriously. That can not be tolerated by anyone except hipster teenagers).. Logical thing would be to buy old records in thrift stores, but in all honestly these will rarely sound good, specially on good equipment which is less forgiving...plus I do not have time to spend time in these stores. My solution was to to a research and buy exclusively labels that are doing a proper pressing, and they press master optimized for an analog medium like record. So you have brand new records sounding like heaven. As to everything, there is a downside..which is price. 30 to 80 bucks for a record from a proper label..so I buy rarely..once a month, focusing on quality over quantity..well my collection grows very slooooooooooooow...
Physical media is actually on the rise again, slowly but surely. These problems sound exactly the same as the video game community. I’ve been collecting and playing older games since the 90s. They’ve become ridiculously expensive nowadays. I’m always a gamer before a collector. I’ve actually sold off all they games I don’t intend to play. I’m also a huge fan of old tech. I like to repair, refurbish, or modify vintage electronics, especially retro gaming consoles. I also love vintage stereo equipment. I have a few turntables that need to be refurbished. I was thinking about getting into vinyl but due to cost and space, I decided against it. I haven’t actually been into listening to music since I was in college other than some local radio stations. But after finally putting together a retro gaming room, I had to go through my large collection of music CDs to determine what to keep and what to keep. So I started listening to everything and can’t remember why on earth I got out of listening to music! I’ve started collecting music that I never had a chance to get when I was younger and have really been enjoying it again! I have a few Sony CD players from the 80s and will stick to CDs only as they are still relatively cheap to buy and take up much less space. Physical media is fantastic because it’s a ritualistic experience. Pulling it out and putting into the device, reading through the inserts/artwork. Physical music, mostly CDs are the most superior way to listen to music. It sounds to absolute best, provided the proper conditions are met like having decent equipment. Yes digital CDs are better than vinyl in the sound quality. It’s a fact, you might not like it but it’s true. That’s okay to like the sound or tone of vinyl or tape more! Physical CDs are also better sounding than digital files. Although the convenience of being able to have so much more music at your fingertips is absolutely incredible as well! But again it’s always about listening to the music than collecting it for me.
I want to be a listener but I fall in to the trap of buying more vinyl than I have time to listen to! What I do find that people often have or buy things they dont like just for having something complete. I saw someone who said I miss this album. I know I wont really listen to it but its the last one by this artist. why do you need it then? I dont think its a bad thing, I just dont understand it.
Yeah, it can be a very slippery slope. For me, anything that comes in goes into my "in the queue" box of things I'm planning on listening to next before I even consider filing it away.
Yep! The only thing I wouldn't consider myself is an audiophile -- I think that's a little beyond my collection, and even though my turntable setup is decent, it's not the quality or price of some true audiophile-level setups!
I struggled with "collector", "Listener" and "audiophile" for a long time. I finally settled on this: Being a science based person (and an avid Rush fan) I decided that there need not necessarily be a hard distinction between "collector" and "listener" so to speak. I view it more as a loose distinction. Purchasing records to add to one's listening library is the action of "collecting" so one could say "my collection" or "my library". The confusion comes in when you have those the really just collect records (hunting for the rare ones, concerned about value, trading, flipping, etc. but not really into listening to records. Those are "collectors", so I distinguish them by calling it "flipping" or "strictly collecting". Yeah, I've been buying records since the late 70s! I also have 800+ CDs and I am particular about what I buy on CD verses vinyl. It doesn't always translate well, sometimes it does and sometimes CDs can be batter depending on genre and year. So what do I call myself? I sometimes go so far as to call myself a "curator" instead of "collector" or even "listener". I went through a solid two year study involving history, care and maintenance including chemistry, methods and my own lab work as well as talking to undergrads in appropriate fields, etc. I even studied ultrasonics leading me to realize that at the time the "ultrasonic" record cleaning machines on the market were flawed. I learned how to restore vinyl records. By "restore" that means we still can't perform miracles and work on damaged records and the like, but it is more like restoring paintings actually. The methodology is similar. It is a labor (a labor of love in my case), requires patience and most don't want to do it (I get that). The initial investment is heavy, but pays for itself fairly quick. In addition, part of my drive is that I grew up with vinyl back in the day and there is an emotional or visceral connection folks have with records. I also view them as historical documents as they can tell us what was going on in society at the time and such. (I even found an actual historical document in a record I purchased - a sample ballot from 1974). A few in the industry started calling me a "volunteer record curator" and so I sort of adopted it. Whatever I call myself I always add that I actually play records because that is what they are for. As a "collector" the closest I come to that is that I have a tendency to go after and like original pressings. (Not first pressings or such rarities, just original pressings). I also do not sell my records. I buy to have in my library to listen to. Any rejects are given away to thrift shops or whatever as selling records is a lose-lose for me. Records are terrible investment vehicles. I also don't care one iota about how much a record may be worth. I place no monetary value on my records. Oh, I stuck some non-appraisal insurance coverage on them for what it is. I have one record worth around $250 monetarily (for insurance) even at the time I bought it. Other than that, at best I'd value my collection of around 800 at $1 each even though according to market 99% of them are worth a bit to far more, I don't care. Even if I got money for them, finding some of them again is mission impossible. They are far more valuable to me in memories and other ways than monetarily. (I'm not going to spend $40 to $100 per appraisal on a $5 to $10 to $20, etc. record 800 times over)! I don't go for new reissues because that is not only the fast track to bankruptcy, but most are of questionable sound quality. I'd rather have the original pressing with or without all it's supposed flaws. I also like the unique packaging of some records from the time, which can't be or is not duplicated on reissues. As for "audiophile" by today's perverted definition: I'm not even close! I'm opposite of "audiophile" in that case in spite of having "the gear" and such. I stay away from anything labeled "audiophile" as well, I don't care what I may be missing. For me it has been and is and always will be about the music. I could care less about "collectability". You could hand me a $1000 record and I would play it! I also never buy records on-line. Since I buy used, I have to inspect it. I also agree with the one commenter about RSD. It has ruined the hobby!
I'd say I have a few that are in the upper hundreds in terms of value, or at least the mid hundreds, and I do play those. Mostly early psych rock from the mid to late 60s, like the Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators, An early unpeeled banana pressing of Velvet Underground & Nico, an obscure self-titled release by a band called Gandalf. Fun stuff, and I enjoy sticking them on my turntable. I like that: volunteer record curator. Good stuff! Thanks for chiming in!
@@Pkilla80 RSD started out as a legit one day a year appreciation holiday, but in only two years it has turned into nothing but a grift and it is now several days per year! The stuff released for RSD (s) also tend to be poor quality and over-priced. That RSD record one paid $50, $60, $100+ won't fetch more than about $10 or less a month later if one were to try to sell it. What is worse is one gets it home and it sounds awful. or is just a poor remake of what one already has. RSD is a joke.
