Proclivities wrote: 
Understandable. I'm the same way with books. I get e-books sometimes, but more often than not I just prefer the actual physical book itself.

 winter wrote: 
Yes, my nostalgia is not enough to make me go out an spend a lot of money on vinyl.  I still buy CD's - usually on eBay, but I do download stuff as well.  I still like having a physical product.

 islander wrote: 
Well said. For me - and I don't want to insult anyone's preferences here, to each very much their own - the music is just as enjoyable coming from an okay stereo as it would be from a really great high-end system.

 Proclivities wrote: 
I haven't even bought a CD in ages. I get all my music online. I like the cover art - Roger Dean's covers for Yes, for example - but I can do just fine without it.

 winter wrote: 
One of the main things I prefer about vinyl is the fact that the cover art and packaging actually mattered.  I haven't had my turntable hooked up in quite a few years though.  The technical aspects of the sound do not engage me very much either.  There is something to be said for the convenience of CD's, and now mp3 players even moreso - especially when you're helping someone who is moving.  I don't miss heaving milk-crates full of albums all over the place.

 winter wrote: 
I used to be a hardcore audio nerd. I rebuilt all my amps with better components (even better solder), I wound my own speaker wire, I did all the audio tricks. Then I realized I was listening to the sound, and not the music. Their not mutually exclusive goals, but you can get too focused on sound reproduction pretty easily. 

 winter wrote: 

Same here.

Probably this has been said, but for me it's purely a matter of convenience. 

MP3s are portable, inexpensive, and convenient. LPs? Not so much.

The improved sound quality and fidelity of vinyl don't mean a lot to me, because I'm more interested in the music than the reproduction of the music - the song, not the sound. But that's just me. 

 Proclivities wrote: 


Audio Technica had this much more portable one...

 DaveInVA wrote: 
Well, we can't say that Panasonic wasn't trying to be innovative.  Not a bad idea really.

a good vinyl setup will beat a standard 44.1khz/16-bit cd anytime. The cd takes bits of the analog sound, and doesnt represent the full wavelength (the vinyl losses less information). A good DAC helps adjust for this deficiency of 44.1/16 cds. Higher resolution formats like DVD-audio and SACD(96khz/24-bit and 192kHz/24-bit), in my opinion, outshine the vinyl. I cant imagine its that costly to issue more high res cds...might even help promote sales of more units...but alas, both DVD-A and SACD are mostly dead, except for some high end shops.

Of course, it all depends on the source (turntable, transport or DAC).

 Proclivities wrote: 


Another all in one Panasonic battery operated portable. This one I spotted in a Columbo episode I watched recently 

 swell_sailor wrote: 
I was referring more to the 'music had become background noise' comment that was all.

 geordiezimmerman wrote: 
I don't see where that's disagreement, since I don't recall suggesting that we listen to music less. Listening is easier now than it ever has been. Many of us listen more because of it. 

 swell_sailor wrote: 
I agree to a point but I don't go anywhere without my mp3 player and so in many ways I listen MORE because I have my headphones on as I wander around. I often have a completely different opinion to an album i first heard while browsing the internet and then hearing again when I'm out and hearing it through my headphones. So yes, sometimes I have my music player on random when at home and it's background noise but I still do make time to sit down and just listen without any other interruptions. I ALWAYS play muisc while I cook and I feel i do listen more then than say if I am working. Just depends on what you're doing i suppose.

 swell_sailor wrote: 

I still manage to do that several times a month.  Get baked and give it 2 or 3 hours and play some most favorite tracks.  Echoes about 3 times a year or so.  But its kinda like everyone needs to be gone, so you can crank it appropriately enough to really enjoy it.  Those moments are fewer and farther between these days however.  At least a couple of times a year, when the sun is shining in the morning and no one is around and won't be for a couple of hours, I like to treat myself to the Trieste off of Todd's Intiation album at the most maximum volume.  That's about a 35 minute indulgence of a most special kind.

 sirdroseph wrote:

There's something to this. That signal to be quiet, that the performance is about to begin. I've heard it reproduced on cds for that reason—to get your attention before the music starts.

Music has gone from something many of us sat down and listened to very carefully in our youth, to background noise. We play it while we work. We play it in our cars. We play it while we vacuum the house. The cd, and now server music and internet radio have made background music effortless, simple, automatic. We're all so busy. More music with less effort seems to be a high priority. I suspect that those who find no value in vinyl are just too busy to sit down and really appreciate it. I understand that because I'm busy too and listen to music in the background much of the time. Listening closely to a nice recording is a luxury.

 Xeric wrote: 
Yeah, you just get annoying skipping instead