[low.pfile]

Wired article

Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin
By Eliot Van Buskirk 10.29.07

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/10/listeningpost_1029

[TheChairGuy]

Oh my, there's hope after all for a minor resurgence and better title availability, after all 

However, there are precious few analog-based recording studios left about.  If it's recorded in 16/44.1...nothing can be done on the playback end to improve it.  Sticking it on vinyl likely makes it likely worse as it's them saddled with higher levels of inherent noise and less dynamic range, on average.

What's recorded at 16/44.1 should stay on CD. 

The only benefit is maybe a few more re-issues of original analog masters from pre-1980.  I'm not sure how many recording studios will re-invest $$ into analog recording to supply a still-small and likely to always be vinyl market 

But, at least we're not so silent minority in the know now.... 

[zacster]

It just goes to show how little affection there has been for CD.  Nobody is going to miss it.  The CD was never able to reproduce music accurately, the bit rate is too low, the sampling rate is too low.  As a digital format it is physically too large considering what you can cram onto an iPod or any other hard disk device.  They scratch easily ironically enough.  As an art format it is too small to carry much information, especially if you have bad eyes, I can never read the booklets.

Whether LP can replace it again is something else.  I've been playing LPs again after tuning up my Rega P3 and I can tell you that getting up every 20 minutes to turn it over is a royal PITA.  And no remote control either.  Sound quality is hands down better on LP so I keep doing it.

What should have happened, but didn't, was a high resolution format should have been produced as a natural upgrade to CD.  The way it was presented though was as a new technology with new equipment, and all tied into your home theater system with either DVD-A or SACD.  

So while it is great that the indie labels are putting out LP, the age group that would want new releases isn't buying indie rock.  They're still buying Hotel Canitboreya'.

[nathanm]

Aren't all of these Predicting The Death Of X articles doomed to fail?  Especially when X has enjoyed market success already.  If something works and has worked for a long time it's unlikely to die in a flash because something new comes along.

If artists really cared about sound quality it might make more sense to put their effort into different thinking about recording and mastering processes rather than the storage medium.  People act like vinyl is a cool effect pedal called Make Everything Sound Good.  Sorry no, you have to make it sound that way before the last stage of the process.  The contemporary way of thinking seems to be that ADDING stuff to the signal chain will make it sound better rather than removing or minimalizing stuff. 

Okay, so Mapleshade might be too exreme in one direction, but it's also gone way too Pro Tools in the other direction.  I want any one of the popular Top 40 artists of the day to thrown down and do a direct to 2-channel with a stereo mic.  Go ahead use EQ if you want, it doesn't have to be purist.  I want to see if they really have any chops or not.

[dmckean]

I don't know, I have some pretty nice sounding CDs. I'm into vinyl because I have thousands of records. A lot of them do sound nicer than the CDs but others don't. It's all in the mastering.

[linkweewee]

"For many of us, and certainly for many of our artists, the vinyl is the true version of the release," said Matador's Patrick Amory. "The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music."

Geez-it only took 20 years for people to re-figure that one out? 

[mcrespo71]

This put a smile on my face!   Thanks for posting.

[Derockster]

Long live Vinyl. aa

[TONEPUB]

I agree that it's in the mastering too...

I've heard great examples of LP and CD and am not interested
in getting rid of either.  But I do enjoy the convenience of a music
server too!  I've even been having more fun with XM radio now
that I have a good tuner, so it's all good!

I still listen to cassettes, 8-tracks and reel tape (occasional
mini disc too) so I'm probably too mental to comment accurately!

[pardales]

The computer based music server/iPod is here to stay. It is so convenient and you can take your entire collection anywhere you want (boat, plane, car, pool, bike, etc., etc.) which is great. Also, it allows one easy, fingertip access to your entire collection (for me this is the revolution). I have a litte over a thousand CD's in my collection and listen to more of them than I ever used to because of the easy acsess.
 
That said, if I knew back in 1987 (when I bought my first CD-Peter Gabriel's So) what I know now, about how difficult it is to make CD's sound good, I never would have gone with CD for my 2 channel rig. I would have begun my vinyl collection.