[Mr. Blonde]

Vinyl is making a comeback actually. Almost all indie labels produce vinyl in addition to CDs and digital downloads. And the factories that make vinyl are all producing as much as possible. Vinyl is still considered to produce the best sound.

I got a turntable for Christmas and am beyond excited about it. My mom said the salesman told her they had sold three of the same model she got me that day.

The problem with downloads are that mp3s are really not high quality facsimiles of what was recorded. And this is having a negative effect on music.

[proxy_user]

“I got a turntable for Christmas and am beyond excited about it. My mom said the salesman told her they had sold three of the same model she got me that day.

Vinyl is a dangerous hobby. Before you know it, you will be looking at $5000 turntables and wondering if one would fit in your rack.

For more info, please join us in the VinylAsylum:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/bbs.html

I use a different nic there.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

The problem with downloads are that mp3s are really not high quality facsimiles of what was recorded. And this is having a negative effect on music.

Nonsense.

I recorded a song at a studio in Nashville on Wednesday. The female singer delivered a fabulous performance. The song was recorded digitally.

I e-mailed an mp3 of the recording to several people. It sounds just as great as it did in the recording studio control room.

I ought to know. I was there throughout the entire recording and mixing process.

Most people could never hear a difference in quality.

[Dinsdale]

Vinyl is still considered to produce the best sound.

By idiots.

[Lexinom]

That's correct. For sheer sound quality, a high-end Linn Sondek with a quality diamond stylus and quality amp will outdo the most expensive system from Best Buy. The attention to detail and electrical decoupling is staggering: with the power supply separated, everything from end to end is designed to minimize noise and maximize quality. Also, many do not realize that in the remix from original LPs to produce digital format, the sound engineer often amplifies and attenuates the frequencies (non-flat equalization) resulting in loss from the original.

A friend of mine has a Linn Sondek setup - and a pair of Class A amps with giant heat sinks. It's not about how loud you can make things, it's about quality.

MP3s, using as they do a lossy compression format, are, um... disdained by audiophile standards.