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Sony Will Start Pressing Vinyl Records After 28-Year Hiatus (fortune.com)
Sony said this week it will begin pressing vinyl records again, ending an almost three-decade hiatus. A dramatic increase in demand for vinyl music in recent years prompted the move, the company said. From a report: After a 28-year hiatus, Sony announced this week that it plans to open a new facility in Japan dedicated to pressing vinyl records. It's a back-to-the-future announcement at a time when the true digital music revolution -- downloaded and streaming via always-on Internet connectivity -- has quickly grown to dominate listening habits. According to Japan's recording industry association, the country produced nearly 200 million records per year in the mid-1970s. That's unlikely to return. But while many of us have been content to wirelessly download our music, a surprising number of people are going to the store -- or Amazon.com, let's be honest -- and purchasing a vinyl record, sleeve and all.
I have no idea if vinyl sounds any better but what I miss is the artwork, the covers, gatefolds and sleeves. Not even CDs got close.
CDE open sourced! https://sourceforge.net/projects/cdesktopenv/
In the 1980s vinyl crashed. Nobody wanted it. Used records at my local book store sold for $3-$4. Compact Discs sold for $15-$18. Everybody wanted digital disc. It's 2017. New vinyl records cost $25-$30. Nobody wants compact discs. Used CDs at my local book store cost $4-$6. Collectors buy $30 records and place them in sealed vaults. I need to buy all the used CDs I can, and then find the switch on the reality inverter and throw it again.
"I was surprised at how the quality of the turntables don't seem to match the quality of 35 years ago."
Sure they do. Not a Crosley, but there are plenty of very good turntables made today, from many thousands of dollars down to U-Turn's Orbit turntable, for well under $200. Adjusted for inflation, today's tables (and cartridges) are better than 35 years ago.
I grew up during the record era. As the era of CDs approached, vinyl was replaced with plastic and the quality of record presses went to HELL. I remember too many times when I had to return a record 3-4 times before I got one that didn't skip.
I embraced CDs emphatically and I will never go back to records, plastic or vinyl.
I do not miss the needle noise, premature wear, groove distortion, wow & flutter, or compromised frequency response.
National Semiconductor used to print the Audio Design Book which provided a detailed description of how record playback works, and it is an engineering kludge with its compromises. It is far from a perfect playback system.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10