How do you know when you are done?

[Al M.]

there are many different threads to the vinyl resurgence. not just one, or two, or five. not simple to define.

if you squint and reduce it to pressings based on current digitally recorded pop music then that is one thread.

if you go back to the mid 90's and look at many high quality re-issues of still fresh tape based recordings that is another.

if you look at acquisition of golden age pressing collections from the billions of existing pressings that is another.

then you can talk about genres of music and collecting those and each one has different things going on.

so which case are you making? broad brushes are not very accurate.

I meant what I said. I am talking about the current vinyl resurgence, with current pressings, not the golden age or the 90's. It's not just pop music, but all genres.

With some exceptions, it's all digital sourced.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I meant what I said. I am talking about the current vinyl resurgence, with current pressings, not the golden age or the 90's. It's not just pop music, but all genres.

With some exceptions, it's all digital sourced.

that is myopic and mostly ignorant.

what percentage of vinyl listening of WBF members do you think is current pressings of digitally based recordings? that is how close you are to reality.

the big boy turntables/arms/cartridges/phono's on the market are not being purchased to play digital recordings. yes, there is an entry level thing going on using digital sourced vinyl. it's a part of the picture. but many/most of those users also have analog based reissues from the 60's/70's recordings.

 

[Al M.]

that is myopic and mostly ignorant.

what percentage of vinyl listening of WBF members do you think is current pressings of digitally based recordings? that is how close you are to reality.

the big boy turntables/arms/cartridges/phono's on the market are not being purchased to play digital recordings.

I am not talking about WBF audiophiles. There was never a vinyl resurgence among audiophiles, the vinyl lovers have always held on to the medium.

The current vinyl resurgence among the general public is a mostly digital affair, with digitally sourced pressings. To deny this is closing oneself to reality.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I am not talking about WBF audiophiles. There was never a vinyl resurgence among audiophiles, the vinyl lovers have always held on to the medium.

no. most current vinyl users ditched it in the 80's, then got back in in the 90's or later.

The current vinyl resurgence among the general public is a mostly digital affair, with digitally sourced pressings. To deny this is closing oneself to reality.

it's one part.

 

[bonzo75]

that is myopic and mostly ignorant.

what percentage of vinyl listening of WBF members do you think is current pressings of digitally based recordings? that is how close you are to reality.

the big boy turntables/arms/cartridges/phono's on the market are not being purchased to play digital recordings.

Well - I have met very few audiophiles with high end analog who use good recordings.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Well - I have met very few audiophiles with high end analog who use good recordings.

are you speaking about good 'Kedar-approved' recordings? or simply analog = good?

 

[Elliot G.]

when i asked Elliot about how my records sounded when he visited me, he commented they sounded great, but that i only played my good sounding records.

hard to make a case when the mind set has already decided that most records sound lousy. and what your ears tell you gets marginalized.

the facts are that a much higher percentage of my pressings are outstanding than digital discs or files.

Sorry Mike but that is a very unfair representation of our conversation and my point of MY record collection. I could play dozens of records back in the day that sounded good and some even great. That was 20 plus years ago and to my point my record collection consisted of rock mostly that I collected over the previous 25 or so years. This was no curated collection of great sounding pressings or audiophile records but rather music that I enjoyed as a young man. I stick by my truth that the overwhelming number of them sounded like crap, noisy, warped etc. I am not defaming records only stating the facts. In fact back then HP and I talked about how bad most software was, that's one of the reasons he made his super disc list was to help people see what was possible. By the reverse logic is why many disliked early digital was because much of what was realized sound like crap and the machines and the format was not flushed out either.
I resent the insinuation that my mind was anything since that is not the case. I do not dislike records and in fact think they can sound great , so can tape, so can CD and so can streaming. I made my choice and listed my reasons. By the way all the music I listen to is music I chose I chose myself, i bought no collections of what other people liked.
When I was at your house you directly selected the records YOU wanted to play , I did question nor ask you for anything, and you gave a speech about how great the records are. If you want to sling stuff be prepared to have it slung back.
Truly I resent the accusations and to be honest I expect much more from you!!!!

 

[Al M.]

no. most current vinyl users ditched it in the 80's, then got back in in the 90's or later.

Which is not the *current* vinyl resurgence.

Even if it's true what you say about vinyl audiophiles, which I doubt. Most held on to their LPs, as far as I know.

it's one part.

No, it's *the* part.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Which is not the *current* vinyl resurgence.

Even if it's true what you say about vinyl audiophiles, which I doubt. Most held on to their LPs, as far as I know.

that is honest and fair.

No, it's *the* part.

of your narrow viewpoint.

 

[Al M.]

that is honest and fair.

Thank you.

of your narrow viewpoint.

No, it is the undeniable truth about the current vinyl resurgence.

 

[bonzo75]

are you speaking about good 'Kedar-approved' recordings? or simply analog = good?

Just their awareness of recordings, differences, reading labels, willingness to get into recordings. They mostly are more concerned with the gear

 

[AudioHR]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet - if you are using digital streaming you are probably never going to be done. Between different audio players, firmware updates, new DAC chips, better switches, LAN isolators/filters, USB isolators/filters, Qobuz/Roon/Tidal changes, Linear Power supplies, etc. you'll need some real fortitude to get out of that rabbit hole.

Not to say vinyl/tape/CD playback is set it and forget it, but there are just fewer moving variables in those domains.

After reading the thread where fellow vinyl addicts we're musing about belts of various types (thread, ribbon etc), of various lengths and positions relative to the platter, I am quite sure there is an infinite depth to the vinyl rabbit hole!

 

[Doc76]

Both analogue and digital can sound tremendous in a proper system. While my streaming has all but caught up with my TT (AF One), I still enjoy my LPs the most.

Why?

1. Analogue does sound better, though my digital (PF) is very very close.
2. I enjoy owning my own medium (LPs & CDs).
3. I don’t enjoy dependency on internet companies. We all know the internet technology will change which will mean purchasing a new compatible streamer later … never finished!
4. I’m part of the process when playing records. The touch, the feel, the experience, allows me to feel more at one with the music.
5. When feeling well it’s analogue all day long, when in pain (heart, kidneys, back, etc.) the convenience of streaming is very welcome.

 

[tima]

The reasons for the decline of instrument sales are well studied and are due in large part to budget cuts in music schools, not to digital. School program cuts are the real reason for the loss of interest in orchestral music in many countries.

Budget cuts -- I think that sounds right. I would add that the disconnection of large orchestras and star performers from large record companies that subsidized them scaled back the performance of orchestral music and thus the interest in pursuing it.

 

[Audiomatic]

I’ll be done when I’m dead.

 

[Ron Resnick]

the overwhelming number of them sounded like crap, noisy, warped etc.

I agree with this. This is why for my favorite garden-variety pop stuff from the 1980s and 1990s I think that carefully done all analog re-issues of analog recordings (DCC Compact Classics, Classic Records, ORG, etc.) typically sound better than the original pressings. (This is contra to the view – which I agree with – that original pressings of jazz and classical and maybe classic rock sound better than re-issues.)

 

[PYP]

data point regarding vinyl sales:

The Official Top 40 best-selling vinyl albums of 2025 so far​

POS	TITLE	ARTIST
1	PEOPLE WATCHING	SAM FENDER
2	LOVER (LIVE FROM PARIS)	TAYLOR SWIFT
3	SHORT N' SWEET	SABRINA CARPENTER
4	MAYHEM	LADY GAGA
5	MORE	PULP
6	ROMANCE	FONTAINES DC
7	THE RISE AND FALL OF A MIDWEST PRINCESS	CHAPPELL ROAN
8	RUMOURS	FLEETWOOD MAC
9	EVEN IN ARCADIA	SLEEP TOKEN
10	WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY	OASIS
11	GNX	KENDRICK LAMAR
12	SKELETA	GHOST
13	AM	ARCTIC MONKEYS
14	HIT ME HARD AND SOFT	BILLIE EILISH
15	OK COMPUTER	RADIOHEAD
16	HURRY UP TOMORROW	WEEKND
17	DEFINITELY MAYBE	OASIS
18	THE SECRET OF US	GRACIE ABRAMS
19	WICKED	MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING
20	TIME FLIES - 1994-2009	OASIS
21	IN RAINBOWS	RADIOHEAD
22	CRITICAL THINKING	MANIC STREET PREACHERS
23	RUSHMERE	MUMFORD & SONS
24	STANDING ON THE SHOULDER OF GIANTS	OASIS
25	DREAMS ON TOAST	DARKNESS
26	GRACE	JEFF BUCKLEY
27	WHO BELIEVES IN ANGELS	ELTON JOHN & BRANDI CARLILE
28	OPEN WIDE	INHALER
29	MAKE 'EM LAUGH MAKE 'EM CRY MAKE 'EM	STEREOPHONICS
30	BACK TO BLACK	AMY WINEHOUSE
31	WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM THAT'S WHAT I'M	ARCTIC MONKEYS
32	PREACHER'S DAUGHTER	ETHEL CAIN
33	THE BENDS	RADIOHEAD
34	THE STONE ROSES	STONE ROSES
35	ETERNAL SUNSHINE	ARIANA GRANDE
36	FROM ZERO	LINKIN PARK
37	EUSEXUA	FKA TWIGS
38	CONSTELLATIONS FOR THE LONELY	DOVES
39	IGOR	TYLER THE CREATOR
40	CURRENTS	TAME IMPALA

 

[tima]

3. The vinyl resurgence after 2010 was mainly *not* a resurgence of analog. Most modern vinyl is based on digital sources and thus is not genuinely an analog experience.

Fwiw, the use of digital processing in the manufacture of vinyl records began in 1971 with Denon's PCM system and became more prevalent in the 1980's. The late '80s and early '90s saw widespread use of digital production. I'm not sure when vinyl production adopted the SPARS code that was developed for digital recordings. So, use of some digital processing in the manufacture of records goes back almost 50 years. Only recently has that fact been weaponized.

The appeal and success of the Deutsche Grammaphon 'Original Source Series' reveals the advantages of AAA to vinyl listeners and may explain the desirability of recordings made in 1950-1975(?) period.

Although you did not directly connect the above two proximate sentences, I will disabuse you of the notion that improvements in playing records and the increased use of turntables came about about because digital mastering is used in the manufacture of records.

From the touchdown of the stylus on the record to the speaker's output the signal is not discontinuous. The reproduction / playing of records has always been an analog 'experience' regardless of how the source is manufactured. Perhaps it is the sonic result of analog reproduction from a turntable/cartridge/phonostage that is appealing to vinyl listeners.

The so-called 'vinyl resurgence' may possibly associate to advances in record cleaning and preservation. It may also associate to listening preferences.

 

[bonzo75]

I agree with this. This is why for my favorite garden-variety pop stuff from the 1980s and 1990s I think that carefully done all analog re-issues of analog recordings (DCC Compact Classics, Classic Records, ORG, etc.) typically sound better than the original pressings. (This is contra to the view – which I agree with – that original pressings of jazz and classical and maybe classic rock sound better than re-issues.)

This is not contra to the view, given you are talking about 1980s and 90s

 

[PeterA]

Are you denying that for the most part the current vinyl resurgence is a digital affair?

I have two buddies who recently bought new turntables and cartridges, and one who is shopping. They listen to their old vinyl records that they never threw out. The sale of those players are counted in the resurgence numbers. It is not digital for them but likely nostalgic. They do like the sound of my records on my system.

Yes, the kids buying Taylor Swift’s new records are doing something else.