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CD Sales Continue To Plummet, Vinyl Records Soar
Lucas123 writes "Over the past four years, vinyl record sales have been soaring, jumping almost 300% from 858,000 in 2006 to 2.5 million in 2009, and sales this year are on track to reach new peaks, according to Nielsen Entertainment. Meanwhile, as digital music sales are also continuing a steady rise, CD sales have been on a fast downward slope over the same period of time. In the first half of this year alone, CD album sales were down about 18% over the same period last year. David Bakula, senior vice president of analytics at Nielsen Entertainment, said it's not just audiophiles expanding their collections that is driving vinyl record sales but a whole new generation of young music aficionados who are digging the album art, liner notes and other features that records bring to the table. 'The trend sure does seem sustainable. And the record industry is really doing a lot of cool things to not only make the format come alive but to make it more exciting for consumers,' Bakula said."
You obviously are a young spring chicken and haven't heard a decent vinyl setup. There's no comparison. It kills CDs. It kills DVD-As. It kills SACD. And it kills blu-ray musical discs too. Don't judge the capability of the format unless you've heard some decent kit. Try a Michell GyroDek + Rega RB301 arm + mid range Lyra MC cartridge, coupled to a good preamp/phono stage. I think you'll be very surprised.
Digital is not the be all and end all. I remember being able to use my analogue Nakamichi CR-5 cassette deck to make recordings of CDs that were indistinguishable from the source. DAT just couldn't compete (nor could DCC).
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
and my sarcastic reply:
wait until the laser wears out (it'll wear out before the cartridge does on a turntable I might add). I've got an expensive CD transport that is now a boat anchor cos there's no laser replacements. What happens when my turntable's cartridge wears out? I simply buy another one. There's no "sorry sir, we don't have that spare part anymore" BS either. I don't have to throw the entire turntable/arm away either.
Obviously many on /. haven't heard a decent setup either. So many experts on hear that know jack shit.
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
Oh dear. Another 90s child probably that knows jack shit. Firstly, the redbook standard (CDs to you) covers 20hz to 20khz. Most decent cartridges cover 15hz to 60khz. Now, you might argue (and wrongly I might add) that since the average adult cannot hear about 13khz, then anything above that is a waste. Wrong. You may not hear it directly, but the human ear is incredibly complex and these higher frequencies provide queues to the ears for imaging etc. It does make a difference. How can CD be better when it has a smaller frequency range? mmm? Answer me that one smarty pants.
So many people on /. that know jack shit about what they talk about. And the sad thing is, other idiotic lemmings mod them up as being 'insightful'. Crikey...
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
How is this trollish post modded to +5 informative? WTF?
Firstly, there is enough evidence to strongly suggest that humans are affected by higher frequencies, mainly for directional [sound] purposes. Distortion is not the be all and end all - if digital was so good, nature would be producing all digital sounds. It doesn't. It produces analogue sounds. Now of course, if you're telling me that man is smarter than mother nature...
Vinyl is still a technical masterpiece - from the pressing stages to the final product. Yes, there are bad vinyl albums out there (poor recording, poor pressing, poor quality vinyl used and so on and so forth), but when the time and care is taken to do things right with vinyl, and the end user takes the time to play said vinyl on high quality reproduction systems, then it sounds wonderful.
Dave
PS Most amps and speakers do cover outside of the 20hz/20khz range too, but not always with the -3db measuring limit.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.
Amen. You hit the nail on the head.
Dave
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. --Martin Luther King Jr.