Tom Whaley

PS:

I’m starting to collect vinyl, just for the hell of it. I think it’s really cool, and I’m not “hating” on it by any means. I got Radiohead “In Rainbows” and Circa Survive “Blue Sky Noise” in today, and Thrice “Vheissu” should be coming in any day now. I’m incredibly excited!

I have honestly never heard a vinyl that ACTUALLY sounded better…

The problem with vinyl is, it’s a compressed format, contrary to popular belief. By pressing the music onto a vinyl, the format is becoming compressed in order to be written. The LP lacks the dynamics and layering that can be achieved via a clean digital recording. Another issue is the actual medium it is played. Vinyl records wear over time, due to the physical contact with the player (much like cassettes). The more you play the record, the more the sound quality will decrease over time. Not to mention changes in humidity and temperature, and let’s face it, I don’t think any of you guys have a specialized wine cellar style room to store your records in… As long as you don’t actually destroy the CD, there is no physical contact besides a laser interpreting a digital code. Therefore, a CD will sound just as good in 10 years as it does today, provided you don’t leave them laying around to get damaged or scratched. The “warmness” of a vinyl has nothing to do with the actual record. It’s the way a needle passes over the grooves, causing the record to vibrate. In fact, that “warmness” is actually a deficiency of the record player. Now, if you prefer the “warm” sound, that’s a matter of opinion. That doesn’t mean that the record physically sounds better than a digital signal. In order for a record to ACTUALLY compete with a CD, you’d need to own a seriously incredible set up, with unbelievable speakers and a cartridge that runs a couple thousands of dollars. You would also need to be playing records that are pressed very cleanly to a heavy LP, ie 180 grams.Then it could be argued that vinyl physically sounds just as good, if not better.

Preference on the other hand, is a matter of opinion. People can rave over vinyl all they want, and they’re allowed to. I think vinyl is actually very cool, and anything that gets people to go out, become excited for music and buy it again is good in my books! However, I know that if I were to collect vinyl, it would be to display in frames on my wall for the art work more-so than to actually listen to it.

PS: The greatest sounding piece of music I own is Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” on a Blu-Ray disc…

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So this band I love (Thrice) puts their albums out on vinyl for one pressing when they’re released, and after they sell out people re-list them for $100+. Thrice put out a repressing of their albumVheissu(2005) on vinyl, which was limited to 1000 copies and exclusive to Hot Topic (why? I don’t know). I waited all morning last week and finally ordered 2 (1 for me and 1 for my friend Max) the second it was listed. Transaction successful!

Today I got an e-mail saying that the album sold out and my order was canceled and refunded. Now I am extremely mad and my night is now officially ruined. I just may cry.

A very long and uninteresting story.