Why do people listen to music on Vinyl?

1519Limi

Hey guys, I am completing my masters thesis over the summer and am looking for some insight from people who listen to music on vinyl.

In particular I'm looking to know why you like to listen to music on vinyl as opposed to other mediums which are more convenient like streaming? Is it for the nostalgia? Is it just because its trendy? Is it to do with the quality of sound or is it the aspect of having something physical that motivates you to listen on vinyl? Or is there any other reasons?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from individuals aged 18-25 who moved from streaming/listening online to listening on vinyl to understand your motivations for this.
Any feedback is welcomed and is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

**Please only respond if you consent for your response to be used in my research. Complete anonymity will be protected**

Rigsby

Vinyl played through a good hi fi system is said to be warmer sounding than CD's or downloaded music, due to the latter's high recording compression. While vinyl has made a comeback in recent times, I doubt very much if the actual recording is done the way it was in vinyl's hey day, so from an audio point of view, I don't see the point of having it.

The other attraction with vinyl is to some degree nostalgic. The whole ritual of taking an LP out of it's sleeve, the smell of a fresh vinyl and it's sleeve, and finally, carefully putting it on the turntable... The idea of giving EVERY track a good listen, purely because of the fact that you have paid for the WHOLE LP (granted you can also get EP's).

Thirdly is the cover art work and the liner notes. With CD's this was sometimes too small to be admired. In the early days some albums came as double LP"s with "gate folders" and booklets packed with information about the band.

To sum up, IMO the attraction boils down to having something solid that you can actually hold and admire, rather than getting your music via the click of a mouse or a touch screen.

rubadub

Rigsby wrote: »

The idea of giving EVERY track a good listen, purely because of the fact that you have paid for the WHOLE LP

+1, you will tend to listen to the whole side and not be skipping on so easy. Some artist only released an album on tape to try and get people to listen to the lot.

With vinyl I would have been reading the names of songs and know them. I might not know what "track 4" was but might know what was before or after. I remember albums coming out and I only ever had them on mp3 and realised I know only 2-3 song titles on the whole album! it was after a gig and was even calling them "track 11" as its all I knew it as.

In the 90s when CDs became more popular and affordable US releases used to have them in a standard oversized box, with a regular cd case inside. You might see some in oversized boxes these days but these were the exact same size. I presumed this was to copy the feel of holding a full vinyl sleeve. I also guessed this is why dvds came out in boxes bigger than cds.

NIMAN

Hipsters?

I still find CDs perfectly fine.

The rebirth of vinyl was mostly down to clever marketing.

strewelpeter

“The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience.”

swaner

I like vinyl due to a simple reason: it is purely mechanical (not digital) sound which is for me 100 times better than digital. If you have good equipment there is nothing so good as good music from vinyl, those are of course just my 2 cents

ec18

i like vinyl because it's more of an occasion to listen to a record. With MP3's I'd just have it on in the background, but a record I pay more attention to it, it's an occasion when I put it one on. I Pay more attention to the music and generally enjoy the music more because of that

K.Flyer

For some of us Vinyl never really went away.
I still have a good lot of vinyl I originally bought in the 70s, the rest of what I bought back then I either sold or traded.
But I still buy vinyl, a mix of new and secondhand, but because of the "latest interest" in it, prices can be a bit silly sometimes.
Its making the time to take out the album, check all is in order, sit back, listen and enjoy.

Pelvis

A lot of the people who listen to vinyl have convinced themselves that they do so because it sounds better. I don't believe that for a second tbh, I don't think there's any discernible difference, to the human ear at least. They vinyl may sound better to them because they've spent a ton of money on their overall sound system.

It's totally down to nostalgia and/or the cool factor. If I had the space and the cash I'd probably invest in something similar for my man cave.

Free-2-Flow

Nostalgia

EDit

I don't fit into the preferred demographic (I'm in my mid 40s) but my main reason for listening to vinyl is because a large proportion of the music I like is not available on more modern formats (most of it never even made it on to CD).

TBH, however much I like the "ceremony" of getting out a slab of wax and cueing up, if my music tastes were different (or more modern) I'd probably not bother with vinyl and use more convenient options, like streaming or iTunes

K.Flyer

When CDs came out with all their fanfare the sound was pure sh1te and that is a fact.
I know, because I had a CD player within the first few months of them landing in Dublin and the entire CD selection in the record shop would fit into a couple of shopping bags.
It was hooked up to a Rotel Amp with Sansui speakers and the album compared to its vinyl counterpart.
Granted no crackles etc, but that was the only plus, otherwise flat and boring. There was about 6 of us in the room and we blown away at its weak flat sound.
The clever marketing has come from the CD manufacturers, as a CD at the time cost a fraction to produce compared to a vinyl, but at the time were twice the price.

LordSutch

I can give you my perspective as an old audiophile from the 1980s if that's any good?

Basically, If you have the right HiFi equipment (turntable, amplifier & speakers) then you will hear a much warmer more 'natural' sound with a greater punch! Speaker cable, speaker stands, turntable cartridge & stylus also play a big part in the sound that comes out.

The acoustics in the room also plays a part too.
Indeed some HiFi 'audio rooms' used to have cork covered walls in border to stop boom & echo.

When CDs arrived the sound was very clinical & harsh.

Hope this helps.

Joe_ Public

Pure nostalgia. The hiss and crackle just before the music starts, just heaven.

It also seems a purer, crisper sound to me but I don't advance that as empirical fact, just how it seems to these old cloth ears.

Dr Ben

Isn't the problem with Vinyl is that you loose about 50% of the sound quality by the time the needle gets to the end of the record ?

o1s1n

LordSutch wrote: »

I can give you my perspective as an old audiophile from the 1980s if that's any good?

Basically, If you have the right HiFi equipment (turntable, amplifier & speakers) then you will hear a much warmer more 'natural' sound with a greater punch! Speaker cable, speaker stands, turntable cartridge & stylus also play a big part in the sound that comes out.

The acoustics in the room also plays a part too.
Indeed some HiFi 'audio rooms' used to have cork covered walls in border to stop boom & echo.

When CDs arrived the sound was very clinical & harsh.

Hope this helps.

With a good hifi setup and nice speakers, CD quality sounds absolutely amazing.

I remember when I first heard a CD after listening to my dad's vinyl for years, I also thought it was also very clinical and harsh.

Once my ears adjusted, I realised that no, that's the best sound quality that I'm going to get and the 'warmth' I was getting from the vinyl was just distortion :pac:

_Brian

swaner wrote: »

I like vinyl due to a simple reason: it is purely mechanical (not digital) sound which is for me 100 times better than digital. If you have good equipment there is nothing so good as good music from vinyl, those are of course just my 2 cents

This is an absolute myth !!
Back in the 60's maybe but not now.

Now the tracks are digitally recorded and mixed, then recorded onto vinal, your modern stereo picks up the information for the track and digitally reproduces it for you to hear.
You may as well be listening to a CD.

There was a time when the music was recorded and replayed in an analogue fashion but not in about 25 years.

Dr Ben

_Brian wrote: »

This is an absolute myth !!
Back in the 60's maybe but not now.

Now the tracks are digitally recorded and mixed, then recorded onto vinal, your modern stereo picks up the information for the track and digitally reproduces it for you to hear.
You may as well be listening to a CD.

There was a time when the music was recorded and replayed in an analogue fashion but not in about 25 years.

Some artists still record in analogue.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/manic-street-preachers-recording-with-steve-albini-179802

rubadub

K.Flyer wrote: »

I had a CD player within the first few months of them landing in Dublin and the entire CD selection in the record shop would fit into a couple of shopping bags.
It was hooked up to a Rotel Amp with Sansui speakers and the album compared to its vinyl counterpart.
Granted no crackles etc, but that was the only plus, otherwise flat and boring.

Do you still feel that way? ever found an album that sounds better on CD than vinyl? I expect your turntable might have been far better quality than the cd player, esp. if they were compared today -i.e. in the 80s I expect for the price of a top of the range turntable you might have got a pretty poor cd player.

Or was it something particular to the album, I heard many were rush jobs to get them on CD ASAP to cash in.

If an artist creates all his sound digitally then some might still say the vinyl sounds better even though it is not their original intent.

o1s1n wrote: »

I remember when I first heard a CD after listening to my dad's vinyl for years, I also thought it was also very clinical and harsh.

I like the clinical element, the exactness and lack of degredation.

This link is a good read
Why CDs May Actually Sound Better Than Vinyl

Talks of the limitations sound engineers suffered with vinyl

When Clearmountain mixed vinyl albums for Columbia Records, he says the label required the test pressing of each LP to play on an old, cheap turntable without skipping, or it would have to be mixed again. Too much bass in one speaker could make the needle skip out of the groove, as would too much sibilance — a harsh "s" — in a singer's voice.

Clearmountain, who now works out of Mix This! in Pacific Palisades, says that when he heard the vinyl test pressings of the albums he'd worked on in the studio, he always felt the same way: depressed.

"I'd just listen and go: 'Jesus, after all that work, that's all I get?' It was sort of a percentage of what we did in the studio," he says. "All that work and trying to make everything sound so good, and the vinyl just wasn't as good."

"Really in every way measurable, the digital formats are going to exceed analog in dynamic range, meaning the distance between how loud and how soft," he says. "In the classical world, [that means] getting really quiet music that isn't obscured by the pops and clicks of vinyl or just the noise floor of the friction of the stylus against the [LP] itself."

That said, every audio engineer L.A. Weekly spoke to said it's not hard to find LPs that sound better than CDs. Mastering, production and manufacturing variables can drastically tilt the scale either way.

"I think some people interpret the lack of top end [on vinyl] and interpret an analog type of distortion as warmth," says Jim Anderson, a Grammy-winning recording engineer and professor at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. "It's a misinterpretation of it. But if they like it, they like it. That's fine."

It's also clear that the vinyl experience is about more than just sound. Pete Lyman, co-owner and chief mastering technician at Infrasonic Sound, an audio and vinyl mastering studio in Echo Park, says he believes listeners are gravitating toward vinyl for the physical experience of owning, holding and flipping an LP.

Harry Angstrom

Hipsters.
The record companies are laughing all the way to the bank by charging about €25 per vinyl album. And for people who say that vinyl makes people listen to all of the album, they've obviously completely missed out on the "cassette revolution".

Harry Palmr

Cassettes were for the deaf really - fine for cars and the beach but that's all

Bushmanpm

I'm in my late 40's and got the vinyl bug from my dad, listening to his original Buddy Holly and 50's/60's rock n roll collection.
As previously stated its a combination of nostalgia, warmth & depth of sound, sleeve artwork & notes and just the feeling of occasion to it.
One major factor was getting back catalogue issues and rarity releases and I was a sucker for those rarities!
Another major factor though was the anticipation of a new release. In the late 80's for me it was all about New Order, The Sisters Of Mercy, Marc Almond, Jesus And Mary Chain etc etc. One particular release was The Sisterhood's "Giving Ground" as I found out there was a 7" boxed set so I went to my local Our Price (now defunct record shop!) and asked if they had it in stock. I was told yes so I asked for one but then thought I'd get two, one to open and play and one to keep sealed (rarity value!) After a bit more thought I asked how many did they have and was told four so I bought all of them!
Vinyl also seemed slightly faster playing than the same track on CD (but that may have just been my turntable) Vital when listening to the likes of MOTÖRHEAD or Metallica!;-)
Oh, and some thirty years later I'm still using my original Pioneer turntable, amp and speakers and have only had to get three styli in that time.
I do have a reasonable CD collection which I enjoy but feel its more for convenience when compared to vinyl but most definitely prefer the vinyl.
Sorry for the long post but its got me thinking about many happy memories!

Anesthetize

LordSutch wrote: »

When CDs arrived the sound was very clinical & harsh.

When the first CDs arrived, they used the same master for both vinyl and CD in order to save costs. This is why so many early CD issues from the 80's sound so harsh and thin. It wasn't until the 90's that they got the mastering right for CDs.

With modern CDs I can't make out much difference in sound quality between them and vinyl on a decent setup. Then again my ears are fucked anyway.

Dr Ben

Forget CD's high res audio is where it's at if you listen to digital.

Mrs Shuttleworth

I'm outside your demographic (40s). Was obsessed with music as a youngster and owned tons of vinyl. Destroyed my hearing truth be told.

CDs arrived, remember the day I bought my first CD player, a Pioneer, hooked it up, patted myself for being an adult and ready to live the full late 80s yuppie experience. Dire Straits, Genesis, I thought I was the sh1t.

All the vinyl from my childhood went to the garage, unloved, for the next 25 years gathering dust.

Fast forward to 2015 I started learning DJing. My teacher (nameless but the greatest in town) said vinyl is your only man. I realised DJing with vinyl was a world away in depth and tone from mp3 or wavs on CDJs.

Not having owned a turntable since 1990 I bought a pair off DoneDeal from a lad in Finglas for €100 and went on my way practising my vinyl sets. There was a sense of ceremony and majesty in the sound from the vinyl - just something more authentic.

I then dug out all my old vinyls as I wanted some inspiration. I was blown away by how different the tracks - particularly the Prince and minneapolis funk recordings - sounded to the tack we hear today. My 11 year old self would give me a battering for having consumed music so cheaply and poorly the last three decades.

I never buy anything on CD or MP3 now and I scour Discogs and other sites for albums from the past on vinyl that I want.

Vinyl is the Real McCoy and it's here to stay.

NIMAN

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

Vinyl is the Real McCoy and it's here to stay.

Of course it is.

You have a big tube TV, haven't you!

Riesen_Meal

Vinyl hasn't left my record bag in eons, even though I use a digital vinyl setup when I play nowadays, I still buy records a bit, especially if they come with a 24bit file download, it encourages me to buy the vinyl even more if I have instant access to the high quality download...

At one point for a period of about 2 years I wasn't buying vinyl but that's mainly because a lot of the music I was buying at that point was not coming out on vinyl...

I don't buy as much these days and have about 4k of them between a few places, I'm a fecking disaster...

I really need to do a clear out, but it would be like an episode of Hoarders...

NewbridgeIR

K.Flyer wrote: »

When CDs came out with all their fanfare the sound was pure sh1te and that is a fact.

LordSutch wrote: »

When CDs arrived the sound was very clinical & harsh.

Anesthetize wrote: »

When the first CDs arrived, they used the same master for both vinyl and CD in order to save costs. This is why so many early CD issues from the 80's sound so harsh and thin. It wasn't until the 90's that they got the mastering right for CDs.

Totally disagree.

Have any of you heard of The Loudness Wars?

Early CDs have flat transfers. They have plenty of dynamic range which means that they sound great once turned up. That's why you have a volume button.
Many CDs from the mid-90s onwards sound over-compressed and excessively loud. A lot of crimes were committed in the name of remastering.
Louder does not always mean better.

Getting back to the original question.
I started buying vinyl in 1981 and CDs in 1986. I still buy both formats to this day although for new releases I tend to go for CDs given the inflated prices of new LPs. Both formats have their positives and negatives. Some of the music I like hasn't made it to CD (and never will) so vinyl is the default option. The sleeves and artwork are so much better. There's less tendency to skip tracks (although double LPs with two or three tracks per side are a pain). You need to spend the money on a decent turntable though. In the 1980s I had a 4-in-1 which was just ok - it wasn't until the mid 90s when I was earning proper cash that I could afford decent separates.

CDs are great for convenience and are much more preferable for live albums, various artists compilations and multi disc sets. The second hand market has fallen sharply so there's still a few decent 1980s pressings going cheap. I despair when I see a company like Cherry Red releasing their excellent 5CD goth / indie / shoegaze box sets only for some tools to whine "Why isn't this coming out on vinyl?"

I am bemused by the vinyl resurgence and the growth of the BAVJ (Born Again Vinyl Junkie). Where were those people in 1996 when it seemed like hardly anybody was buying new LPs?
In my experience it's the BAVJs who are the elitist ones. Some of them have got it into their heads that CDs are the enemy and won't be swayed. Their obsession with owning digital recordings on vinyl seems to be driven by one-upmanship and needless anti-CD guff in a lot of cases.

Rigsby

_Brian wrote: »

Now the tracks are digitally recorded and mixed, then recorded onto vinal, your modern stereo picks up the information for the track and digitally reproduces it for you to hear.
You may as well be listening to a CD.

There was a time when the music was recorded and replayed in an analogue fashion but not in about 25 years.

+1.

The above is what leads me to think that today's vinyl comeback is purely nostalgic. It can't be for the "warmer sound" (assuming you believe this ) for the reasons given above.

Personally, I have not bought any vinyl since the advent of the CD. So the vast majority of my substantial vinyl collection dates from the late 60's to the mid eighties. I have a fairly good hi-fi set up and play both CD's and vinyl when the fancy takes me. IMO, to be able to discern any difference between the two (if indeed there is one), a fairly decent hi-fi set up is required. To my sixty two year old ears, the sound quality between the two ( apart from the odd scratch ) is minimal.

Anesthetize

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Totally disagree.

Have any of you heard of The Loudness Wars?

Early CDs have flat transfers. They have plenty of dynamic range which means that they sound great once turned up. That's why you have a volume button.
Many CDs from the mid-90s onwards sound over-compressed and excessively loud. A lot of crimes were committed in the name of remastering.
Louder does not always mean better.

You completely missed the point. We all know what the loudness wars is, that's a different discussion altogether. What I was referring to was the lack of bass and treble on early CDs, due to the use of vinyl masters, which gave them their tinny sound.

rubadub

Imagine there had only been tapes and then CDs and that vinyl was only created today -I wonder would it see as much praise. Of course it would take ages to establish itself (if it ever did) and equipment would be expensive etc -I am not really asking if it would take off or be as popular as it is. I am talking about the praise of its sound relative to CDs.

In the link I gave before it is apparently quite limited according to sound engineers who were e.g. unable to get the sound they really wanted. Someone pointed out the end of records does not sound as good, this is due to the disc rotating at the same speed but having less length of groove to work with. I reckon many audiophile types would dismiss it immediately as a format due it being so limited.

If they did give it a test comparison I wonder would so many be happy to hear the pops & clicks crackling etc, swooning saying "it sounds so warm & natural compared to these old CDs!"