You made me rethink how I listen music and I noticed that I hate streaming. I hate storing music on computer and think about duplicating on every device I might want to listen it. I created my own streaming server so I only have to install app on phone and computers, but that was not what I wanted. I noticed that I actually want that physical media that I can pick from a shelf, put id in a player and listen to it. I know that Vinyl is not for me due to space constraints in my small apartment and because it is just not for me. As I have some CDs from years I had a CD player and also used to listen CDs in car I bought a small CD player, a great bookshelf speakers and some extra CDs. That is the experience I wanted, music listening now is with a purpose, not just background noise. Actually your album release sparked me to think about it. I listened to just one song and I knew I want your album and pay to you for your work as directly as possible. Thank you! Can't wait for the album to arrive.
Oh, you are incredibly welcome and thank YOU for this outstanding album! Just walked in from the mailbox this morning in Kentucky, USA and opened up my autographed CD. 🥰
Hi Mary Can be difficult to ship single albums, consider having a few meet and collect events say London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Sheffield. Maybe you could tie in with a tour. I am sure the savings on packing and posting could contribute to the cost or you could have a collect ticket option say £10? Or more if needed, then you could meet and maybe have another £10 for a personalised signature. You could bring some CDs, merchandise and spare albums as I am sure some may buy extras. I have my CD now and will be ordering the Album. Oh and print a sleeve insert with the story of the Album. Sleeve candy is highly prized especially if it is only in the first 500-1000 copies or so.
The digital copy may be played on digital media player BUT CD can be played on not just pottable CD players perhpas Gaming Consoles with CD/DVDs. I still have a yellow Sony CD Sports walkman player, and my original stereo system with a JVC CA-D8T triple disc compact disc player, tuner deck AM/FM stero system. Also, I have maintained keeping my CD/DVD player (burning software may not have) installed in my PC. Recently, I have acquired some older artists LP that I didn't get before the CD/cassettes versions that were released. Am looking and shopping around for 3 speed Record player/turntable to hook up to that aforementioned stereo.
Former Record store guy rant: In the late 80s record labels began remastering decades of content to take full advantage of the far superior quality of the Compact Disc. Audiophiles marveled at the sound quality of the CD, and the word "digital" became synonymous with high quality. The CD also never wore out as tape and vinyl does, and can be played a thousand times with no degradation. Today, record labels are remastering all of their content released throughout the late 80s, 90s to the 2010s to REMOVE dynamic range and frequency response so they can print these releases on vinyl, effectively lowering the quality of releases never meant to be available on vinyl. When the CD price point reached $15-$20 per album, consumers scoffed at the high price, but now consumers are willing to pay $45 for a lower quality, degenerative format. I predict that as vinyl continues to grow as the dominate physical format, at some point listeners will rediscover the CD, and wonder why that format was ever abandoned, and we'll see a resurgence of the CD. Right now, the cheapest thrift store CD player will out perform even the most expensive turntables, and CDs are currently cheaper than vinyl...So...
I still maintain that my vinyl copy of Abbey Road sounds better than my CD copy. I don't know if it's some sort of placebo effect but the vinyl edition sounds brighter and less muffled, especially noticeable on Here Comes the Sun.
Besides enjoying the activity of playing a vinyl...there are many like me who lived to read the album covers front and back while the record played. CD's became efficient, but they could never take away the bond of a spinning frisbee and an album cover lover!
You haven’t heard a high quality record player if you think that a cheap CD player is better. Many CDs were mastered with compression, especially the so called improved remasters of the 90s. The original records had a greater dynamic range and sound better for it.
I'm 66 ..just given my niece my Akai stacker stereo system and 250 vinyl that have been stored away for 20 years... some of them likely first pressings.. including my all time favourite and inspiration to start playing..( America ....self titled ... followed by Homecoming )...oh well, let's call it early inheritance.
I bought a record deck amp etc a few years ago when i retired and i love it sounds sound is great,good selection of my youth from 60’s Bert Yansch, early folk, west coast, CSN & Y Joni, Van M,Yes, a great mix, most still play well..considering the period.
I'm old AF and worked in a record store in my youth and later a recording engineer back when on big corporation and the government were only ones with computers. The great music era of the 70's. My big issue with vinyl today and especially old albums being brought back on vinyl is who is mastering these albums were any of the people in involved with remastering an old album work on the original session. Mastering vinyl isn't like CD or digital formats mastering vinyl correctly does alter the sound so back in the day the recording engineer and producer were involved in the mastering so the could hear and okay the sound. With vinyl there are limits in how much time can be put on a side of a records and the more time you put the shallower/tighter the groove is and that affects bass response and dynamics. Also all vinyl gear back in the day had to support the RIAA curve well all but one major label did as well as makers of record players. See RIAA curve reduced some frequencies so to make better groove sized on the record, then the record players the electronic in them had circuit to bring back those frequencies to the original sound. Now anything that is going to mess with frequencies will mess with sound that is part of reason the recording engineer and producer of the record were involved with the mastering for vinyl. So who's doing that today seems like a lot of recording artists are just sending there master off and someone not involved with the recording is mastering for the vinyl version. Also back in the day there were issues with the quality of the vinyl being used. The best was 100% pure virgin vinyl, but with the boom in music in 60's through 80's record company had to start using a mix of pure vinyl and recycled vinyl. Then how often stamper plates were replaced in pressing machines and on and on. Vinyl is a world of it's own.
VInyl today is mastered from digital files since everything is recorded digitally. So any supposed "analog sound benefit" of vinyl is completely bogus since the 2010's.
I partially agree with you. The sound I like the most was the early CD's when they were taking the old analog recorded masters and then transferring them to CD. So you still had the warm aspects of the original analog recording, but on a CD with greater dynamic and frequency range and more time could be put on a CD than a side of a vinyl album could hold.
@@DojoOfCool I don't know man, some of those early vinyl to CD transfers were terrible. For the metal and goth genres anyway. Some of those CDs even came with a note apologising for the loss of sound quality!
All depends on who did the remastering to CD. There were a handful of engineers who were known for great remastering old albums to CD and they took there time and really made sure the sound was the same. Then there were record companies that just wanted jump on the CD bandwagon and just want quick remaster of their entire catalogs to CD. Some of that stuff was just done in batches and not album by album. As the old saying goes you get what you pay for.
Hey Mary - Congrats on the release...I'm a BIG advocate for CDs, but - The one thing I've missed the most about vinyl is the 12 X 12 art format. Your album cover is beautiful and deserves to be hanging on the wall with the rest of my now vintage collection of album covers.
I know the real reason vinyl has made such a big comeback. It has to do with CD's, but not in the way most people think. CD was released in 1982, and it started to get popular in the late 80's and early 90's. During that time, people that took sound quality and music playback seriously, started to notice things about CD's that didn't sound good. CD's did some things really well, but not everything. Because of this, all through the 90's a lot of people were really pushing the industry for a new digital format that fixed some of the issues with CD's. Finally, in 1999 Sony released a new format called SACD. For the most part, everyone was happy with it, and it was clearly better than CD's at the time. Like any format, it took a few years to get going, but SACD was on the way to becoming the new standard. In 2007, Sony announced that they would no longer be supporting the format, and walked away from it. That pissed off a lot of people. All this time waiting for something new, and when it happened they invested time and money into adopting the new format. At that point, no one trusted the industry, so they went back to records as the new format to replace CD's. And around 2007-08, the worlds supply of new turntables all but disappeared because so many people were buying them. The waiting list to buy a turntable from most companies was about 6 months to a year. This isn't the only reason vinyl has made a comeback, but its the biggest, by far. Some of you reading this may not understand what I meant about CD's no sounding good. Most of the problems were early on, not long after when CD's first came out. Since then, the industry has came up with a lot of ways to improve the way they sound. Modern CD players are much better compared to older units. There are still a differences between the two formats, but nowhere near as big as it used to be.
Some of the the early complaints about "not sounding good" had more to do with the massive S/N of the digital format and digital mastering really accentuating the limitations of the analog equipment used to record and mix the album. When it can't hide behind the noise floor and distortion of the turntable or tape deck, many of the analog recordings really sounded bad. Some of the early D/A converters and algorithms were suspect as well. Finally, people were used to the "warmth" that a phonograph cartridge or tape head added to what they were hearing. It's technically less accurate than digital because it's filtering the signal and introducing some distortion, whereas the CD sounded "dry" or "sterile" to some people. The most accurate isn't usually the most pleasant to the ear.
As an older person, I loved and hated vinyl. I collected and sold vintage records, including 78 rpm discs. With 78's I've had to use needles to clear dirt that caused skips. Cleaning vinyl records is easier, but it is almost impossible to avoid dirt and noise. So, I was glad to move to cd's as a physical medium. I still love playing newly purchased records the first time.
I agree. I hated having to deal with degradation on vinyl and the occasional pops and clicks that you sometimes get even on brand new records. But, looking back, vinyl had a ritual around it which tended to make listening to music a special thing. Yes, you could put a record on for background music, but there was a hassle in doing so, and then having to change the record every 20-25 mins. I reckon most people didn't usually bother. These days, music is so easy and accessible, but I wonder if it's too easy. the effort involved in putting on a playlist from a streaming service is negligible, and it will play music all day with no effort. You can even schedule it to come on automatically. Whilst people listen to a lot more music now, I'm not sure many people actually choose and listen to music as mindfully and critically as they used to. Technology has driven people to have short attention spans and reduced patience because changing to something else is instant and is just a tap or a swipe away, instead of a 1-2 minute manual process. And that is changing how music is made and made available. The album and the song were things that were defined by the limitations of a media. To get a new record you used to have to wait until your local store had stock, and then go down and buy it. I remember waiting literally weeks for anticipated releases, and then putting in an order at the local record store in advance to make sure I got it. These days, music is defined by RU-vid and TikTok. New songs are often only 2 minutes long, and there's little song development as there's no time and you don't want listeners to get bored with your intro and swipe to the next song. Being more than 2 minutes is inefficient because most listeners will have moved on before then, and the social media monetisation has already kicked in. The notion of an album of songs is practically dead. My concern with the resurgence of vinyl is the potential health issues it might cause, because vinyl is quite toxic.
I've had plenty experience with vinyl, cds, and cassette tapes. CDs are my absolute least favourite, I'd be more than happy to never touch a CD again. Cassette tapes are underappreciated- the primary problem with them is that decent tape players are hard to find right now.
I do enjoy your blend of career news and facts about the music business. I think the way you're doing it (without being a slave to a record label) is the future. Great video as always Mary 😊
Ok, the last time I bought an actual vinyl record was in the mid 1980s. It definitely *did not* cost $50!! LOL!!! I just never thought about the price increase for vinyl since I last purchased it, but it makes total sense -- even when "mass produced" it's still a niche product, and isn't produced in nearly the numbers needed to gain the economy of scale seen in the '70s and '80s. Plus, inflation alone since the mid '80s accounts for a hefty increase all on its own. So, while I completely understand the price, it still kind of shocked me.
Forgetting for a moment the content of your music, why not be among the first to make the sound quality of your music the best it can be. Ignore the current trend of loudness wars. No dynamic range, distortion, clipped peaks. Someone needs to take a stand to improve the SOUND of your work. It could be you! I do hope so.
Will you be touring in the U.S.? If so, we would love to see you in Providence, RI. (or nearby Boston, MA, if a larger city works better for you. ) Ordered your CD, and understand its on its way to me. Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the downloaded tracks. Great job!
And vinyl’s sound is inferior. “Magical” is the same fallacy as that of vacuum tube amplifiers are “better” than solid state. I loved my old vinyl records and the large format artwork on the albums. But I do not miss the technology which has been obsolete for decades. BUT keep on rockin! Make your listeners happy. So if they like styluses, cleaning the dust, flipping the LP’s, and less than 20dB of stereo separation, audible media noise, and excessive buss compression, give them what they want.
So not a fan of vinyl and never will be. That scratchy sound? I can't NOT hear it, and I can't stand it. Some "audiophiles" are able to hear the warmth and all that from their records and the supposed "strength of analog" (a lie they tell themselves: every modern LP is from a digital master). My audiophile ear just hears the distraction, everything NON musical that is played. And I just have no interest in it. "low fidelity" or not (and with the tinnitus in my 50-something ears, even that's not all that important anymore), i'd rather have something just play the music, not the music and a handful of pops, clicks, etc, that take me out of the moment. for those that love it? have at it. but i see, and more importantly HEAR, no value in it at all.
I don't have a CD player. I don't have a turntable. That said, I'd rather get the vinyl version of your album (... and just did!) because, of the two machines, I'm more likely to get a turntable in the near future.
Btw a lot of people with a DVD player, blu ray player or 4K blu ray player can also play CDs on those. I like Vinyl for the feeling of nostalgia and time travel, however vinyl doesn’t really have better sound than a CD. The nostalgic warm sound of vinyl is actually distortion from compression due to the physically limited dynamic range of vinyl. People complain about compression on CDs but that is a production issue and not a format problem. CDs are actually uncompressed with a much wider dynamic range. So for great sound CD is my preference, but I also prefer vinyl for the larger artwork and retro feel so I hope to get both formats.
Analog music is somehow way better! It's like waking up in a dream. This can't be true ... Too good to be real. Our eyes and ears are very different. Our eyes are digital because they must rapidly pass information from our face to the back of our head. Ears are analog because eardrums are close to the brain and sound begins analog. Obviously, Digital is vastly better for images but is all made of dots. Maybe even Morse code, like. The subconscious is always thinking of a bunch of things at the same time even though we are not aware of that. An old vacuum tube works like that. Think of a bunch of people stepping into a Subway car all at once, The tube flows along with the harmonics and delayed reflections of the room. You don't need an expensive speaker system to hear the difference. Digital ignores that. Analog sounds warm right? What does that mean? Re Master? What? Yeah, spoil Analog.
If I was a musician selling physical product I would flatly refuse to offer anything on a phonograph record regardless of demand. Instead I would release CDs in LP-style packaging so the artwork could be that size. But that's Me, not necessarily anyone else.
I can make a longer post about how I dislike vinyl. I have about 800 vinyl records and much prefer my CDs. Vinyl wears out. It scratches, skips and pops. Turntables can last a long time but they have problems as well. Belt drive turntables generate noise across the platter. Direct Drive turntables are great but are more expensive -Try and find a used Technics SP10 Mk II and you'll see my point.Cartridges and stylli wear out damaging records. An LP can only track for about 22 minutes per side. Portable CD players came down in price to around $20 or less and good component CD players sell for well under $100 in pawn shops everywhere. Don't forget, a DVD player can play CDs as well. CD's are noise free. In fact a very faint white noise track is buried into a CD just to take sone of the aural edge off the music. Perfection can be harsh. When I hear someone say records sound warm. It's not warmth. It's noise. I gladly admit album covers are way easier to view instead of CD booklets but we don't listen to album covers. Sorry to rain on parades but my opion is based on experience. YMMV.
Records only scratch, skip and pop IF the owner doesn't take a few proper precautions to take care of their record. A well cleaned and taken care of record never skips scratches or pops. Your record will only get damaged if it's abused directly, not cleaned or handled correctly, or if you have a crap turntable. An incorrectly adjusted tone arm or bad stylus can destroy a record. Yes CD's also can easily become unplayable if they are scratched and mistreated. I'd say that although CD's are cheaper, often sound quality is not as crisp as a record. Neither format lasts forever, but a well taken care of record will outlast a CD. I have old 78 shellac records dating back to the mid1920's that still sound great.
As a owner of a new fancy turntable, I was asking these same questions, who makes vinyl anymore. How do smaller artists handle the costs? Is it worth it for the big labels to put out content on a LP format. I lost my rock n Roll collection of lps from the 60-80s which Ill have to replenish from the used bins. Love to have Vinyl from new and contemporary artists as well.
My big problem with modern vinyl is, if you record, mix and master digitally, it makes absolutely no sense to make the final step in the process, analog. If someone wants to argue for the warmth or whatever of analog, you have to buy old vinyl, or find some of the very few artists who are recreating the tape to tape to vinyl technique.
Just ordered the vinyl Mary 👍 Looking forward to adding another great album to my ever growing collection 🎶 Started to buy music on vinyl since 1972 and stopped doing that when the CD was introduced in 1983. But since I missed the enjoyment that vinyl brings on so many levels I returned to that format 15 years ago.
I preordered! I usually prefer other musical genres but Mary is such a compelling artist and business person that I decided to buy her album. I love vinyl for special albums and high-end listening on my tube gear. I also love streaming digital because of the convenience and ease of finding new music.
Album ordered on vinyl 🤘🏻 Can’t wait to receive it 😊I’m interested in the dynamics on it, as it’s my experience that vinyl’s today are engineered with higher dynamics today, mainly because the compression most sound engineers and producers either choose themselves or are forced to by record companies for digital releases are removing the 3D sound image, depths and dynamics, where the sound engineer on vinyl can’t compress the sound due to the RIAA standard. Unfortunately someone introduced the loudness war in the early/mid 90’s - destroying good music. Digital media is superiour to the analouge media, unfortunately the lack of willingness to keep dynamics just because it has to sound loud also destroys good music on that account.. shame on producers and record companies on that account. *hah* someone will propably rant over this comment 🤷🏻♂️ not my problem 😏
I think you’re right, however, the loudness war started due to the portability of music. Listening on a pocket sized player in the street, or in the car means quiet passages are lost, so producers pushed the volume up to maximum all the time using compression. It results in a fatiguing sound which is hard to listen to for extended periods. When mastering albums, there are two camps. The lazy, money grabbing type take the compressed CD master and play it straight to the cutting lathe, after RIAA adjustment, of course. To me this is just cynical. On the other hand, those who care master records the way it should be done, which is to use a higher sample rate uncompressed digital file as the start point. Some compression is still applied along with centralising the lowest frequencies where necessary, to allow it to fit onto the available space and be trackable by a stylus. However, this is no where near as much, as the end product is, more often than not, played in a quiet environment.
Good concise history on vinyl to its current state. There is a really great podcast called “Women in Vinyl” that goes into detail about the trials and tribulations of the indy vinyl industry. They have guests that talk about the mastering of the sound, tooling of machines, to the economics and politics of business.
i have a large vinyl collection.I currently have it in storage as i moved about over recent years.A love of vinyl is not based on logic .It is an emotional bond .Ido not buy much these days as i have no where to put it and its a bit pricey.I am tryiing to get all my tunes in one place for a few years in the hope that one day it will be with me where ever i end up.Most of my records are with my brother but i have got some others scattered here and there.I have a digital set up bu t in an ideal world i would have the Pioneer hybrid decks which can play vinyl and mp 4s -3s which would let me have everything in one place.I would like to live my final days surrounded by my collection.Heres hoping
Don't forget the role played by cassettes in the demise of vinyl. I originally bought all my music on cassette, and did my co-op in a cassette manufacturing facility back in the early 90s.
I knew people long before the digital era that either bought cassettes or vinyl exclusively. The tape buyers wanted something to play in their car, but I've seen more than once where they'd buy a brand new tape, shove it into their cheapo tape deck only to be eaten and ruined. I bought vinyl and made my own cassettes on higher end tapes than the pre recorded versions. If anything happened to them, I could just make another and still own some of those records to this day.
Cassette was for making mix tapes or a back up copy or a beloved LP (even back then I recognised that playing an LP could damage it). Oh, and hunting those C120's for recording the Annie Nightingale request night themed specials from Radio 1!😜 Her show was a gateway to a lot of artists I would never hear of otherwise, many I still love today!
Thank you for the music and info, well done, peng work indeed. I must say I believe the earliest sound ever captured was the Petrachus Pot (sound recovered from urn) from an unknown artisan from the Bronze Age? Oh, I’m not completely certain about this. Even so it must be close to this time frame.
Argh! I donated my whole stereo system, including turntable and speakers, several years ago. Gave my 150+ vinyl album collection to my niece's husband. Now I buy/download from iTunes. But I'm old, so I'm not your market demographic to begin with. I hope the vinyl experiment is a success…
Vinyly...we get to the root of the album...I love it. It just sounds more organic and genuine. My favorite store in E. Lansing Michigan was "Flat Black and Circular" Which I would go to on lunch at work at Michigan State University's Grounds Department. Third Man Records was launched by Jack White (featuring the Third Man Record Booth), and distribution center, and the world’s only live venue with direct-to-acetate recording capabilities. Third Man is an innovator in the world of vinyl records and a boundary pusher in the world of recorded music, aiming to bring tangibility and spontaneity back into the record business and issue releases that leave no doubt in the minds of listeners that music is indeed sacred.
The vinyl revival is the biggest hoax in the music industry in recent years. Any professional who knows how physical media for music work will confirm that vinyl was once considered outdated and replaced by CD for a good reason. But everyone is silent about this, because the false belief that vinyl sounds better than CD allows artists to earn at least some money from selling physical copies of albums in the era of predatory monopolies of streaming services.
It’s not really a hoax. It’s just personal preference. I prefer vinyl but not for any sonic reasons. I’m any aspect of life, the more effort something takes, then more you appreciate the results. The ritual of taking a record off my shelf, taking it out of the sleeve, putting it on the platter and dropping that needle just makes the listening experience more rewarding to me.
@@gabe2869 I remember how in the 2000s there was a lot of talk that the "digital" sound of a CD is "cold and lifeless", that vinyl sounds more "natural" because unlike a CD it doesn't have a 44.1 kHz audio sampling rate, which supposedly can be distinguished by a human ear (not true). There was a lot of nonsense said and even more nostalgia for the "good old days when music meant more." But in reality, the only advantage of vinyl over CD is the large size of the cover and the feeling of "performing a ritual" that you mentioned.
I am old enough to remember what a hassle it was to keep vinyl clean. I also remember like yesterday the experience of listening to a CD the very first time. Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. The sound blew me away. While I apreciate rhe effort you are making for your fan community, I will not follow you here. But I would love to see you live. Please come to NW Germany!! Dortmund or Cologne would be perfect. Love what you're doing.❤
I have over 3000 Vinyl Frisbees that I still cherish to this day! Super. Sexy. Heartbreak belongs in my Gallery! Since I still play my vinyl's, many of my favorite albums have been duplicated so my total number of albums is closer to 4 grand and of course diamond tip needles are not free!🤣 I will take the plunge and get in line for your tunes and no worries about waiting...as our Moms always told us "Good Things Are worth The Wait"😉 Cheers From Across The Pond In Ohio 👋
Being a musician in my sixties, I own a ton of vinyl. While I understand the romanticized idea connected, we will be hard pressed to beat the sonic capabilities of the CD. I probably play more mp3 out of convenience, but their lack of sonic quality concerns me, in that my grandchildren will never really experience the nuances of the real performance.
I agree 100%. "Different" does not necessarily equal "better", and "older" doesn't either. If you think vinyl sounds better because it's "warmer", just stuff some cotton in your ears.
Compact digital music is compressed digital audio, some of the higher frequencies humans can't hear are chopped off to reduce unnecessary data.. When playing a vinyl record those higher frequencies are still there hence why people feel there's a difference.. + the sleeve art is always another collectable aspect.. .. It was always said a good high end turntable + needle would sound better or equivalent than CD.. perhaps a more natural sound from vinyl that digital music/audio can't replicate..
@@TheExtremenarcissist For practical purposes, almost nobody listens to high-res audio. The world puts up with artifact-laden lossy codecs at modest bitrates. Most music is also "consumed" in noisy environments with crappy headsets/speakers.
In the 80's, while my friends were getting CDs, I was still collecting vinyl. CD players were still too expensive for me, and the cost of CDs was still high at the time. $15 for new CDs (used CDs were rare then), compared to LPs, which I would buy for $8-10 for new releases, and $1-4 for used. As a result, my LP collection grew. I still have a large LP collection, as well as CDs. I still like having the larger artwork and being able to read liner notes.
I was one of the ones that asked if your recording would come out in vinyl. I started my vinyl collection in 1964 with Meet the Beatles and now have just short of 800. I wanted to support you so I ordered the CD but I will definitely pre-order the vinyl album. Thanks for giving it a shot
As a kid, I used a number of tube Cb's. 1966~ (Some UK call them valves). Vacuum tubes light up and pass a very complex amount of fidelity at low gain. Things were going over into transistors that are basically an 'on off' switch at very high speeds just Like digital tricks the ear. Transistors. Way cheaper to make but they sounded awful. On CB, everyone sounded the same
You never know if someone is going to ask for the album in reel to reel format (15ips). I don't know the psychology behind vinyl demand, but I have a tiny collection of vinyl records. There is something magical about the sound being in physical form. It is especially magical when it is a recording that hasn't been remastered and released in digital format.
Just ordered the vinyl, counting the days till it arrives! Your music deserves being printed in vinyl. And: Brexit sucks, and the custom fees that come with it.
Hi Mary, Love your show ! OMG, I hated Records ! I'm 62yrs. so, all my early yrs. were vinyl ! When I first heard the same studio recordings now on CD, I was blown away on the clarity and at the same time, pissed off mad for the poor reproductions on vinyl. Mainly all vinyl is missing the bottom end and that infuriated me ! Good luck on your new 'Album' !! Cheers!
I just pre-ordered 😎 I was really hoping for a vinyl release, as I don't have a cd player any more, and I'm delighted that this could be possible, so I'm backing you 100% with my pre-order, even though I live in France and will probably have to pay customs duties on top of delivery. What might be possible for all pre-orders is to have early access to your album, what do you think? In any case, I'm looking forward and thanks u so much 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Growing up in the 70s, I (and millions of others) loved records and record stores. As an audio geek, I was incredible psyched about the possibilities that would come with CDs. When they finally came around, I found they were very hit or miss as far as quality. Many CD versions of albums sounding dreadful compared to their vinyl counterparts. It took years until I understood why that happened (it was about money), but it sowed the seed of skepticism for many. CDs, and digital in general, will always fall short of the aesthetic value of vinyl. Digital, done with care, is the superior medium, but it unfortunately is just far too easy to be manipulated with compression and other trickery to strip any and all dynamics from music.
Pre-ordered your cd and looking forward to getting it in the mail. Already downloaded it on phone and computer. Sounds great! Yes, would love to see you here in Birmingham...Alabama not UK!
I also think hip-hop and electronic genres kept it alive throughout the 90s as producers, DJs, and turntablists going "crate digging" were a boon to the resurgence by the late 2000s. As a format it was the easiest to creatively manipulate on the fly for sampling etc. As for me I also don't own a CD player anymore, but still rock vinyl. I look forward to checking out your album in spite of the wait!
It should also be noted that back in 2007 to 2008 is when artists like Trent Reznor pulled away from their labels and started selling vinyl direct to fans to try and create a model where they could afford to make music without the backing of a label. Reznor said at the time he wasn't sure how this would look for new acts but felt there was a way to get your loyal fans a high quality product they really wanted and allowing the artist to be able to make some money on just record sales.
As someone old enough to have seen music go from 8-track tapes to LPs and cassettes, then to CDs and finally digital files/streaming, the mind boggles at the sudden increase in interest in vinyl records. Music lovers of my generation were more than happy to start buying both a vinyl AND a CD version of a new album when they came out, but were also not really upset when LPs basically disappeared in favor of CDs. Of course, we replicated our entire LP collections on CD! CDs sound better, they don't get scratched up like LPs, they don't get their laser "needle" stuck in a dirty groove, and they are easier to store and transport. Digital took that to the next level, specifically in the portability area. Outside of the cover art and the goodies that used to come with LPs (lyric sheets, big gatefold artwork in the center of a double album, an actual working zipper fly on the cover of Sticky Fingers 😄), streaming or digital is superior in almost every way. My children are actually buying LPs and turntables - like I said, it boggles my mind. I can only attribute this to some sort of nostalgia thing as anyone younger than GenX would have never seen an LP other than in their parent's collections and they want the experience? Maybe it is wistful GenXers yearning for the old days when we would go to Tower Records and spend a week's salary on records. I don't think the future is in vinyl, but it is an interesting little point in time renaissance that is likely short lived.
You and me both. I was glad to ditch LPs and switch to CDs and high quality digital. *My* biggest problem with vinyl is that it gets slightly worse every single time you play it. There's a reason that the serious music admirers would re-record the LPs onto reel-to-reel tape and stick the disc back on the shelf.
Vinyl is the format that gets recorded music closest to some kind of physical art. The new vinyl released nowadays do often includes booklets, posters etc, making them very colletible items for fans. "Merch" have become an important income source. The same reason you might see special "Deluxe" versions of albums released in physical format, that may include aditional songs that not are available anywere else.
@@brionl4741 Exactly. I bought high quality blank cassettes and recorded all my records to tape for portability and easy replacement. It is what it is, but I still have no idea why two generations who never had LPs in the first place now buy them. As with most things like this, it is likely temporary.
Having grown up in the 70's and 80's I had a fairly large collection of vinyl by the time CD's really hit the mainstream. I happily converted most of my collection to CD and frankly, other than the larger artwork, I don't miss vinyl and do not understand its resurgence. I worked for years in a high end car and home audio store, I've seen lots of fads come and go and I've heard lots of claims that turned out to be smoke and mirrors. I have a pretty good set of ears even after my time in the Marines, and I don't care what anyone says, the sound of vinyl is NOT better unless you consider an ever present hiss and random pops to be essential to your musical experience. I get the nostalgia, but nothing else about this makes any sense to me.
They also pre down mastered the vinyl to 16 bit 44khz. The higher resolution mastering now allows vinyl to shine again. The original early 50s to 70s recordings are amazing.
You have to factor in remastering the record; a vinyl master sounds absolutely beautiful on cd, not the other way around. The ideal that you need to ' master' for digital is just nonsense. What they call ' mastering' is really just compressing the living daylights out of it. Which, as far as I know, is something done to make music louder and stand out more on the radio (which is pointless when everyone does it). A vinyl record simply can't fit 45 minutes of music at that sound level, the grooves would get too wide, so vinyl records are often way less compressed sounding (which is why I still prefer them over high resolution digital audio, even though the hi-res format is well capable of reproducing great sound). If they just use the vinyl master, set the peaks to 0dB, and put it on a CD, it's a better sounding CD, AND your master is ready for vinyl. Good luck witht he vinyl shenanigans!
That was a fantastic History of Vinyl summary! For me personally, I'll add the post-Napster guilt factor. When I started to be able to download an artists' entire discography in one click and I also started noticing CDs and records sold at live shows were the same price (circa 2007-2011 here in Canada), I started supporting artists by buying their vinyl; especially smaller indie acts.
11 месяцев назад
Mary, vinyl is the medium, not the object. It is not a vinyl player, but a record player or turntable, or deck. Each of these things are used to play vinyl. Sorry, I know you know this, but that’s a real bugbear of mine. It grates, because no one ever said ‘vinyl player’ until gen Y/Z ‘discovered’ vinyl just as they did typewriters and avocado on toast.
Well said. Anyone who calls a turntable a record player doesn’t know about listening to vinyl on a high end level. Growing up a record player was a folding suitcase toy like system with the speakers built in and a crude cartridge and stylus.
11 месяцев назад
@@djstuc No, it's about clarity of communication. That can mean the difference between war and peace. So it really is important.
I ditched vinyl for CDs gladly. Now Im back to vinyl. The reason: the dip in sound quality with digital media, and also, the lost of meaning to purchase physical media when you can have a digital file. But then again, the high quality digital files suffered of the same problem of bad quality sound: compression. So I incidentally enterd a used vinyls record store, got a record tested on their very cheap equipent and the sound that came out of it completely demolished me. We've lost so much in all these years, and the same happened with the modern manufacturing of Vinyl records, low quality control, few copies, etc. Imagine that in the past, vinyls were the main media, and they were produced at insane quantities and great speed with no problems in quality control whatsoever. New generations have to catch up to the old models of doing things to achieve that level of craftsmanship.success.
My biggest problem with vinyl is that it's pointless making it from a digital master. As much as I would love to order your record, the vinyl price in my country's currency is too high for the economy of my country, so I will keep it on my to-get list and maybe it will happen. As for concerts, I definitely hope you do a European your in my vicinity. I've subscribed to the newsletter and included the city names there.
I want to buy my music on SD card in FLAC format packaged in a 12-inch gatefold sleeve! If I want to re-live the vinyl experience, I'll rip it to 96kbps MP3 and listen to it whilst munching on Rice Krispies...
Thanks for your research on this topic. It would seem to me that vinyl records will never stop being in demand, given the original demand changed via forces other than the actual love of vinyl.
Our SSH CD arrived yesterday. Thanks for packaging a recording that looks as good as it sounds! In a world of downloads and streaming it's a welcome return to the world I knew exploring new music in the 1970's.
When Fraunhofer released the DOS version of their encoder, I converted all mi LPs into MP3. They were very good when I was on the move, but they were horrible with piano pieces, loud intros, etc. I begun buying CD very late and only because LP weren't available anymore. Starting 2007, I bought the LP of what I previously acquired on CD, and stopped buying CD altogeter. I mostly buy classical music on LP, and Deutsch Grammophon has been very receptive for customers wanting LPs, not CDs. Thanks for the video Mrs. Spender. Greetings from the UK Anthony
to me ( 74, Jr high Beatlemania , LP's ). IF economics is any sort of concern do NOT go with LP's. given there are very few of the music stores that were in Malls 40 years ago. CDs are probably cheaper, absolutely more durable , and sound the same, probably better - depending on the mix / technical staff , NOT the product. MY listening preference is actually concert DVD , be it Diana Krall Paris , A. Netrebko. LaTraviatta or Grateful Dead , movie ( 2 nd disc)
Flute girlish player, saxophonist, photographer, DJ, what's next?! Wanna follow my empty tombstone as well? What a gamer without Tomb's Rider ethics that she was...
Today people take their music everywhere via streaming or their own tracks, physical petroleum based products requires the equipment at home.... and with software one can micromanage the digital output to the max... In the early 1980's hip hop started scratching with two turntables.....Grand Master Flash.
Funny that I have a record player but not a CD player. Oh wait! I think the PS5 plays CDs. Guess I'm ordering both. Good luck on the album sales. Love your videos.
My big problem with vinyl is its low fidelity (yes, I said that), poor wear and environmental immunity. I'm a Gen-Xer who has applauded the death of: Vinyl records, audio tapes, broadcast radio, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) and - coming SOON - hard disk drives. If a few old seniles and a bunch of Millennials are into old tech and think all that stuff is grand... well I still have some of that old crap to offload at the right price ;)
Haven't had a vinyl player for 30 years. Haven't bought music in a physical form for 15 years. I understand vinyl is a nice object, but I only care about the music, and I don't know what to do with physical copies.
I went all in w/ vinyl last year; bought an expensive turntable, preamp, and a bunch of LPs...all in all... it's kind of a waste of money, lol. It kinda sounds like shit compared to CD/Digital, it's more expensive per album, and it's just a huge pain in the ass. Kinda wish I'd have used all those funds to buy more cds...
I hope that you have great success with your vinyl release. I will stick with the CD version. I sold all of my vinyl years ago. Folks may not know/recall it, but the vinyl that was released in the mid-late '80s was generally of VERY poor quality - so warped as to be virtually unplayable without a vacuum turntable. Yeah, sure, releases by Sheffield Labs and the like were good, but with limited offerings and very high cost. Just saying...
I went to college in the late 70s and early 80s. CDs weren't an option, and vinyl provided the best fidelity. I had a fairly extensive vinyl collection, say 100 +/- 50 albums. When CDs first came out, they were very expensive, and the players even more so, but I was excited by the new technology. In particular, I was impressed by the lack of hiss, pops, skips and other imperfections rampant in analog technologies. And today, CD is my preferred media (even to non-physical digital, for much the same reason that I prefer physical books to e-books: the user interface is better.). I don't even own a turntable anymore. The only thing I do miss is the extensive liner notes and artwork that came with the 12-inch format. Many CDs come with a single cover sheet with a track listing and that's it. No lyrics, no BTS, no whimsical backstories for the tracks, nothing. That used to be a large part of the joy of buying an album...
I asked my favorite record shop, the beautiful Fingerprints in Long Beach, Calif., about business lately & they indeed confirmed that LP records that don't sell can't be returned, unlike CDs. I don't have room for many more LPs, so CDs are cool!
