funny i remember vinyl and it sucked what good is highs and lows with all the hissing not to mention how hard they where to take care of

Records sound much better than CD’s because, in the process of the analog to digital conversion, songs are compressed into files. This treatment chops off the highs and lows to make the music fit on to a CD. The dynamics of the original performance are also tossed aside. These are some of the reasons why people are starting to complain about the sterile sound of digitized music. However, there are some things to be aware of when purchasing vinyl, reissues and new releases.

When Stupid Records says, “records suck,” his statement is understandable. There’s nothing more horrifying than opening a brand new piece of vinyl only to find it mangled beyond belief. The guys pressing the stuff are not the most careful people you’ll ever meet. It is very common for records to be mishandled when they are hot off the press.

Another thing to consider is the mastering process. If the original recording is digital, you’ll never have anything better than CD quality. The whole purpose for buying records is to get that analog sound. It’s stupid press vinyl from a digital master because it results in a really expensive CD.

On the front of the newly reissued Paul’s Boutique by The Beastie Boys there is a sticker which read, “Faithfully restored” and further down, “Digitally remastered.” That sounds like a huge contradiction. How on earth can you take an analog recording, digitally remaster it and faithfully restore it? There is no way on earth to get true analog sound by doing this.

It pays to do some homework when you are considering jump back into game of buying records. 180 grams vinyl doesn’t automatically mean that you’re getting analog quality. Digital technology has been around for a while now and is prevalent. It’s expedient for record companies to press vinyl from available masters. They are not going to have a master for CD’s and another for records. So, pay attention to what you are buying, new is not always better. If you want the analog sound that you so fondly remember, you’re probably better off buying vintage vinyl.

save your money, find a place that sells used records and purchase these albums that way. paying $20 for a new record is straight up stupid. the cd/download version doesn’t cost that much…why should the vinyl record? anyhow, i thought it was cheaper to manufacture records over cds

Hey sure 20 to 30 bucks will make some folks flinch today, but I remember audiophile pressings in the early 80’s being this much and there were very few. Now we have the majority of reissues as well as new releases on at least 180 gram vinyl if not 200, plus more time spent on the mastering process verses a lot of the corner cutting tricks done to make things easier for the cutting engineer.
Records were cheap back when. Not just in price but in manufacture. Materials and workmanship are far superior today, and discs have been kept around the 20 to 20 dollar average even with oil prices soaring. Lets not forget all those terrible plastic records that came out during the oil crisis during the 70’s.

Sure, pricing them at $30 is guaranteed to make them money. Why not sell them for $9.99 and still make money by quantities sold?

f#ck vinyl. make a better cd. records suck.

Its nice Vinyl is bucking the trend. It is nice it’s is raising some money for the downtrodden music industry.

Its not the answer to the industry’s financial problems.

In another note Ive only ever known cd since I was born in 1986, Curiosity has got the better of me though and I plan on getting a ‘record’ player.

In the show 3rd Rock from the Sun, one of the characters (who’s an alien observing human culture) bemoans the quality of CDs and ponders if humans will ever discover the superior sound of vinyl. The irony being of course that we “upgraded” to CDs. I find this particularly humorous now that there’s a trend pushing for vinyl again.

I put all my cds into MP3s and sold them. Now I guess I can use that space to house my soon to be growing vinyl collection. I look forward to crate digging.

Amen. Nothing beats Vinyl…Ever!!!!

(David, Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa - the original vinyl junkie with over 9,000 vinyls in his garage)

20-30 bucks? weren’t records $9.98 as little as twenty years ago?

Amen Praise God!

Hooray for vinyl’s return! Finally a format worth listening to again. Hopefully this is just the beginning of more to come.

Vinly beats digital hands down.
And this is coming from someone who is 27 and born and raised in the digital age.