A Passion For Sound
by Robert Benson
As CD sales sour, the music industry is evolving in a
peculiar way. Music lovers' are turning their attention to the past, reverting
back to vinyl records.
For some it is an enjoyable hobby, recapturing a part of
their youth. Yet for others, collecting vinyl records is a passion, as they
scour the online web sites, record conventions and small resale shops to secure
their favorite records.
However, if you were to ask them why records are so
appealing most will tell you it is the sound of vinyl that is the most
enjoyable. They may be tired of the sterile music reproduction of a cd or
digitized download. You will hear the term, 'vinyl just has a warmer sound' or
that they love the experience, an almost ritualistic pattern that is involved
in playing a vinyl record.
But I think the best way to describe the sound that vinyl
exudes is an analogy I like to use. A vinyl record is like a 'fingerprint' of
the recorded music. There is a clearness and clarity to the music, and the
sound is actually captured and etched into the grooves of the records.
Conversely, digital sound is like a copy of that 'fingerprint' and something is
lost when the music is compressed into 1's and 0's, or what I refer to as
'binary sound.'
Now, this phenomenon may be satisfactory to some and the CD
certainly has its place as a musical format. In our throw away society, CD's
offer convenience and a method to play music that the vinyl record cannot
offer. But 'binary sound', to me, is just too clear- you are missing important
elements of the recorded sound, sounds that the artist who recorded the music
wanted you to hear.
In our digitized world there are compelling arguments for
whatever sound reproduction format a person chooses. But you will never take
the vinyl lover out of me.
Robert Benson operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com
and is an avid collector and has written the ebook 'The Fascinating Hobby Of
Vinyl Record Collecting', which is available at the web
site.