[nathanm]

What about going back to the 12" laserdisc format for audio-only?  If I understand correctly this had the option of storing analog as well as digital.  That would seem to solve the reliability\degradation issue of cassettes and vinyl and also allow for the pro-tangible goods aspect of big packaging and legible type.  And who knows, they've got black CDs out there, if you had black laserdiscs it would be even closer to the romance of vinyl.

What's really missing about CDs is that they don't have a smell.  Cassettes had a great fragrance for some reason and vinyl has that grandma's basement vibe going on.  But with CDs you get no smell and that damned clear adhesive sticker.

[Wayner]

I have plenty of CD's that stink!  aa

[Jim N.]

One of the reasons that vinly fell out of the mainstream was declining quailty of pressings. IMO the main barrier for any return to the mainstream is the returning of defective units. Back in the mid 80's IIRC the labels put a percentage limit on what the retailers could return to them as defective, which was well below what was being returned by consumers. A couple of local outlets (Licorice Pizza and Music Plus) appeared to be resealing returned vinyl and selling it as new. I am not speaking about the entire chains, just the stores in my area. Heck one double LP I bought had 2 of the 4 sides pressed with the wrong albums! Not to mention paper thin warped vinyl and the rumor that the labels were recycling the vinyl of returned LP's (melting them down paper label and all) for use in new production and the deterioration of original master tapes and stampers over time.

CD's had few physical defects and returns were far fewer. Retailers were not stuck with defective stock as they were with vinyl. If vinyl ever went mainstream again do you really believe that the labels would put out high quality pressings or rather return to what they spewed out in the mid 80's? Do you really think Best Buy would want to deal with all those returns when they can devote floorspace to higher net margin items?

My opinion is that on-line sales and specialty shops selling high quality or used vinyl is the best business model for it. It means a higher unit cost, less choice but better quality. The people buying vinyl are mainly audiophiles and I doubt they would tolerate inferior product.

Anyway, for you vinyl lovers I do hope that more of it is released. I have no use for it but people should be able to enjoy music in their format of choice. One of my favorite bands, Porcupine Tree, issues most of the catalog on vinyl along with CD. You can buy it direct from them.

[JoshK]

I didn't know that you could get PT on LP.  Good to know.    I too, really like a lot of PT.

I mostly have LP playback for classic rock.  I find that 70's rock sounds way better on LP than CD, however, I really haven't found the same difference in modern releases.   Usually they sound quite close to the same.   That is just me.

[JoshK]

What about going back to the 12" laserdisc format for audio-only?  If I understand correctly this had the option of storing analog as well as digital.  That would seem to solve the reliability\degradation issue of cassettes and vinyl and also allow for the pro-tangible goods aspect of big packaging and legible type.  And who knows, they've got black CDs out there, if you had black laserdiscs it would be even closer to the romance of vinyl.

What's really missing about CDs is that they don't have a smell.  Cassettes had a great fragrance for some reason and vinyl has that grandma's basement vibe going on.  But with CDs you get no smell and that damned clear adhesive sticker.

I too think this is a good alternative, and I don't understand why the Telarcs of the world didn't pick up on this, especially when LD transports were prevelant (Pioneer elite, Theta, etc). Now I am not sure that LD transports are being made anymore.

[Jim N.]

I didn't know that you could get PT on LP.  Good to know.    I too, really like a lot of PT.

I mostly have LP playback for classic rock.  I find that 70's rock sounds way better on LP than CD, however, I really haven't found the same difference in modern releases.   Usually they sound quite close to the same.   That is just me.

PT does a lot of limited release vinyl often in different colors. You have to order it from Burning Shed in the UK and it sells out fast. The "Stupid Dream" reissue is on vinyl, 2 LP, 20 pounds sterling. I've bought from Burning Shed several times. Don't know if the new PT coming in April will be on vinyl right away. Check the band's website.

[viggen]

The system I grew up with was a Luxman integrated amp with matching tapedeck, turntable and cd player. I probably made 200 mixed tape with this system on TDK SAXG, MAXG, Sony ceramics, Denon and Maxwell metals using the turntable and cd player as source.  I always got the best sound when playing a TDK MAXG off the tapedeck with Dolby C on with tracks "ripped" off the CD player.  This was back in the '80s,  And, this convinced me that CD players was better than vinyl.  However, listening to music off the tape player sounded better than the original off the record player.  So, tapes actually was high fidelity for me granted the tapes I used were between $6 to $10 each in 1985~ dollars.

[jrebman]

I do drive to Princeton regularly and other outlets in Jersey and swap meets and regularly spend too much and if a third of what I bring home becomes regularly played, I count myself as lucky.

Would that be The Princeton Record Exchange?  If so, glad to see they're still in buisness.  I was in Princeton when they first opened in a very small, narrow storefront on Nassau St. before they moved.  A great place -- I bought and sold a lot of vinyl there in the late 70s and early 80s.

-- Jim

[In The Groove]

maybe the record companies are really behind the resurgence of the vinyl format and it has little to do with the reputed superior fidelity!

I think you give them way too much credit for being able to coordinate things. 

[macrojack]

As I recall, the conspiracy went the other way with the systematic and thorough elimination of vinyl through disincentive policies. Just imagine how much cheaper it was to produce CDs instead of LPs. I mean, hell, AOL gives away about a billion of their promo discs a day. I'm always getting them in the mail.

[Russell Dawkins]

Want to know about the superior analog format that slipped under almost everyone's radar?

The one that was so good it was used as a "secret weapon" by a few audio show exhibitors in the early 90s to gain a little advantage on the competition.

The one almost everyone had and was unaware of? And was cheap?

The analog "hi-fi" recording tracks of Beta hi-fi and VHS hi-fi, even at slow speed!

Most were not even aware it was analog, but it was and had the bonus of no wow and flutter - like digital.

It did share the problem of any tape medium - convenience, or lack of it.