Vinyl Is Once Again King?

[LonnieFisher]

Even if you prefer the "real thing" and go live, that also degrades with time. I think cassettes last longer than actual artists...

[spockoda]

I have some records that I need digitized. What's the easiest way to do that?

There are also units that have the turntable, cassette player, and CD hard drive all in one that are easy to work with. This might put you back around $300 though.

[spockoda]

Cassettes are totally awesome.
Portable analog audio.
Mix tapes.
Take up a lot less room than a collection of LPs.
Guardians of the Galaxy.

I really wouldn't say I'm an audiophile but I do care what I'm listening to sounds like and I listen to CD's mostly and some vinyl. I respect your opinion about cassettes but they are the weakest sounding of the three audio formats, imo. They are nice as far as being compact though. I have recorded off of a few cassettes to digital and the sound was okay with some amplification. One of my favorite past times was making mix tapes. Now I make mix CD's.

[LonnieFisher]

I actually listen to a lot of albums on youtube.

[Blue Meanie]

Nothing lasts forever. Older CDs and DVDs suffer from disc rot and vinyl warps and scratches. I, luckily, still have cassettes from childhood that still work like new. I like vinyl and CDs just fine too and I'm happy there's something for everybody.

I would agree with the laser rot or CD disc rot for CD's made here in the US. I think that's why a lot of CD/audiophiles are going towards first release CD's that were issued in Japan and West Germany. Or CD's made in Japan for US release. They tend to not have any rot whatsoever. Also, they have the original 1st generation transfers instead 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th generation transfers a lot of the 1st US pressings tend to have. A lot of people don't realize that the 1st generation CD's weren't made in the US because there were no plants in the US for them to press the initial waves of CD's. It's about almost a 5 year run from about '83 - about '87/'88 before CD's were being pressed here in the US on a regular basis. The plants had really crappy standards and the areas where they were pressed were not sterilized/cleaned like they were in the Japan and West German facilities.

[spockoda]

I would agree with the laser rot or CD disc rot for CD's made here in the US. I think that's why a lot of CD/audiophiles are going towards first release CD's that were issued in Japan and West Germany. Or CD's made in Japan for US release. They tend to not have any rot whatsoever. Also, they have the original 1st generation transfers instead 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th generation transfers a lot of the 1st US pressings tend to have. A lot of people don't realize that the 1st generation CD's weren't made in the US because there were no plants in the US for them to press the initial waves of CD's. It's about almost a 5 year run from about '83 - about '87/'88 before CD's were being pressed here in the US on a regular basis. The plants had really crappy standards and the areas where they were pressed were not sterilized/cleaned like they were in the Japan and West German facilities.

The first few years of CD's in the US seemed to sound like glorified cassettes, and what you stated would probably be why, but it seemed that situation of mastering and all that improved over time.

[Mikey]

I always liked vinyl because it's very forgiving to damage.

You can play a 100 year old record and with all it's skips, farts, burps and thumps you can still reasonably listen to it.

Only thing, I always HATED the super flexible records that came out in the later 70's …. They seemed to always skip straight out the new package....

[Hector]

No love for 8-track tape?

Good gawd, I hated that format...

[Mikey]

I have a soft spot for 8-track tapes.

The first time I heard many now popular (current at the time) classic albums were on my high school bus's 8-track player ---- yes, my school bus had an 8-track

Few off the bat ….. Tom Petty Damn the Torpedos, Pat Benatar Crimes of Passion, The Cars The Cars, Pink Floyd The Wall, John Lennon Double Fantasy to name a few.

[cjefferys]

I have some records that I need digitized. What's the easiest way to do that?

The easiest and cheapest way would be to buy one of those $100 USB turntables, plug it into your computer and make a needledrop. Quality won't be great because it's a $100 turntable with a likely crappy stylus but it would work in a pinch.

No love for 8-track tape?

Good gawd, I hated that format...

One band that I'm a fan of released their new album last month, and one format option was 8-track tape. It was more expensive than the vinyl versions though because they probably had to be custom made, it's not like there are factories that make 8-track tapes anymore.

[Marvelmania]

I collect some 8 tracks, not to listen to but because some around the 1979-1982 range can be very rare and worth some $$$. Those last years it was still around some stuff on 8 track like punk can be a gold mine. Picked up a Prince 1999 8 track for .50 a few weeks ago. should be worth between $30-$60 if I were to sell it.

[palitoy]

I'm kind of all over the place with formats, I'll buy albums digitally or digitize CDs for my ipod.

Vinyl has to be something I'll just listen to the whole way throw.

Tapes? Never going back but I also can't throw out the ones i have!

[spockoda]

8 tracks seemed to be the "black swan" of all the audio formats discussed in this thread. I never pay any attention to the 8 tracks I see at thrift stores. Who knows, with vinyl coming back maybe some day kids will want toys again over their electronic devices. By toys I mean action figures. It could happen but I won't hold my breath. 10-15 years ago if someone told me stores would be stocking vinyl again I probably would have got a good laugh out of it.

[Werewolf]

I collect some 8 tracks, not to listen to but because some around the 1979-1982 range can be very rare and worth some $$$. Those last years it was still around some stuff on 8 track like punk can be a gold mine. Picked up a Prince 1999 8 track for .50 a few weeks ago. should be worth between $30-$60 if I were to sell it.

That's really cool. I did not know they were so collectible.

[Blue Meanie]

I collect some 8 tracks, not to listen to but because some around the 1979-1982 range can be very rare and worth some $$$. Those last years it was still around some stuff on 8 track like punk can be a gold mine. Picked up a Prince 1999 8 track for .50 a few weeks ago. should be worth between $30-$60 if I were to sell it.

There's also the Paul McCartney and Wings Band On The Run in Quad (Purple casing) and Venus and Mars in Quad. Those can go for some serious $$$. Same goes for the early 8 tracks from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Again, it's all about the casing of the 8 track...not the typical black casing and collectible both by Led Zep collectors and 8 track collectors.