CD's vs. Vinyl vs. Other formats

Occasionally I use CD's. I use mostly vinyl. Sometimes I use cassettes. I'm wanting to start an 8-track collection.

My personal pros/cons of these:

What I like about CD's:

Convenience. They're small.
They're not easily destroyed.
Like vinyl, they can come in a bunch of different colours.
They can hold a lot of data.

What I don't like about CD's:

They don't have any warmth.
Album art? Forget it.
The entire package is just small and uninteresting.
Just a flick of the wrist and it's ready to play. Talk about impersonal.
They're generally overpriced for how unimpressive they are.

What I like about vinyl:

It takes two hands to handle.
It has warmth. It's the way the music was meant to be heard.
It comes in different sizes. If you don't want the whole album, just buy the single you want.
Album art is more prominent.
It comes in a bunch of different colours.
Some records are especially hard to come by.
They're more fun to collect because each record is unique.
They were produced with more attention - not just a mass production thing like CDs.
Nostalgia!

What I don't like about vinyl:

LP's are highly destructible. I handle things with great care, so it's not a problem. It's just everyone else that ****** me off.
Some records can look absolutely perfect, but something goes wrong and they'll skip the whole time.
Singles can be difficult to find with their original sleeves on. Sheesh.
They tend to take up a lot of space, and there aren't too many manufacturers that make things especially for their storage.

What I like about cassettes:

They're small, and compact.
They hold a nostalgic value for me.
Not many people use them anymore.
Lots of older/cheap cars still have cassette decks.

What I don't like about cassettes:

When they're warped, they're really bad.
They can't be subjected to extreme heat. (Don't leave 'em in the car.)
It's a gamble when you pick a bunch of them up at a garage sale for these reasons.
If any part within the cassette cartridge goes missing, you're kind of screwed.
You have to flip them over. Usually that wouldn't bother me, but I like flipping vinyl over because it's more to handle, and a nicer antiquarian experience.

That's just my two cents. I love all kinds of musical formats, but I'm mostly a vinyl person.

...Sorry Lady I respect your opinions but vinyl albums were "Mass Produced",,,there are Billions of them around the world, some in dumps no doubt but I am positive their are 100's of millions of them still floating around.

I don't agree with the CD's being sterile, some CD's I own blow most vinyl albums out of the water, warmth, depth, separation, dynamic range all equal to and better than any but the very Finest vinyl albums.

Really?

D:

aww, that breaks my heart. I saw this neat thing on "How It's Made" a few years ago, but maybe they're just made on a smaller scale or something, but it seemed so personal and intimate to me. Watching some person engrave the serial number on to the vinyl disc really sealed the deal for me. It was just really cool.

Bear in mind I am young. You have 29 years on me. ;D

I wasn't alive during vinyl's heyday. Well, I guess ... I was alive as it was phasing out and giving way to the compact disc.

I'm not entirely used to ... um, well .. licensed CDs. I rarely ever bought them when I was younger (I pirated most of what I have now). They usually have a better sound than pirated discs, but I'm thinking of selling the actual CDs I do have, 'cause I just don't use them anymore.

For me, anyway, they're just a little lifeless. I have a heightened sense of sound, though (no, really). I tend to stick my nose up at CDs, though I try not to. I try to curb my snobbery.

On no you are right, they are not mass produced now, but there were enormous numbers of vinyl pressed right up to the late 80's. Then there was a resurgence that came along and the more popular artists were releasing both CD's and Vinyl versions of their work.

One of my favorite bands, Gamma Ray released a new CD a few weeks ago, and you can get a vinyl copy from their website if you want, so they are still being made.

As for the CD's, I have spent a lot of money to get the best result, I guarantee if you were in my music room you would enjoy the sound, I also have a great turntable with a fine cartridge, it's been a hobby of mine for over 30 years now.

Priests last one is a LP also,,,,and lots in Europe

Naturally. I kind of wish I could have been alive during the time when you could just hit up the department store for your vinyl needs. I remember when cassettes disappeared; that was pretty weird for me. I felt old.

Album art is a pretty big deal for me; CDs tend to be disappointing in that area. Artists of the vinyl day had a huge advantage - they could design something really strange, if they wanted to, and it would be displayed on a huuuuuuge package. Some covers were really stylish, come to think of it.

Usually when I set out to buy vinyl, I have to buy online, or travel. And yes, I have actually traveled up to an hour just for the sole purpose of finding interesting music shops.



I do love how it's still being pressed and produced, though. It's a format that will never experience a death.

Ladyislingering:

Lord Grendel said:

I guarantee if you were in my music room you would enjoy the sound, I also have a great turntable with a fine cartridge....

Click to expand...

Take him up on his offer before he has a change of heart.

Yeah it looks like it will always have a place, and Grado, Ortofon and Audio Technica are committed to making cartridges and stylus's for the foreseeable future, that is important otherwise you have to send your cartridge to "Gepetto's" shop in Switzerland and he'll make a custom one for you...for a steep price.

Agreed about the album art, that is what I miss more than anything else, CD's are so...generic, even great art is shrunk to the point of near invisibility.

Mr. Shadow said:

I've learned to hear around it... and may even hear better because of it in some ways.

Click to expand...

That's something I should work on. I've been used to it for most of my life, but lately I've noticed it more and more, especially when listening to quiet passages of classical music. I fear it will get worse, but I don't really listen to music any louder than I did when I first noticed the ringing. And I retired from live performance because I was positive it was the reason for it's escalating.

So, to any musicians out there...I KNOW it's better and easier to play without any protection...but take it from me, it's just not worth it. Do whatever you have to do to keep your sense of hearing intact.

Foxhound said:

Ladyislingering:



Take him up on his offer before he has a change of heart.

Click to expand...

I'll put it on my list if I ever do a little cross-country traveling.