Vinyl why its better

Theres something special about holding something in your own two hands and feeling like it is yours. To look after, to cherish. Sure it can be highly convenient, but it some how puts less value on the music you listen to and therefore, the experience.

You go to your chosen spot, dig through the shelves, find your golden, ear-gracing nugget and feel warm and fuzzy inside the entire ride home as it sits next to you in the passenger seat, begging to be played.

Once you take that bad boy out of the sleeve often filled with interesting artwork be it old or new and pop it onto the table you picked out, on your super stylish record player stand. Like a meditation of sorts, you get to slip away into the music you cared enough about to scout out and purchase. You build a different kind of relationship with your music and get to literally own a collection that will last lifetimes if you care for them well, of course.

After collecting and feeling the vinyl love for a while, many decide to spread it and make some money by buying and then selling records. If you could make some side cash or even a legitimate living through one of your favorite hobbies, would you do it?

Many record store owners or those of us who use it as a side gig come to do so out of their undying love for music. Is it digital? We believe that vinyl is here to stay and develop further when it comes to the technology used for pressing, even if it remains on the outskirts of the recording industry as far as revenue is concerned.

And in a world where people feel all too welcome to hijack the playlist at parties they attend, it's nice to have a harder-to-commandeer format on offer.

Let's not fool ourselves, though. Vinyl is great, but the idea that its sound quality is superior to that of uncompressed digital recordings is preposterous. They sound different, and that's exactly the point. On a theoretical level, there's just no reason it should be the case that vinyl sounds better.

There are built-in problems with using vinyl as a data encoding mechanisms that have no CD equivalent. Vinyl is physically limited by the fact that records have to be capable of being played without skipping or causing distortion. That both limits the dynamic range — the difference between the loudest and softest note — and the range of pitches or "frequencies" you can hear. If notes get too low in pitch, that means less audio can fit in a given amount of vinyl.

If notes are too high, the stylus has difficulty tracking them, causing distortion. So engineers mastering for vinyl often cut back on extreme high or low ends , using a variety of methods , all of which alter the music. For example, one common cause of high pitches in recordings is "sibilance," or the hiss-y sound produced by pronouncing certain consonants, notably "s" or "z"s, in a quick, sharp way ex. This creates enough problems for engineers working in vinyl that they often have to "de-ess" recordings , either by making the pronunciation less sibilant through editing or by straight-up asking vocalists to pronounce lyrics differently.

De-essing is a common technique outside vinyl too, but then it's an artistic choice; vinyl forces de-essing upon you. If you want to keep aggressive sibilance in for aesthetic reasons, and want to press to vinyl, you're out of luck.

And when de-essing is achieved through re-recording vocals, it can alter the music in subtler ways, making vocalists deliver lyrics less intensely and lose a degree of artistic expression in the process.

Sound engineer mixing the audio behind the audio console. Denmark Since CDs rely on sampling an original analog signal being recorded, they do have some frequency limitations. While vinyl records, in theory, directly encode a smooth audio wave, CDs sample that audio wave at various points and then collate those samples. That's true. CDs work by taking a bunch of samples from a source audio wave and stringing them together.

But this criticism is misleading on two counts. For one thing, vinyl pressing is not error-free, and the analog groove of a given record is not a precise replication of the audio wave recorded in the master, not least due to extreme high and low frequency limitations. It's true that CDs can't exactly replicate the whole audio wave in a master, in every case update: in many cases, the Nyquist-Shannon theorem means it can — but neither can vinyl records.

More importantly, the volume of sampling that CDs do should be enough to get a replica of the original recording that sounds identical to the human ear. One is invited to lightly rub their finger across to feel the sharpness of the points. The tactility generally allows for the other distinctive auditory, visual, and epistemic features to arise. There are also many visual aspects to the vinyl condition.

Typically, there is artwork on the front and back of the jacket. The jackets may be gatefold, i. There is also artwork on inner sleeves, as well as anything inserted in the jacket. Additionally, the polybag may also be used as a canvas.

The Allah-Las place signature logo sticker artwork on theirs, for example. Sometimes the inner sleeves are also the lyric sheets or where inner artwork is placed.

The label offers yet another opportunity for artwork. This allowed Motown, for example, to develop specially printed inner sleeves with their logo, although this was an exception rather than the rule.

Typically, the label itself was the place for visual features, which gave rise to distinct graphic design of text and logos for labels. There is copious opportunity for artwork as inserts. There are whole sheets that may contain lyrics and photographs. The vinyl itself can even be a work of art. There is the standard black vinyl, but also a variety of colored vinyl records. There are solid colors, as well as marbled, two-toned, or multi-colored records.

The gatefold calls the listener to open it, the colored vinyl motivates an aesthetic gaze, and the stencil encourages one to make a print or spray a shirt. Epistemic features concern knowledge and what is needed for it. There is typically a bevy of information inscribed on discs and sleeves. This includes information about the artist, musicians, producer, recording studio, date recorded, label, lyrics, shout-outs, number of pressings, and so on. While this information is often available digitally, it arises not from the format as such, but from internet access generally.

Consequently, the information often does not call to listeners, since they have to take extra measures to see it. When present on the record and sleeve, the information announces itself more loudly and transparently. Vinyl records often contain obscure information that is either not obvious or simply unavailable with digital formats. For example, there are producers who make considerable impacts on albums, such as Brian Eno, Martin Hannet, and Lee Perry.

Knowing that allows listeners to appreciate what producers contribute and to recognize their particular style. Auditory features are warmer, richer, and deeper, and there are also tactile, visual, and epistemic features that expand the artistic platform and enrich the aesthetic experience.

People prefer vinyl for these reasons and others, not merely to be snobby, vintage, or hip for its own sake, or to eschew contemporary technology. Rather, enthusiasts enjoy spinning and being spun by vinyl, like a record, right round, round round.

Tony Chackal is a philosophy instructor at Slippery Rock University. He works on issues at the intersection of environmental philosophy, political philosophy, and aesthetics, and has published on food, street art and illegality, and the nature of our relationships to our environments.

He DJs regularly, of course on vinyl. You can also follow him on Instagram thevinylcondition. You argue that vinyl records are superior to digital forms of music, and that there are important qualities absent from these digital forms. You hold the position that vinyl records have superior auditory, tactile, visual artwork , and epistemic features compared to digital musical formats, and that enjoyers of vinyl records are not simply in it for the aesthetic.

You stated that vinyl records have a superior warmth, richness, and depth not present in digital music. You mentioned that the physical aspects of vinyl records, such as labels, jackets, and inserts, provide a deeper connection compared to simply pressing play on digital.

The artwork on vinyl records, you said, is also of value. And, last but certainly not least, you discussed that properly caring for and using vinyl records requires a certain amount of knowledge, and that there is also a relay of information between artist and user that adds to the experience of vinyl records- of course, this care is far more extensive than care for digital music, which often needs little to no knowledge at all to operate.

While I agree with your position, and can see why you chose to argue in favor of vinyl specifically, I do think there is something about digital music you should consider. I think that part of what makes music so special is its association with certain moments in our lives. Having music readily available at specific times, say, for example, during a car ride with a friend, is part of what, in my opinion, makes it so valuable and meaningful. Personally, I think I would have a hard time keeping a record player in my car- and I know there are CDs, but those still would not have quite the same qualities you described that we find in vinyl records although maybe the CDs being physical is your counterargument right there.

Your argument holds that the vinyl experience is better than the digital one based on having distinct qualities that are more preferable. On tactile, you pointed out that vinyl takes physical space and has physical qualities that can be admired by the viewer, such as the jacket.

The jacket takes on a visual feature, providing viewers with interesting artwork and details missing from the digital experience. Finally, you mentioned there is a certain amount of knowledge required to own and care for vinyl, making ownership much more meaningful than that of digital files that require little knowledge to obtain or maintain. Personally, I enjoy using CDs when possible, which is mostly while driving.

Also, a CD provides me with easy access to the whole album in order, which I believe is the proper way to listen to music. Yet, to elaborate, I think there is certain music that is meant to be listened to digitally, such as EDM and some newer rap music, all of which are made digitally. You argue that vinyl is better than digital. Although the digital experience offers conveniences that vinyl does not, such as portability, efficiency, and expediency, you argue that the advantages of vinyl outweigh these qualities.

You stated that records offer better sound qualities that digital does not. Warmth, richness, and depth are lost in digital and they provide a better listening experience.

You stated that vinyl is material and takes up space, and it has physical qualities such as labels, jackets, and inserts making it more engaging than digital. As for visual, it provides people with artwork which is missing from the digital experience.

Lastly, you argued that knowledge and information about the music and artist are readily available on discs as opposed to digital. With digital, one must do research to gather information that is already provided on records. I do agree with you that records are more material and something you can engage with.

When I was little, we had a turntable and a collection of records. It was fun playing them, watching them spin, and occasionally we would get yelled at by my dad for scratching one of the records by trying to play it backwards haha. A drawback to consider would be how easily records can get damaged. Even the way it is stored can cause damage, so is it easier to keep digital music free of damage as opposed to records? I think you provided a good argument for vinyl over digital, so, nice work!

What you have described in your argument was that listening to music on vinyl is a much better experience than listening to music digitally. You brought up the auditory features, which bring to life the warmth, richness, and depth of the music by vinyl.

Tactile features that you included showed that it makes it more engaging to own vinyl since you have a physical copy in your hands of one of your favorite pieces of music.

You also talked about visual features that are incorporated throughout the vinyl packaging that makes it timeless and cultural to own, and epistemic features were mentioned as well, which give the listener more information and knowledge about the artist or music that they are listening to.

I do agree that the auditory features of vinyl are superior to that of digital, but as for the other features that you spoke of, digit out-weighs vinyl in my opinion.

Tactile features almost seem negative in a way since vinyl requires much more care since the records and turntables need a space to be stored and can be damaged easily unlike digital music. Also, buying multiple records can get pricey when compared to free streaming services that allow you to listen to anything immediately. As for visual features, nowadays, artists put out so much merchandise per album t-shirts, posters, stickers, etc.

These arguments include the auditory, tactile, visual, and epistemic pros of the vinyl. The auditory argument offers three main characteristics that are more preferable that are superior to the auditory features of a digital: warmth, richness, and depth. Next, the tactile argument offers one thing that the digital could not offer: physicality. Never will one ever be able to hold digital music in the way a vinyl could be held. However, the visual leaves room for even interactive aspects of the vinyl as well as looking at the vinyl from an artistic view.

Therefore, for a vinyl you gain more than just a vinyl itself. You have obtained art, music, and a new way to think of the music in its own, catering to the aesthetic of the vinyl as well. Finally, the epistemic argument offers an intellectual appeal to the readers. At this point, the reader has captured the ideal that the vinyl offers far, far more than the digital in physicality. You often buy into the vinyl not only for the vinyl but for everything else that is included in a vinyl purchase.

I believe that the vinyl may have several pros; however, there are some potential questions to think about from the negative position: 1 Can digital create a social connection between musician and listener too?

Finally, a stronger argument may be posed by searching more of the digital format. In this piece, you argue why vinyl is to be preferred over digital formats. You maintain your position in saying that vinyl records have superior auditory, tactile, visual, and epistemic features in comparison to those of digital formats. Those who prefer vinyl over digital formats are not merely snobby, hip, individuals who fetishize vintage culture. While digital formats offer the conveniences of portability, efficiency, and expediency, vinyl offers a superior quality of warmth, richness, and depth that digital formats cannot provide.

To further support the superiority of the vinyl, arguments describing characteristics of this form of analog such as the components, artwork, and caretaking were provided. Vinyl forces listeners more so than digital formats to appreciate and evaluate aspects of the music.

I strongly agree with the argument within this piece, vinyl is superior to digital formats. While you touched on many important aspects of the superiority of vinyl, I feel that some were left out. The unique artwork, designs, and special feature that are included along with a vinyl make vinyl itself extremely appealing collectively. Half the fun of appreciating vinyl is creating your own collection, which can also offer a deeper understanding of the artists, producers, etc.

Collecting can add an extra hint of nostalgia and meaning to the music. Another point I feel should be touched on is the quality of the unique experience of listening to an album all the way through in the order that it was produced. When an album is produced, or at least a decent album is produced, one of the goals of the album is to create a feeling, story, or message.

With this being said, if the artist and producers were trying to achieve one of these goals, chances are the album is to be heard all the way through in the order they chose and was produced. By listening to vinyl, being able to have this experience welcomes a deeper understanding to the music, because the goal of the artist and producers can become more apparent and clear. Overall, I too believe that vinyl provides one with a deeper appreciation, understanding, and knowledge of music as a whole over digital formats.

I really enjoyed reading this. Features ranging from the warmth, richness, and depth that comes from how the vinyl record is specifically played with physical instruments. These qualities also assist in hearing a greater quantity of music or features and this also contributes to a greater quality of sound. You go on to explain how vinyl offers more than just an enhanced auditory performance. In addition to that they offer an aesthetic experience along with it by being a material form that comes with physical features, which is something a digital anything just cannot offer.

You explain these physical features as the vinyl itself, jackets, inserts, labels, inner sleeves, and even the spine of the album. These things taking up time and space but in a good way. A tangible way. You explain the artwork on the jacket and even the vinyl itself is a work of art, not to mention all the other interesting things the artist can add for the listener such as the information inscribed on the discs and sleeves adding to the listeners understanding of the artists work.

You certainly brought forward all the vinyl conditions best qualities. Let me start out by saying this was very interesting for me to read so thank you. My mom also collects records and has multiple record players. Only very rarely when a guest choreographer would come in did we dance to anything from a digital device and when we did the music was not as powerful or as fun to dance to by any means.

So, I am lucky enough to be able to say I have heard the difference firsthand. The more I read your blog though the more I started to wonder if the two should be compared at all. They both offer a user listening experience, but they are just so different in so many ways. I enjoy things I can touch and feel like I own. Digital anything does not seem as safe as something physical. Records and anything that goes with them like the turntable, stylus, speakers, the artwork, inserts, jackets and the vinyl taking up space are all things that are appealing to me.

These things can not be deleted, if you own it, it is yours to use when and how you want. Vinyl did appear a long time ago, but it just seems like a different way to enjoy music. It adds to the options of today. They technically both achieve a means to an end.

If you want warmth, depth, and richness and a more unique experience vinyl is the way to go. The way you explained the vinyl condition it sounds like owning, playing, and taking care of a vinyl collection is in fact an art.

Contrary to what a previous commenter wrote whom said digital is more of a way to engage with friends or a more social way of listening to music.

It might be in some ways but if you invite people over who enjoy vinyl or are teaching someone about them you probably get more of a musical social experience because to play the record you have to concentrate on what you are doing and really be in the moment with the music and people around you who are enjoying it. Vinyl is more mindful way of listening to music. Digital has become the expected almost automatic way to listen to music. It has become so convenient, you can get any song, anytime, anywhere without taking up physical space.

But we live in a distracted world as it is so when we plug in to our digital devices the music just naturally becomes part of the background, like when you listen to music while driving, or when you stream games and have music playing, or are exercising to it. The technology has made it more accessible but less predominant at the same time. The music from a digital device is not the experience like the relationship between someone and their vinyl. This will lower the quality of the sound.

Just as the record wares out so does the turntables which is an inconvenience and can become expensive. Vinyl is also very fragile. Some people would enjoy the epistemic features that a vinyl has to offer while others might not care or take the time to look. Digital does not offer upfront epistemic value as you said unless you look it up. I feel like the people that do look it up would be the ones interested in the vinyl condition. Again, things like this take time and not many people sadly like to take that time.

In the distracted society we live in today where most of everyone wants things done quickly and right now digital fits into the day and age a little better. It seems to be superior in this generation in terms of convenience but not in sound.

You explain how this is due to many factors including auditory, tactile, visual, and epistemic features. The tactile feature explains how you not only can listen to music on a vinyl but you also get to hold the vinyl, which is great for collectors or people who want to display their music taste. The visual features, like the art on the cover, is also very attractive to consumers. The epistemic feature is that a vinyl has information about the album, the artist, producer and etc.

This quality is great because having knowledge about a piece of art can help someone understand it more. I do agree with many points in this piece, however I hope I can give you a new outlook to why digital can sometimes be better than vinyl, especially based on the genre and goal of the artist. Not every artist wants to be rich and warm, in fact with my voice major I have spent years trying to be bright and light. I collect records and have for a while, even though my record player is probably the crappiest one possible, I genuinely appreciate vinyl and listen to them often.

Which, during homework especially, I will go to change the song usually lo-fi hip hop during homework and boom, I see a Twitter notification and I somehow end up on Twitter for a half hour.

With a record, I put one on and it plays through, without having to use my phone to adjust volume, change the song, etc. My main point would be that it depends on what genre you are listening to and that vinyl is not always better than digital and vise versa.

I still, when I just want to cry or write, put this record on. All have raspy, rich tones. It was named something like that. She is bright and agile, which I love, but the vinyl took away from her songbird-like voice.

This was when I truly realized that not every album should be listened to on record. You can get a similar effect by listening to them on vinyl. I want to hear her raw in an opera house or on a perfected recording.

But, I love hearing low altos in operas as well as men on vinyl. It gives an eerie, vintage feel. Also, I have a love for trippy music videos. A lot of songs have psychedelic music videos that help you really feel the song with all your senses.

About being snobby, I disagree. I think showing appreciation for old things is great, who cares if its trendy. In your piece you argue that Vinyl Records are of higher superior and of more value than digital formats. Throughout the text you describe the differences between Vinyl records and digital formats through use of certain distinctions between the two. You describe how the Vinyl records are material, makes your experience wider and richer, and have more features that are offered to be appreciated as to digital formats that are portable, and compress sound.

You state how with Vinyl records there is more to be appreciated, like the warmer, richer, and deeper sound affects. With Vinyl records you list some benefits that digital formats lack, like the diversity of sound and the ability to hear each instrument individually, while using physical instruments rather than edited audio.

Also, you cover how the records include more physical engagement, giving more appreciation towards the music. You list the visual features as well as the epistemic features. Visual features consisting of the labels, jackets and the sleeves, more to admire about the record rather than a digital format with no visual. Lastly, the knowledge it takes to properly care for one of these records and the steps to playing one.

It definitely takes more effort to play a record that just pressing play on a digital format. Although I agree with a lot of the points presented, like the value, physical engagement, and the unique parts of the record, myself personally put more use into digital formats. I really enjoyed the framework of this piece and the order you chose to present your ideas, it was very easy to follow and interesting at the same time.

I feel like you covered points necessary for this topic and did very well at making it clear and to the point, while fully explaining the topic presented.

After reading this, I can see why you feel the way you feel about vinyl. You write this article to argue that vinyl is a better source of music than digital formats. In the article, you argue there are four major aspects of a vinyl record which include auditory, tactile, visual and epistemic. Starting with auditory, you say vinyl gives off a feeling of richness, warmth and depth which is not shown as strongly in a digital format.

Next, you argue about tactile. You say that a vinyl record takes up more space and has more significant meaning such as a personal item. You then argue that a vinyl record has a better visual presentation than a digital format of music.

You give examples such as graphic designs and logos for labels. Lastly, you talk about how information is more easily accessible in the sleeves or on the disk of a vinyl record. Unlike a vinyl record, you have to take extra steps to find information on the music or artist you are listening to while using a digital format.

Personally, I have never listened to a vinyl record not because I did not want to but because I never had access to one. You make some good points about vinyl records, I can agree there.

The only thing I could think of that vinyl does not have it easy accessibility. Even though have never listened to a vinyl record, after reading this article, I can agree that it is better than a digital format of music. I can also say that a digital format of music can provide a warmth feeling depending on what kind of device you are listening on. After reading this article, I am more than interested in finally listening to a vinyl record!

Jake Pollak In the article the writer expressed a strong opinion on how vinyl is a more complete sound and form of music compared digital music. Throughout the review topics including auditory, tactile, visual and epistemic to further push the theory that vinyl is a more sustainable form of music. The writer explains that when listening on a turntable it has a better sound because of the material and openness of the music. Additionally, when you have a record it comes with art as vinyl have developed from dull to expressionism through time.

Another feature that was important is the epistemic because it shows that when you have access to a vinyl you get perks like song titles, producers, writers, and more. Prior to reading the article I was biased because throughout my life I have slowly developed the habit of collecting vinyl.

As I read I agreed that the form of music in vinyl provides many aspects of the true nature of music. The vinyl has always appealed to me because of how prevalent it has stayed throughout history, especially with the formation of digital music. Although, I believe that digital music has a large impact and is developed in a format where you can have access to achieving acknowledgement of their own music and access to much more music. Lastly, I believe that vinyl has a chance of making a larger return in the future because I believe that the world consistently is becoming a larger platform of people expressing themselves how they want to.

This article lays out a compelling argument for the superiority of vinyl over modern digital music. The four features of vinyl that allow it to eclipse digital music, auditory, tactile, visual, and epistemic, all show the unique features of records that are not present in modern listening. The richness, warmth, and depth of the music on a vinyl record is absent in audio files, which are more hollow in their sound. The tactile features of a record set it apart from digital media in that the music is no longer abstract.

One can hold it and feel it in their hand. The medium also allows for artwork that digital media cannot. While digital music can have art attached to it, it cannot be interacted with in the same way as a vinyl record, which allow for creative canvases that really make each one unique. Vinyl has an advantage over digital music epistemically because the physical medium allows for a great deal of information to be advertised all over the record, inside and out, front and back.

I certainly agree with everything the article states regarding the visual, tactile, and epistemic advantages of vinyl. However, while vinyl of course has its own unique and, in my opinion, superior sound, could it not be said that the digital format has allowed for a greater breadth of sounds to be added to music that could not have existed if not for advances in technology that led to digital music. Could it be that certain genres are best played on vinyl? However, music has evolved with the mediums of its time.

It simply sounds worse, the closer you get to the middle. That's because of the technology. That is why you often place the quiet songs in the end, to make the poor sound quality less audible.

The order of the songs is therefore not an expression of the artist's work, but a matter of the limitation of technology. Visit the HiFi stores and hear the products yourself. Step out of the digital media and into the analog world. Drag yourself into a physical store and experience the differences with your own ears. Don't naively believe in recommendations from the talking heads on Facebook. They have no idea what they are talking about.

There are huge differences between different products and you might lose money if you do not insist on comparing them. People are confused about the advantages and disadvantages of different types of consumer electronics and many of us are easy victims of fake stories.

We add motives and ideals to the products that they never had. The vinyl record is not a noble or a more musical format just because it is made before the internet and the hole in the ozone layer. Vinyl, on the other hand, is a source of incredible amounts of music. Much more music than streaming. One of the challenges is that there is no way to label sound quality. There is nothing to comply with as a consumer, and therefore there is free access to all kinds of stories, such as the vinyl record's alleged amazing sound.

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