Vinyl isn't dead yet...

Julian, wrote:

Justin wrote:
What's more, the pressing problems that plagued vinyl in the 70s and 80s have come back full force. Lots of noisy, crap vinyl, warped, off center, etc.

This is true. Just spitballing here, but what if instead of vinyl or plastic etching, we made records out of some sort of magnetic cellophane tape that could be played with some sort of special electromagnetic "needle"? This would be easier to produce, have more controllable quality, and potentially be easier to transport. Why are none of the big vinyl manufacturers R&Ding this sort of tech?

I'm really kind of sad that no one found this funny.

Julian, wrote:

Julian, wrote:

Justin wrote:
What's more, the pressing problems that plagued vinyl in the 70s and 80s have come back full force. Lots of noisy, crap vinyl, warped, off center, etc.

This is true. Just spitballing here, but what if instead of vinyl or plastic etching, we made records out of some sort of magnetic cellophane tape that could be played with some sort of special electromagnetic "needle"? This would be easier to produce, have more controllable quality, and potentially be easier to transport. Why are none of the big vinyl manufacturers R&Ding this sort of tech?

I'm really kind of sad that no one found this funny.

it was OK, but kinda meddling… not your best work, but we'll let it slide.

Julian, wrote:

Julian, wrote:

Justin wrote:
What's more, the pressing problems that plagued vinyl in the 70s and 80s have come back full force. Lots of noisy, crap vinyl, warped, off center, etc.

This is true. Just spitballing here, but what if instead of vinyl or plastic etching, we made records out of some sort of magnetic cellophane tape that could be played with some sort of special electromagnetic "needle"? This would be easier to produce, have more controllable quality, and potentially be easier to transport. Why are none of the big vinyl manufacturers R&Ding this sort of tech?

I'm really kind of sad that no one found this funny.

I larfed, to myself though. and then looked at the 2 copies (one black, one red) of the Fountains of Wayne -  Welcome Interstate Managers records, and confirmed that i am the problem.

I don’t get the joke julian


Sorry

Starsky wrote:
I don’t get the joke julian


Sorry

My proposed “revolutionary technological improvement” to vinyl records is basically cassette tapes.

I’m envisioning Julian’s idea… I’m seeing Reels involved in larger and smaller diameters…

And possibly needing a pencil to help tighten up the smaller reels in a neat plastic case

but the problem is people would steal music from the honest record companies and give it to their friends

Julian, wrote:

Starsky wrote:
I don’t get the joke julian


Sorry

My proposed “revolutionary technological improvement” to vinyl records is basically cassette tapes.

Ok…

Tapes suck but they were portable and when the Walkman came along LPs started sliding badly

Since today all music is portable not sure what advantage tapes offer

LPs when done right to my mind are still the format to beat due to a number of reasons…unfortunately 95% of new releases on vinyl are not done right so to pay a premium for that seems silly but that’s where we are

I haven’t bothered with SACD

Am not an audiophile at all but I can tell when something sounds good

I doubt anyone cares about this pedantry


Someone write “can confirm”

Can confirm.

Ok that made me lol  ;D 8) 

What sigma-hatch said that is…

Wouldn’t reel to reel technology like they use in big fancy recording studios technically be better than vinyl? 

And of course most the fanciest of recording studios are all digital at this juncture, which leads me to believe there maybe a superior format to vinyl available…

Speaking of which one of these days I need to plunk down for one of those DragonFly hi-Rez usb dongles…

kosmo wrote:
Wouldn’t reel to reel technology like they use in big fancy recording studios technically be better than vinyl? 

yup, there is a reason why analog is mixed down to a [font=Verdana]two-track [/font]reel-to-reel master tape… not a very convenient format, tho.

saying you prefer vinyl is like saying you prefer to see everything through yellow-tinted glasses.  nothing wrong with a preference, but it's colored.  vinyl has a sound of its own, and there are the distorsions (crackle, pops, wow, flutter, etc.).  end result: what you hear on vinyl is not what the artists and engineers signed off on in the studio.  no one mixes down an album, masters it, then goes and prints a vinyl copy to see how it'll sound.  the last thing the artists/mixers/management/etc. hear before it goes to the pressing plant (and an engineer there has to tinker with it to make it work for vinyl) is the aforementioned two-track reel-to-reel.

i forget which producer said it - was someone famous like steve albini or bob rock - "i use analog for its sound, and digital for its non-sound."

Meh


The last thing the artist listened to before signing off , for decades, was the test pressing of the record …. They didn’t send Sinatra the reel to reel


Vinyl


I mean we have so many examples of this…the Beatles were given test pressings of the White Album and they gave one to Clapton who showed his off and played it on tour in the US before the album was released…Beatles were pissed


Because artists knew people would be buying the vinyl they wanted to listen to the record before release


There are vinyl releases that are true works of sonic delight…find an original Aja …. It sounds that great because someone spent a lot of time on it

I apologize to everyone for even making a joke about cassettes and triggering this discussion for the 7,000,000th time in board history.

I mean, cassettes are really funny.

Julian, wrote:
I apologize to everyone for even making a joke about cassettes and triggering this discussion for the 7,000,000th time in board history.

I like to think I package my reply different every time!


How many people have heard about Clapton running around with test pressings of the white album?


The point is people can’t do nuance


Modern pressings are generally crummy and expensive so all vinyl sucks from forever


If you consider taking even the tiniest risk at all in your decision to go out you are like an anti Vaxxer MAGA turd

Starsky wrote:
The last thing the artist listened to before signing off , for decades, was the test pressing of the record …. They didn’t send Sinatra the reel to reel


Vinyl


I mean we have so many examples of this…the Beatles were given test pressings of the White Album and they gave one to Clapton who showed his off and played it on tour in the US before the album was released…Beatles were pissed


Because artists knew people would be buying the vinyl they wanted to listen to the record before release

you're correct on that last line, but test pressings didn't result in a new mix or re-mastering of the album - it would result only in tweaks at the vinyl factory. 

by the time an artist heard a test pressing/white label, the album was done. the original studio recording wouldn't be touched anymore, they would only change how the master tape hit the vinyl.  good read: https://www.rarerecords.net/record-info/acetates-and-test-pressings/ ;

We have plenty of examples of artists, producers  or record companies listening to the test pressing, being dissatisfied and going back in to record more or change the tracks or add a track or just scrapping the album or having an entirely new mix done. These decisions as far as I know where made by artist or record labels based on the test pressing. The article you linked to makes this very point.

Were  test pressings to test the quality of the vinyl result? Yes but they would also often be sent to artists who might cancel the entire project based on listening to the record. Or they might decide to re-record the album as cited in the article you recommend in the case of Blood on the tracks.

I think I understand what you are saying about the initial playback being reel to reel and it’s true the engineer wouldn’t press records of all the takes in the studio to listen to… this is obvious…Bob Dylan didn’t listen to 44 takes of Rainy Day Women on LP! He might have listened to a few in the control room then eventually gotten a copy of the final proposed LP (acetate or test pressings depending on time period and record company)…

I don’t think we are disagreeing

I think this is Jack White's whole shtick