Vinyl outsells CD AGAIN! Has the world gone insane?

Vinyl is outselling CD almost 3 to 1, despite being a vastly inferior medium. Why are people doing it?
Buy 1989 (Taylor's Version) on vinyl amzn.to/4cBzsii
Buy 1989 (Taylor's Version) on CD amzn.to/3x9F2rL
LINKS
RIAA report www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploa...
RIAA figures by format www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/
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[@LapsangTe]

I who prefer CD to vinyl can now buy second hand CDs at a very low price, since those vinyl-lovers sell their old CDs. It's great for me!

[@donjohnstone3707]

Yes, vinyl has been a tremendous boon for those who prefer CD's and get them very cheaply.

[@prowlingfrost5588]

Everyone saying this but all the CD's I need are top dollar (metal) or at least reasonable priced 5-10, but still cheap compared to vinyl of today. The thing is, with the vinyl back in the 90's/early 2000's you had plentiful of heavy metal records for cheap, because metal was the 80s music and not trendy in the 90s/2000s neither was the vinyl. Heavy Metal (all styles included) was not selling too much on CD back in the 80s so the 1st/early presses are rare today, unlike the 80s metal vinyl which was huge. Good luck to find early Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden CDs for 1-2 bucks at thrift stores anymore. The amount of those CDs were small compared to amount of vinyl which was and the best years of CD hunting are already over, yet, not finished hence the prices. Yep, common pop music, classical etc titles on CD are still cheap, but people should not expect miracles for their buck or two. People are began to know their Cure or Ramoness CD's are not worthless Those people who picked up the CDs quietly 2-10 years ago did get all the best stuff (got some, but was too late in the game).

[@fandeguycarlier5914]

same mate ! what's better than a 1/2 euro cd that will last forever !

[@user-br2en2ol1q]

As a retired vinyl mastering engineer I have always wondered why people still buy vinyl and insist it is the superior sounding format, aside from the issues vinyl has with diameter loss distortion, inability to reproduce the same frequency range as CD and not being able to handle stereo bass, a hell of a lot of vinyl is cut from the same digital masters as used for CD.

[@Sunshine_Superman]

Love this comment!

[@joesmith4443]

Yea and as a retired vinyl mastering engineer, you probably can remember when the CD came out and the noise floor was nonexistent. The sad part of digital is how it’s being produced and mastered. Vinyl isn’t better but what it’s limitation may be master better because if it’s for instance too loud the needle will most definitely skip

[@johnrus7661]

@@joesmith4443 The loudness wars have come and gone and even today for modern music, they aren't taking it to the extreme like they did. And it was not for every type of music. Mostly pop songs that were on the loud side in the first place and hitting the top charts. Songs that were not headbangers were not subject to the same fate especially if it was a well recorded acoustic number. Like classical or Jazz.

[@joesmith4443]

@@johnrus7661They use true peak limiters for streaming. The slammed masters don’t have impact in transients, what they do have is the immediate in-your-face impact in volume. Moreover, when they used endless plugins it creates a lot of distortion and digital clipping which is harsh. They push the production so much that it doesn’t sound natural anymore. I can tell always. All Dolby Atmos mixes have strict standards for Apple Music is pushing that really great -18 LUFs and -1 dBTP but with a caveat Apple wants to push more Airpod pro sales with “spatial audio” with a proprietary format. Classical music is being used for this very format that’s why it’s mastered better.

[@based_circuit]

I still collect, listen and dj with vinyl. I have no delusions about it having superior sound quality, but know too many that do. It's just a stylistic, ownership and aesthetic thing for me. Digital is objectively better, so I maintain high quality wavs for most records I have when I feel that type of mood.

[@terrygj]

Implicit in the stats is that CDs and LPs sold roughly the same number of units, its just that pricing of each means revenue from CD is a third of that from LP. No wonder the companies are pushing vinyl. The great dumbing-down continues.

[@ohwhyevenbother]

There are NO current artists that I remotely consider listening to, so my vast CD collection contains everything I need. It's good being 65!

[@LetsRideIllinois]

Ok Boomer

[@SPAZZOID100]

Stay off the radio. Lots of great music being made, specifically funk, dance, electronic. (Rock is dead)

[@davidwho7847]

Amen Bro!

[@tbrobison]

Boomer here, au contraire, there are some fantastic artists creating great music now. I know, because I listen to Radio Paradise, have a subscription to Qobuz, & Roon, & Apple Music. Open up your listening venues and you might be surprised.

[@edwinhurwitz6792]

I'm 63 and am always perplexed why people think there's no current music worth listening to. We are in a golden age of music. As always, the major label releases don't always reflect that, but it's not hard to find it. As far as vinyl goes, it's definitely inferior, but it's fun! I'm a musician and audio engineer, so I'm well aware of all of the issues, but I enjoy it. I don't invest a lot into it (compared to the vast majority of "audiophiles"), at least compared to what I spend on making music (which is tax deductible and pays for itself and more). When I think of how crappy music playback systems were back in the day, it's almost laughable.

[@regularnimnule9715]

For me it's not only about the audio quality. I enjoy a lot of the physical ritual of vinyl and have a lot of favourite albums in multi-formats. Listening to a classic LP whilst holding and admiring the artwork is a joy.

[@scottlowell493]

I’ve observed a lot of buyers are hipsters with rudimentary usb tables with super basic cartridge not exactly getting the best playback. Vinyl made from a digital file no less.

[@dtz1000]

They are now made from DSD files which are far superior to CD.

[@bubbleg312]

Why are people doing it? Because I don't think it's the question of superiority or inferiority, at least not in the sense of audio quality. Nothing currently beats digital audio, but digital audio is missing that element of physical relationship and fun you get from older analog formats, which therefore creates a demand for it. There are also interesting contexts that come into play when playing vinyl. It's pretty cool to play a record that's for example from the 50's or 60's, you get to experience a piece of something that was made so long ago. Doesn't have any practical value but it's still pretty cool. So it's more about the art, experience and contexts that come from vinyl or many other older formats. But I do understand that it could be easy to fall for the myth that vinyl is a more superior format in terms of audio quality and yes it does suffer from being overvalued or overpriced a lot of times especially for new releases.

[@mathumphreys]

My mate in New Zealand said they will be getting CDs soon. He's pretty excited.

[@earl007]

Yea and you can buy black plastic for $60 to $90.

[@davidspendlove5900]

I wouldn’t listen to Taylor Swift on anything.

[@howpow]

Your loss.

[@briansmith5046]

Don't think so !!!!!

[@ArunPaul-Malaysia]

Thank you.

[@joesmith4443]

She writes about her love life, her experiences in the “industry”, teen life and being a “lady boss” if none of those things interest you, you’re not missing much

[@magnificentTVchannel]

I think Cardigan is one of the best pop songs I've ever heard and the lyrics are top notch.

[@atoptip6193]

A commenter says, “…vinyl manufacturing is a constant frustrating pain of poor quality control and battles to get an adequate product…” This is so true. I see pictures of “vinyl” cutting, in an unprotected environment, with people smoking cigs and who knows what else. Why? We live in an age - as we know from chip production - things could be made to perfection, probably also on a material less dodgy then “vinyl.” So why? I guess because it really is not the medium of the perfectionist. Buyers are hipsters, some of whom, as you say, just hang them on the wall. I suspect there are even dumber things people spend $1.7 billion on, like almond milk. Let us move on.

[@keithspillett5298]

You ask for comments regarding favourite listening 'mediums'. I worked as a recording engineer and live sound reinforcement engineer until retiring recently. I have a vast collection of vinyl AND CDs, and I thoroughly enjoy listening to both. I totally appreciate that CD wipes the floor with vinyl, but there's still something rather enjoyable about placing a 12" diameter piece of plastic on a turntable and 'dropping' a stylus on it. 'Back in the day', prior to digital recording being widely available, I used to enjoy recording on tape running at 15ips using Dolby SR. That used to sound pretty darned good, but the necessary equipment required careful maintenance to keep it operating at the peak of its abilities. I continued to use this equipment for a while AFTER the introduction of CD, because finally a medium existed that could reproduce accurately what my masters really sounded like.

[@AudioMasterclass]

Somewhere out there is an audiophile who uses 15 ips tape with Dolby SR for their personal listening. And they can afford it.

[@mondoenterprises6710]

I'm crushing it with cds. But I have 5000 and keep buying. But I have serious kit to enjoy them with.

[@ohwhyevenbother]

Same for me.

[@Sunshine_Superman]

And me.

[@michaelb9664]

In the UK in 2023 CDs outsold vinyl at a ratio of 2:1.

[@Sunshine_Superman]

Glad to hear that. I like to think I contribute healthily to that figure. I'm about a 5 to 1 ratio in CD's favour.

[@jazzydog5635]

We need to split out sales by volume from sales by revenue and it makes more sense In the UK at least , based on the BPI figures for 2023 and covered in an article by John Darko, Brits bought 5.9 million units of vinyl in 2023. That’s up 11.7% on last year, which is a larger increase than the year before: 2.9%. However from the the BPI provisional report the CD market has sustained its smallest annual decline in nearly a decade this year as it moves closer to plateauing at nearly 11 million CDs. So in volume terms 11 million CDs vs 5.9 million vinyl units. That´s a 2.:1 ratio approx in favour of CDs. Revenue from vinyl is greater that CDs because vinyl sells for more on average per unit. For example, Taylor Swift 1899 album can retail at 14 pounds on CD compared to its vinyl equivalent at 34 pounds. A headline of CDs continue to outsell vinyl in sheer volume doesn´t sound sexy enough for the articles written.

[@AudioMasterclass]

You're not wrong, but I chose the more fun approach.

[@joesmith4443]

You had me at Taylor Swift’s “1889” lol. Her album is 1989 her birth year. Millennials are so self referential. Her songs are either about her love life or teen life. Nice Freudian slip… had me in stitches 🤣

[@jazzydog5635]

@@joesmith4443 Ah yes ...its the limited edition victoriana steampunk version😊

[@joesmith4443]

@@jazzydog5635 After making 1989, Taylor Swift was inspired by the Back to the Future Part II and made the 1889 Taylor’s version.

[@AudioMasterclass]

@@joesmith4443 Did I say that? I must be showing my age.

[@joelcarson9514]

I'm old and retired. Which means economically, I have to be quite judicious about both money and time. A system for getting the most out of vinyl records is expensive, involving not just speakers and an amplifier, but a quality turntable, a proper cartridge and stylus that must be replaced periodically and a RIAA phono preamp to match the quality of the other items. Then there's the vinyl discs themselves, not exactly a bargain, but instead a boutique item. And the third problem, the care and feeding of the vinyl every time you want to play one. Clean the record, often with more boutique and specialty gadgets, handling the discs as though they were Steuben Crystal and making certain the the stylus is free of the debris from the last record. This is the time element. I may be retired, but I am quite aware that at some unknown time in the future, I have an expiration date. The less time I spend in a tiresome ritual, the more time I do have to enjoy playing either my CD's or their contents on my NAS. Also, a number of my current batch of CD's have arrived second hand, so, less expense. According to the use of several online hearing tests through two different sets of headphones, my hearing is approximately that of someone about fifteen years my junior, up to around 12 KHZ then zippo. Realistically, Spotify is good enough for my hearing anyway. This is not to say I'm not nostalgic about things, I am, but though with age not always coming with wisdom, it does come with a certain appreciation for utility and convenience. You kids get off my lawn.

[@donjohnstone3707]

We who are old in years know life is too short and doing what we can to avoid wasting time is important. Making the most of what time we have left means finding more interesting, effective and adventurous ways to enjoy what we like, without the fuss and bother of doing things the old fashioned way that we had become habituated to repeating. The old ways can be too fiddly, expensive, not supported, lower quality and unnecessary. As they say; "it's out with old and in with new". Those who fail to keep up with the times, risk being buried in the dust of a redundant, no longer relevant past from a bygone era. Experiencing renewal, by upgrading our lifestyle, can give us a new invigorating boost to our tired ideas and outlooks, giving our lives more energy and positive motivation going forward.

[@tbrobison]

One more thing, vinyl albums are heavy, take up more space than CD's, and therefore, have a much larger carbon footprint than CD's. Whereas digital downloads weigh nothing accept the electricity it costs to send them. A fraction of a penny, probably.

[@richardhancock6235]

Despite Miss Swift being one of the richest people in the world her record label will not include any of her martial in discount or sales. I listen to Vinyl and lossless streaming. The sound quality of lossless streaming is of course vastly superior to vinyl, however what it doesn't supply is the ritual. Going into a record store with it particular smell and look. Spending an hour flicking through creates in the hope of finding some treasure, then taking the album home pouring a good single malt, removing it from the sleeve cleaning it, firing up the turntable and then siting back listen to the music, admire the album art, reading the sleeve notes an sipping the whiskey. Then when finished putting the album in a transparent sleeve and filing alphabetically or by genre on dedicated shelves knowing you now physically own a little bit of music history. That's why I still buy and listen to vinyl.

[@dischiesoda6955]

One can do the same with CDS. I do, and I reaily enjoy doing it.

[@Ni5ei]

Many people only buy vinyl to collect. They keep it in the shrinkwrap and listen to music on Spotify. CD buyers buy CD's to listen to them and/or rip them to their computer. I love Taylor Swift and have all her CD's but not a single vinyl record. I don't like vinyl 😎 (gen X by the way)

[@DavidMander-rs4uk]

Why buy that inferior vinyl format when you can have the superior format of CD!! 😆👍

[@MrGhostown81]

I prefer my music recorded from a cheap off-brand radio onto an old chewed up ferric cassette tape. The only true way to enjoy "1989 (Taylor's Version)" is with a lot of hiss and a ton of wow and flutter. 😆

[@suekennedy8917]

Chrome tape!😃🥰❤💯👍

[@davidspendlove5900]

Yeah it was more fun then.

[@MrDiamondFlyer]

@@suekennedy8917 Not true !!! Real Audio Cassette fans will tell you that you must record a bit hot on a type I tape without Dolby NR to experience the warm analogue feeling... For me, indeed, it was XL-IIs, SA-X, UX-S and Dolby, but I guess I was on a different mission. Anyway, I'll never miss those unreliable volume or bias level potentiometers, the azimuth problems etc...

[@anonamouse5917]

Thanks a lot, loudness war. An entire generation now has CDPTSD.

[@ValentinDona]

The reason of this madness is simple. Many CD-s are worst mastered as the vinyl versions. Dynamic compression at 9 LUFS, instead of 16-19 LUFS on vinyl, clipping, and so on.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

I would call myself a multi format man. Download to try an album and for convenience, CD for its lower cost and when I really want to enjoy an album it’s got to be vinyl. I have to admit though you need a good system to get the best out of vinyl.

[@nickdryad]

Another thing ruined by the man. Buying records. There’s no way I’m paying A$80 for a record. Technically I’m a boomer who didn’t sell their vinyl in the 80’s but continued collecting up until the Vinyl reissue mania when you could get vinyl for reasonable money. I bought Beatles Live at the BBC in the 1990’s for $40. The average price for a second hand record was between $5-15. Even rare ones were only about $50. Point is they are overpriced and the market is for cashed up millennials and boomers. Not me. I’m retired and have limited budget. The music is important. I buy op shop CDs and believe me they are often even free. As a reference point a Big Mac in the 1990’s cost about A$3.00. Piracy is on the rise again for the reasons outlined here. Everything is too expensive, too many streaming services, too many subscription business models. Stop listening to the recording and start listening to the music. A shellac recording in good condition gives me as much pleasure as a Mobile fidelity record.

[@bananaskin7527]

I gave up my vinyl and went to CDs. I do not wish to switch again. Maybe if Verve and CTI come back.

[@oijans]

I have only recently discovered your channel and have listened to a handful of your audio contemplation videos. I love having someone professional confirming my perception of the quality of audio equipment, production, transmission and listening experience. There's no need for people who don't have plenty of money to waste too much on too expensive devices that don't really produce better sound we are able to hear. It's very much like computer science, crap in - crap out or shit in - shit out. What you like when listening to your music is what is the most important. Fake marketing to boost prices is a scam in every field of technology. The best challenge to me is to find the best sound I like for as little money as I can care to pay. But we all get suckered into spending a little more than planned sometimes because feelings trumps technical knowledge once in a while.

[@TheYuhasz01]

These revenue figures are from new item sales, not used items. CD market is a used item market overwhelmingly.

[@MohsinWadee]

Wrong, the sales figures are for new units of vinyl and CD.

[@johnbrentford5513]

@@MohsinWadee CD market is a used item market overwhelmingly.

[@martineyles]

The used CD market appears to be shrinking, at least compared to the used DVD market. Just go to any CEX over the last few years and you would have seen the ratios change. However, CEX doesn't appear to stock any vinyl, so that comparison is harder to make. I personally buy more new CDs than 2nd hand, though less than I used to.

[@ohwhyevenbother]

@@johnbrentford5513 It is now!

[@MyouKyuubi]

@@johnbrentford5513 CD's lifespan is too small for it to be viable as a used market, so... no... you're wrong.

[@JeffHopkins76]

when i introduced my great nephew to sound of a record, he got it immediately. then he understood what the difference was. while with streaming or cd, he would listen to a song, but with a record, it required more, like a whole side. then he realized that he got into the music deeper and listened to the lyrics. today he has his own system, records and love of music. yes he still listens to cd's and streaming, but knows that the quality isn't the same. btw, i have had more than a few cd's that quit playing, desegrated or just started skipping on their own. unless a record is broken or terribly warped, they will still play. i have albums over 80 years old and still play just fine.

[@Music2Die4]

People prefer what they prefer...... I personally get good results from both vinyl and CD..... The problem with vinyl is that CD will outperform it if the vinyl rig is not set up with the alignments fine tuned for optimal performance (tracking force, tracking angle, anti-skate, azimuth, level patter etc.)..... The problem with CD is that most playback rigs don't sound particularly good. (And the ones that do sound good don't seem to have a price correlation.) Although I prefer vinyl over CD if the vinyl rig is set up to exacting alignments, such set up requires a learning curve and a working knowledge of the physics behind those alignments. And without the set up to exacting tolerances, or the experience to fine tune these alignments, then good CD playback will outperform vinyl playback.

[@rubellanremasters3888]

I'll give you a real-world example that the vinyl revival is overhyped nonsense that is only impacted by large artists and not the format in general. I am a third-party reissue label and have been doing releases for six years. I started reissuing vinyl in 2021. Aside from one band, which sells about the same amount on CD as vinyl, the majority of other titles sell 3-4 times more copies on CD than on vinyl. I can struggle to move a few hundred copies of a vinyl title that has sold over 1000 copies on CD. Last year, the main major label I license from quietly cancelled all of my outstanding CD reissue requests. When I finally got a response from them, they said they want to focus more on vinyl licenses. After a few months of frustration because vinyl manufacturing is a constant frustrating pain of poor quality control and battles to get an adequate product, I told the major label that if CDs are going to remain no longer an option then I would need them to cancel all of my vinyl requests as well because I had no interest in being a vinyl-only label, and was planning to start shutting down. They came back and said CD reissues will resume being an option. While I have yet to see any proof of that, if it isn't a modern day hit maker or dinosaur classic rock veteran, you aren't going to move all that much on vinyl. CDs have accounted for 2/3-3/4 of my overall sales since 2018.

[@AudioMasterclass]

Thank you for your contribution. Very interesting.

[@middleman9183]

If I buy an all analogue 'one step' vinyl record, mastered by one of the best engineers in the world, why would I want to listen to something that has been converted to a digital file??

[@Anybloke]

I'm 62 and have been collecting since the 70s. I bought records up until about the turn of the millennium when it was still possible to get LPs cheap at record fairs as no-one wanted them. Nowadays I tend to buy CDs or downloads from Bandcamp as they sound better and are cheaper. And I can't stand Taylor sodding Swift.

[@ericberger6966]

Most of LP buyers are to young for CD but gullible enough for Vinyl.

[@dtz1000]

You and a lot of people here, including this old geezer youtuber, really do need to do some research because you are all spouting rubbish.

[@JohnHoranzy]

I think it more about how the end product is engineered.Just because it was published on CD does not mean it was properly engineered. In the 90s, some republished vinyl to CD albums were done very poorly.

[@straymusictracksfromdavoro6510]

Completely agree, the 1990's was the start of the "loudness wars" where the dynamic range was squashed out of everything in an attempt to make it so much louder Many "remastered" albums and "greatest hits" collections had their life squeezed right out of them to the detriment of the original material.

[@donjohnstone3707]

As we know, anyone can make CD's if they have the equipment and consequently the results run the gamut of quality from excellent to terrible. I try to stick with the labels which consistently produce high quality CD's of the music I like, although some little known labels make very good quality CD's as well.

[@straymusictracksfromdavoro6510]

@@donjohnstone3707 Agreed, I've heard some absolute shockers. However, by the same token, not every vinyl record released featured immaculate sound, and not just independent releases either. Back in the 70s when I could hear a far wider frequency range than now in my early dotage, I bought some LP's that, no matter how much I played with the sliders on my parametric graphic equalizer, I still couldn't decipher the vocals or hear the rhythm guitar and other instruments from within the rather dense mix. I also encountered some pressings that were inherently noisy and substandard.

[@tonynew3047]

Yes - when buying music ( cd or vinyl ) you need to do your homework regarding the better pressings etc. Not all music is mastered to the same standard. Some are absolute shockers.

[@joesmith4443]

@@straymusictracksfromdavoro6510 unfortunately we are in the minority 😞

[@marxman00]

Unless its 8track cartridge im not playing

[@joesmith4443]

I had one custom made for my car system, it goes up to 11 and no one is allowed to look at it!

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

can I touch it?@@joesmith4443

[@usswia]

Haven't bought a Vinyl since Iron Maiden's The Number of The Beast picture disc in 1982. I still enjoy looking at it but haven't played it in 30 years.

[@EricB256]

It's a community thing, I suppose. Over here in Europe, fashionable people definitely believe the hype about LPs. They can also hunt them down in physical stores and at record fairs, which is fun. People are less likely to want to do that with a medium that is (sadly) looked down upon for no apparent reason other than some bad mastering jobs which some hit albums have received in the medium's prime, and have given the medium a bad rep that oddly persists to this day. In a way, the image of CD is like that of ELO to post-punk journalism. Looks like snobbery and psychological disconnect can sell inferior product in droves.

[@mansurkhan2764]

Vinyl costs about 3 times as much probably on average as a CD, lol. So there you have the price difference. In other words, if you do the simple math roughly as many LPs (Vinyl) were sold as CDs in the USA, in 2022, according to the RIIA (maybe I got the acronym wrong that you cited). Problem solved !!!

[@thvsch8381]

I’m not willing to pay more than 15 euros for a vinyl album. Luckily i can still find many fine albums in the sale section of my local record store within that price range, both new and second hand. I guess my luck is i’m not into mainstream popular music, because those vinyl releases will cost you way more. But the amount of amazing cds in deluxe or special boxed version you can currently find for 15 euros max is as exciting. And the second hand cd market offers so many treasures for dirt cheap. Depending on my budget i decide to go for a cd or vinyl release. Both give me the same enjoyment.

[@earl007]

The reason vinyl outsells cd is they keep remastering old vinyl and re packaging it. You got one step, 45 rpm, 180 g vinyl, one with analog productions one with mo fi etc. Watch any KZbin album review and the chance is it is a new re release of an album that already has five different releases. And this satisfies the vinyl heads who love the original right through the tenth re release. People like analog productions have cottoned on to a weak link that rich vinyl collectors have and are smiling from ear to ear. Still can’t get away from the true fact that vinyl has down side with its hiss and pop.

[@edwinhurwitz6792]

I don't think vinyl sounds better, but it's fun, especially for the inferior sound quality, extra maintenance, and expense, but I buy new music on vinyl. I already have the old stuff, some of which I have bought on CD or as hi res files.

[@JanPatrickLucas]

Very enlightening Sir. You are bang on! I want vinyl to win. I want it to sound better than cd, but it does not! Yes, sound "better" is subjective. From an audiophile's perspective who is seeking the highest fidelity, cd is supereior. I've uprgraded phono preamps, cartridges, styluses, and entire tables etc., several times over trying desperrately for records to surpass my Marantz sa-10 cd player. At times certain audiophile pressings, generally 2lp versions, have perhaps sounded marginally "better" but we're talking way less than 1%. This is based on my own experience of course. I still buy vinyl, and very often both cd and Lp's for artists I'm big on. If I want to enjoy vinyl and lie to myself that it's better, I'll set up my Wharfedale Linton's rather tham my higher end spearkers. The Lintons marvel with vinyl. So then it's the spearkers not vinyl right? Well with those I tend to want to listen to vinyl more. Something about the combination. Some higher findelity speakers I have, simply don't sound good with vinyl... Bottom line is I'm tired of hearing undeducated, inexperienced people claim that vinyl is the ultimate in sonic playback. I'm an audiophile, music lover, and have purchased physical media forever. I do not stream. I've bought and listened to all formats, and can confidently claim that cd is the highet quality, most reliable, purest and most consistent. I've witnessed the little girls and parents in the record stores gushing and rushing over Taylor Swift Lp's, to run home and play it on their Crosley junk table...I shake my head and think how mislead they are, and how ridiculous it is. I'm not a Taylor Swift fan either. I don't get what all the fuss is about. I don't think she's that talented, nor do I think the music is all that good. I'm 53 though, so I suppose I'm just getting to be, or am an old geezer lol. I'm just as foolish and guilty though, I guess, becasue I'm still buying vinyl myself. I keep thinking I'll make an adjustment to my system which will finally bring the vinyl to new heights... I suppose it's not just about the sound quality, though, either as discussed here. Yes, there's definitely something attractive about it aside from it's sonic property. I just can't quite put my fingert on it...? Ha that's it! I'll correct myself and say that I can put my finger on it! Nice to have those big covers and records in the hands... Cheers!

[@kaycordingly2437]

I’m a Gen-Xer and I collect vinyl over cds now for a few reasons. I grew up with cassettes and later compact discs. But I miss having sides A & B from the cassette days. This also makes records just a little more hands-on, which is why I prefer interacting with vinyl over cds. I also like having bigger artwork to display above the record player when I’m listening to an album. I appreciate the better dynamic range records offer, as modern cds can often sound grating to my ears (I’m not an audiophile though so I don’t have an expensive setup). I’m sure there are more reasons that I haven’t thought of. Oh! And also it's a great way to support independent artists. I do have a couple of Taylor Swift records but probably 80% of my vinyl comes from Bandcamp.

[@9Dunk]

As long as they keep making CDs, I'll go along with the LP resurgence. Why? It makes the CDs cheap. As for why LPs are popular again? Most likely, it's marketing. CDs became popular because they were marketed as superior. Smaller, better sounding, more durable, etc. LPs are marketed in just about the opposite way. A nice, big album cover to look at, this "ritual" that enthusiasts talk about, and "warm" sounding with all the little crackles and pops (some even go a step further and talk about rounded sound waves instead of digital squared off ones... then my eyes glaze over). I've also read a few things online (anecdotal) saying that labels are pushing for LP releases over CD. The $40 vs $13 price tag is why. PLUS, copying an LP is more difficult than copying a CD, both in terms of quality and time required. Therefore, copying is discouraged by practical means rather than just saying "DON'T DO IT!" PLUS, LPs can degrade each time you play it and can be damaged via regular use (bumping the turntable while playing, being careless and dropping the needle in the middle of a track, burping too aggressively, etc.). So, people would have to buy a new one if their first one is ruined somehow. Companies are out to make a profit, and they will do whatever they can to maximize that profit. LPs seem to be the latest push by record companies to maximize their profit.

[@jntdad]

I have no idea regards better medium - I was raised with Vinyl and I have an affinity with the medium of my formative years. I am a male rural married retiree who grows veg as a hobby. Funnily the supermarket pre-washed and flawless veg is cheaper and better looking too, but I prefer to dig, sow, plant grow, tend, water, weed, harvest and wash. The cost of pots, tools, bagged compost, fertiliser and insecticides (organic of course) makes the home grown veg cost similar or more and the product looks - well - wonky. But I want to grow more and buy less because the end product has more of me in it and I enjoy it more for that fact. Vinyl records are more demanding to play and cost more but the engagement and effort appears to fall into the more you put in the more you get out category perhaps?. As an aside I would like to ask a question that I hope someone may be able to shed light on. Why oh why are new LPs being made so poorly in a lot of cases (not all). I have a new version (fresh 180 gram collectors version) of the Moody Blues "Threshold of a Dream" I purchased it to save my original purchased in the late sixties - but blow me, my 1969 version with 55 years of life and usage sounds better - how - why? when will someone do something about this. I guess I would buy more vinyl if I had confidence in the current vinyl offerings.

[@radman8321]

Lots of young people buy vinyl because all they have to compare it to is the digital audio they were brought up with on crappy earbuds. They think vinyl sounds excellent. Many of them have never listened to CDs on a proper hi-fi.

[@davidspendlove5900]

Most have never listened to a proper hi fi and don’t want to.Most young people will look at my set up with puzzlement.

[@prowlingfrost5588]

@@davidspendlove5900 also proper/decent "hi fi" stereo system doesnt need to be expensive. but yes it seems mobile phone or one speaker is enough for most.

[@jasonhoffer9017]

I recently opened a record store, I consider myself an audiophile and see all the formats (including streaming, cassettes, 8-tracks, 78s, etc.) all valid and have there strengths and weakness. I love vinyl for the sound (I would argue, all things equal, currently, the best sounding format), large artwork, the starting point (original format) of a lot of music I listen to. Compact Disks also have their strengths like better storage (than vinyl but worse than streaming), the bonus material only available on CD (bonus tracks are much more prevalent on cd than vinyl) and DACs are constantly improving. Streaming has convenience and no commitment - some of it's weaknesses are it's impermanence (modified, reduced and/or taken away at any moment). I also dislike that you are tied to "being connected" and that it is similar to having a gym membership in that it drains your finances at a consistent rate with zero returns in physical ownership for that investment. For me the biggest short coming is, I dislike looking at screens all day and night, I dislike having to deal with computer updates, apps, reboots, bitrates, advertising, pop ups, blue light, constant surveillance (and all the major trappings with that including letting algorithms serve/ probably manipulating for their own good, dictating my tastes and my mental and artistic direction). The worst thing about streaming is that I find because I have so many options immediately on a whim, I am less engaged in the music and it adds rather than subtracts to my scatter brain (lack of attention) modern life drains me of. I spend most of my time engaged in what I am going to play next or what music is "perfect" for how I am feeling at this moment rather than just listening to music. Great video and thanks for taking the time to make it,

[@dtz1000]

Don't sing his praises too much as he thinks you are not intelligent if you prefer vinyl. He said as much in the comments.

[@edwinhurwitz6792]

I would agree in general, except for 8 tracks (and with your streaming analysis. Qobuz sounds great, is not crazy expensive, you can purchase the music, and has turned me on to a ton of music which I would have not otherwise heard. It also allows me to listen to the music I have on 45+ year old vinyl in much better quality.). They are an abomination that never should have gone to market.

[@jasonhoffer9017]

@@edwinhurwitz6792 8-Tracks are cool only as curiosity/nostalgic items. Does Qobuz have a large catalog of Classical?

[@obsprisma]

I have around 50 vinyl albums that are not on any streaming service nor on CD. And it's growing. So i keep my collection because vinyl is lasting longer than CD ( CD rot) with a good record player and an associated cartridge.

[@firststspeedway-hotwheelsr3545]

I have not seen cd rot yet, although I've heard some talk about it. I have around 600 CDs, about 20% from the mid to late 80's ..... haven't seen CD rot of any of my CDs yet ..... can't say that my albums have stayed in as good of condition, but then again they're a dozen years older than those 80's Cds

[@lozu8947]

I think this cd rot issue is way overblown; I have never had an issue with cd rot and I have many many many CDs from the 80’s - still sound great.

[@analogueman5364]

I think CD rot relates to blank discs. Had plenty of those go off over the years. But never an original disc.

[@davidspendlove5900]

I think this applies to early cds.

[@LordWaterBottle]

With how cheap digital storage has become(there are 32BG SD cards sold directly by Amazon for $7 and 64GB cards from Best Buy for $11.), I would love to see a new chip-based physical audio format. It needs to play without an internet connection or DRM, needs to be at least as durable as an SD card (preferable more so), likely without moving parts for playback. It would ideally be small enough to be space efficient compared to CDs or Cassettes, but needs to be large enough to still feel like a "tea ceremony" like physical formats of the past, maybe about the size of a GameBoy Advance cartridge. It needs to cost the same or less than CDs, but have 24 bit .flac or .wav files that can be easily copy/pasted to any computer with a simple USB cable, no DRM. All it really needs to do to succeed is to market itself as a better way to support artists than streaming while actually owning your library. People want ownership again.

[@mondoenterprises6710]

Um, I just ultrasonically cleaned my 1975 self purchased original 1st press RCA lp of Bowie's Station to Station. I've played it on a suitcase and rack systems over the years prolly 100's times. Plays like I bought it yesterday with minimal basic Disc Washer cleaning thru the 50! years and puts the 1999 cd remaster to shame.

[@MC-jv6fs]

YEs. This is another fact which u can observe, when u have the old pressings, comparing it to the "remasterd" plastic sound.

[@piynubbunyip]

As you probably know Stylus shapes cause wear on different parts of the groove wall depending on how they sit. Perhaps your current setup is sitting nicely on an unworn section. On the other hand you may just look after your records and track at the right weight.

[@suekennedy8917]

Vinyl power!🥰😍💘💝💯👍💪

[@Wuppie62]

The difference you hear is probably in the mastering, not the medium. About analog vs digital: most modern LP's are mastered digital.. With the right equipment, both mediums can sound great, bith having their own challenges. For me convenience and costs are big factors as well, so I don't buy any solid mediums at all. I download occasionally and stream mostly.

[@tones4073]

Vinyl is outselling CD almost 3 to 1. RIAA figures by format 2023. The sales volume for the CD format equalled 37.0M. The sales volume for the LP/EP format equalled 43.2M.

[@Dr23rippa]

I think most people who prefer Vinyl, its not because it sounds better but they grew up with that sound. Much like for me was CD i caught the last part of tape but rewinding that took ages and CD solved that issue...Then mp3 came right in and solved all sorts...

[@FinnleysAudioAdventures]

I echo a lot of the points you made where it is nostalgia mostly. I have fond memories of listening to records with my dad. But it is also being able to physically hold something in my hands, look at the detail of the art work, and the record sleeves. A lot of that is lost on the CD releases. Except for being able to hold a CD in your hands. There is also the kinetic aspect of a record I enjoy. Being able to watch it reproduce the music in a purely mechanical means is more magical to me than converting a bunch of bits into audio through a CD, which for the most part we can’t see moving, or pulling from, the ether in a streaming service. Lastly, if I do what a physical copy of the music I listen to, the bands I like will often release them to record over CD. Some are even going to more niche formats like mini disc and record before CD.

[@martineyles]

You stated vinyl revenues are about 3 times CD revenues. You also give an example of a vinyl album that is about 3 times the price of the CD version. If this is typical, then it's very likely that the number of CD albums sold is quite similar to the number of vinyl albums sold. Of course this could be a large outlier and doesn't consider 12", 10" and 7" vinyl singles.

[@QuinnKallisti]

They have unit figures as well as total sales figures mate...

[@martineyles]

@@QuinnKallisti ok, but I have no idea what the unit numbers are or where they can be seen, so I'm going by the available information at the time of writing the comment - the information in the video.

[@QuinnKallisti]

@@martineyles No offense, but for you to continue to hold the opinion you do, relies on a fundamental personal misunderstanding of the information in the video... moreover, indicates you have no capacity to extrapolate from incomplete datasets, and are also entirely helpless in the face of such adversity, because the source of the information was revealed, it comes from the RIAA....

[@QuinnKallisti]

@@martineyles The percentage of sales of cd to vinyl is around 85.6% in favour of vinyl as a total figure, so it is not as you say, congruent, but I would say statistically insignificant as to give creedence to your original statements validity. Anyway, here is one of the top results after googling "RIAA cd sales versus vinyl" www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/2023-Year-End-Revenue-Statistics.pdf You are already on the internet, why not take the two seconds to confirm your suppositions to illicit them with more authority.

[@martineyles]

@@QuinnKallisti OK, I have looked at the YEAR-END 2023 RIAA REVENUE STATISTICS, which show 37 million CD units vs 43.2 million LP/EP units, or expressed as a percentage, CDs selling 86% as well as vinyl in terms of units. I don't think, "quite similar" is a mischaracterization at all, especially as I had already noted that the estimate relied on this being a typical case rather than an outlier, and giving an example of a potential outlier. I think my credentials for extrapolating from incomplete data sets are intact - especially as you have to know and state that outliers may affect the results.

[@straymusictracksfromdavoro6510]

Very interesting, I don’t want get into the vinyl versus digital debate, each to their own, but I think one aspect driving the new vinyl market is maybe overlooked. In the town where I live, we recently had a (Vinyl) Record Fair, which was enthusiastically promoted and reported in the local newspaper. I didn’t attend but from the newspaper report and photos therein, it looked well attended, more power to them. I did, however, read a quote in the newspaper that highlighted an aspect of this wave of popularity that had not occurred to me. A young gentleman who attended was quoted as saying that he is buying vinyl because when you play it, (presumably through his newly acquired sound system), it sounds so much better than streamed music played through his phone and listened to with earbuds. Well, blow me down, who’d have thought - really!!? I’d think anything, anything at all, shellacs, vinyl, cassette tapes, reel to reel tapes, CDs, digital streams and digital downloads of all specifications would sound better even on an average sound system compared to what you hear through your earbuds from your phone. So, I’d think to be fair when making any comparison judgement that it’s always good to compare apples to apples, so to speak, (not that Apple!). My point being that probably a large part of this new market, certainly of the younger market, has never owned a sound system, stereo or hi-fi system and at best may have blue-toothed the streamed data from their phone to some portable single speaker system for non-earbud listening, so they have never heard any of the formats played by decent gear in a reasonable stereo listening environment. So now of course the vinyl sounds better relative to their previous experience and apart from how cool it is to get on the bandwagon, they may now be actually experiencing listening to some music played on real speakers, without the distraction of being on the train, in traffic, jogging or whatever, and begin to appreciate just how wonderful it is.

[@Jeff-wb3hh]

I bought classical vinyl records from 1972 to about 1983, when CDs came out. I immediately moved to CDs because they sounded so much better and there were no ticks and pops, or cleaning required. I fell in love with the quiet background and brilliant undistorted sound. I continued to buy vinyl until about 1985 when I just gave up on all those tick and pops even after cleaning the records very well. I still buy CDs, but I mostly buy classical SACD multi-channel now because I love the surround sound concert like experience. BEAUTIFUL.

[@dtz1000]

SACD > Vinyl > CD

[@Jeff-wb3hh]

@@dtz1000 I don't understand what you are trying to say.

[@dtz1000]

@@Jeff-wb3hh I'll translate. SACD is better than vinyl which is better than the CD.

[@Jeff-wb3hh]

@@dtz1000 Ah, That is what I thought, but I respectfully disagree. In my opinion it's this: SACD (multi-channel only) > CD > Vinyl. To my ears CDs (44.1kH/16-bit) is far superior to vinyl and I determined that by double blind comparison back in the 1980's by comparing my vinyl records to the same remastered ADD and AAD recordings on CD, as well as DDD recordings released on vinyl as well as CD. SACD is superior only because I can now hear the music in surround sound which gives a depth perspective with the 5.0 channels. However, when listening to the 2-channel SACD layer and comparing it to the CD layer there is no difference to my ears.🙂

[@IndigoDavei]

I rarely buy music on vinyl or CD these days - but I do make the occasional purchase in one or other of those formats. Mostly I buy downloads (and I stream to audition). IF I had a strong preference for vinyl, it would because of the format's inability to handle excessive compression/limitation - that flaw in the format benefits the music. I also have a lingering memory of the bodily tension I used to experience with CDs back in the '80s - they sounded great, but it was too exhausting to have a long listening session (that situation improved somewhat in the '90s with a new player). So, yes, I am fairly well disposed towards vinyl - but not well enough disposed for it make much of an impact. It's not exactly a convenient format (though it's a bit quicker to get a record on the turntable than it is to thread a tape on a vertical reel-to-reel machine). Anyway, I'm not sure I belong to a demographic that interests the industry (though I don't think those Welsh-language labels begrudge getting an occasional sale in England).

[@jamesw5584]

I recently bought a deck and a load of 60-70s vinyl. Mainly because most of the music i like is from that era and I wanted to hear what it would have sounded like back then, so I also built a class a amp for full effect and hooked it up to some 70s wharfdales. I decided to build my own phono pre-amp using the RIAA standards having bought one or two online an wasn't impressed and quickly came to realise that these filter stages have a huge impact on the sound. Since they are working like a tone control, changing the resistance values and capacitor values even slightly massively alters the filter response. I am now convinced that this is why people like vinyl, because the riaa filter stage used to reproduce the sound and the recording process combined makes it sound almost like turning up the bass and the treble and that is the case even when using the riaa standards and component values matched to meet those standards, i modelled it first and built the perfect riaa filter in sim but it still sounds to me like there is an EQ effect, its an appealing affect and i quite like the sound.

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

for sound quality and ease of use CDs win hands down every time. But for the whole listening "experience" (i.e the artwork, sleeve notes, liner art, etc) then a 12" vinyl LP is a superior format. Ultimate sound quality doesn't really bother me. I'm no audiophile and as long as it sounds nce and gets my foot a-appin' then I'm a happy boy 🙂

[@martynanstis1620]

You beat me to it. I’ve just recommissioned my 80s amp and speakers after a bit of fettling with a speaker binding post. The sound from my new Eversolo DMP A6 sounds fine to me. I didn’t recommission my systemdek IIX as my album collection is depleted through theft from the same era and I can’t be bothered with the expense and the fiddle faddle of purchasing a medium that will not sound as good as my now extensive CD collection. I understand those who do, artwork liner notes etc and the joy of sitting down with the sleeve as you listen. Not for me now. Tidal and my ripped CD’s is good enough.

[@dtz1000]

I can't believe we are still talking as if CD is a decent format. CD is a terrible format. It cuts out the ultrasonics emitted by musical instruments. These problems of CDs were being discussed back in the 1980s, but here we are over 30 years later and we still haven't moved on to vastly superior formats such as DSD or SACD. It's a real shame.

[@B0BHW]

I worked for several UK major record companies through the '70s, '80s and '90s. During those 30 years I collected thousands of LPs (vinyl albums) then progressively added CD versions of each title to my collection as they became available. Mainly because the CDs sounded better and it was more difficult to damage them. Stupidly, I'm now buying LPs again. Memory lane. I just like LPs. More than I like CDs. Yep, give me the gift of vinyl. As my wife will tell you, it'll also get me sit still for 20 minutes... because I can't be assed to get up and lift the stylus off until the side finishes.

[@peterkutas1176]

I was so glad to ditch vinyl in favour of CD's. No rumble, scratches or distortion. Listening to CDs you could hear only the music without the inherent noises associated with vinyl...

[@stratocat9999]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video, as always! Lots of laughs, to be sure! And as a 'Boomer', it really was hilarious! Personally, being retired from 30 odd years as a mastering engineer, I trend toward buying Hi Res tracks (96 or 192 Khz 24bit) as opposed to either a CD or LP. But I do still buy the occasional LP as it may the only way to get a particular mix or album. No matter, any LP I buy is archived as 96 khz 24 bit (fully refurbed Technics SP15 wit the bog standard and vastly underrated Audio Technica ATP-12T). I often buy the CD quality version of an album if no HD version exists, as I do not necessarily need the hard copy. Then there is the 'legacy' of original pressings with 'that sound' which, again, I archive to Hi Res digital. I'm the exception and I know it. I do not have a streaming subscription and no desire to have one. My library is large enough and I own it. But for the rest, especially for new releases, to anyone that asks, I always suggest buying the CD over the over-priced LP if ownership is desired. I have bought perhaps 'one' new LP, and that was a re-issue, in last 5 years. But I have been gifted some as well. My thought is one day the younger vinyl/analog zealots may wake up one day and find they have been taken for a very expensive ride. Will CD come back? I think so. There is already a resurgence in interest, but mostly in the used market, for now.

[@AudioMasterclass]

As a mastering engineer of a mature vintage, real music lovers and audiophiles would probably wish you would teach the young whipper-snappers a thing or two.

[@stratocat9999]

@@AudioMasterclass 🤣

[@ChrisFaa]

It's a moot point. The only reason vinyl recently eclipsed CDs is because CDs are almost dead. We are arguing about the comparison between an almost dead medium and a niche hobby. It's apples and oranges. I'm not sure there's much to learn.

[@prowlingfrost5588]

maybe in the USA, just like the vinyl was back in the 90s. But for the rest of world, CD is well alive and kickin.

[@ChrisFaa]

@@prowlingfrost5588 I’m in Australia. CDs are on the low down here. Australians are typically enthusiastic and progressive tech users. The youth here primarily stream music on their phones.

[@ac81017]

Was that Audio Phil's mother at the end?? I'm an Audiophile with good room acoustics and good speakers. I stream with Qobuz and still buy cd's which i rip on to my streamer's storage. Vinyl is mostly just nostalgia. It's soon record store day here in Sweden. Was there last year with a couple of mates, we stood in a queue 4 hours before opening time. And when the doors opened there was a hell of a rush, completely crazy.

[@andymouse]

I think its his Gran.

[@OrdinaryWorld]

I'm still buying CDs whenever I can, even for UK based bands where I need to get them imported to the US. Although I instantly rip to MP3, the CDs are my backup. I still have a lot of vinyl from the old days but don't buy anything new on vinyl as it doesn't make practical sense.

[@jimc9823]

Taylor is missing her big demographic - the 8 track tape crowd. She needs an 8 track tape release like Dolly Parton did, a couple years back. At least Dolly can sing.

[@suekennedy8917]

Yes! 8 track forever!😃🥰😍😋🥲💖💪👍

[@daleboylen6427]

No, just Us "audiophiles" are just nuts. Not the rest of the world. We spend the big bucks on turntables, tone arms, cartridges and records because we love the inferior to digital sound quality. Seems odd that so many the world over have switched from easy peasy streaming, to easy cd's and SACD's back to vinyl. Pain in the ass vinyl. 45 rpm vinyl too. Flipping the record every few songs vinyl. I wonder why we do it? Insanity. Can't be sound quality, can it? Yo McCartney looking dude, maybe you could star a 12 step program for us insane people who have vinyl addictions.

[@salmorreale7900]

Fun. Thank you for posting.

[@lindab5235]

I'm approaching age 70. I'm familiar with 78s, vinyl, 8 track, cassettes, CDs . . . what have you. CDs are definitely the best. And I can buy them used at all sorts of thrift stores from $1.00 all the way down to 25 cents. I have a HUGE collection of CDs now.

[@JL-wr8gh]

I collect both CDs and vinyl. CDs are obviously better sound quality and a more versatile, and I collect them so that I am not a slave to the vagaries of streaming services… but vinyl is just *fun*. I can easily spend £40 in a pub in an evening, but it’s nothing like as much fun as browsing vinyl in a shop, getting it home, unsealing it, admiring the cover art, enjoying the way the disc slips out of the sleeve, placing the disk on the turntable, and placing the needle down. The £40 spent in the pub literally disappears down the drain the next day, where as the vinyl lasts decades. OK, so the sound is variable, especially with Taylor Swift records, where oftentimes the pressings are bad, but it’s the fun that counts. Yes, I have all of her stuff on vinyl and CD. As an aside, you missed another category of person who collects vinyl and CDs - teenagers who can’t afford streaming subscriptions and have purchased cheap audio equipment (maybe second hand) to be able to play their favourite artist at will and on repeat.

[@enricoself2256]

I'm a CD collectors, I gave up on LP's when prices went to the roof and I had to pay 25 EUR for a used 80's "economy series" reprint of a 70's album. But 99% of my CD acquisitions over the last 10 years are from flea markets. In the yearly statics of sold CD's or LP's I account for roughly 1 or 2 CD a year. I guess my contribution is pretty limited an would not pay anyone bills.

[@davidspendlove5900]

Vinyl’s ?

[@robertjbelenger]

Vinyl has mutated from its original utilitarian purpose into a pure ''collectors item''. Many people buy vinyl records for the hell of having the closest thing to the original format, or just as an investment tool. Many collectors don't even play those things, it's like investing in gold and silver for them (I have known a few of these types myself :-). 'Nostalgia Is The Drug'. Thanks for the video.

[@lakerfan2874]

I wanted to collect Cassettes, but I couldn't find any at thrift stores after moving. I then went to CDs as a more cheaper format at any store. Plus, I can still get new releases if I want, like Hackney Diamonds and Invincible Shield. I also have a vast selection from other decades from the 50s to 00s. Vinyl is expensive, especially new records at stores. CDs are cheaper. I could get one record at Walmart for 20-30 bucks, where I could get 2-3 CDs for around the same price give or take prices.

[@donaldfraser3607]

73 year old streamer, threw all my CDs in the trash years ago, cassette collection was stolen out of my car decades ago, 8-tracks all self destructed, have never owned a record player, is vinyl what they called records in the old days?

[@davidspendlove5900]

Indeed , I always laugh when vinyl gives me so much pleasure in connecting to music.

[@phrtao]

Very entertaining ! (Your video, not Ms Swift). I have an idea, why not discount the album and sell it at $19.89 (plus tax). I listen to music on ALAC lossless files, which are ripped from CD and occassionaly SACD and played on a Linux laptop and Cambridge Audio DAC. I don't listen to streaming as such but I do listen to internet radio in the car and when cooking at home. The quality is good enough in noisy environments and I like someone else to make a selection for me. I can recommend 'Accuradio' for its variety and 'RadioParadise' for its sound quality.

[@leatherbearuk]

If you look at the actual figures you’ll find it’s not true. By units sold CD outsells vinyl, often by a huge amount. What you’re reading is sales by revenue. What led me to question the ‘narrative’ (to use a fashionable buzzword) was some news about Peter Gabriel’s new album reaching no.1 in the UK. CDs outsold vinyl 4 to 1, and vinyl sales were higher than downloads. So I started to look at the figures. It’s ‘misinformation’.

[@MichaelLisk]

I'm sitting out the vinyl revival mainly because it's overpriced. It's hard to buy a record at $30 when I can remember buying them at $3.99 in the 70s and 80s. I switched over to cds in the late 80s. As my impending demise approaches, I have plenty of records and cds to enjoy. For new music I stream (less clean-up for after I croak). Why are people doing it? It's trendy.

[@nmilutinovic]

Could it be the case that LPs are not picking up so much, but CDs have dropped in favor of streaming?

[@darrellabeyta]

who's got money to throw at vinyl?, I thought inflation was hitting most people. I prefer CD's for sure.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

I only have vinyl records for nostalgic reasons. Digital wav files, preferably masters at 24 bit 44.1kHz are my thing. And some odd CDs I have collected over the years. I did four of my own releases on vinyl records though, mostly to be able to provide a nice collectable for my fans, but also to try an get the best quality transfer as possible. Maybe you'd like a copy for your analysis and such? :)

[@meredithharvan5632]

sorry dud I did a "listen test- same song same time stamp using Vinyl , CD and streaming playing simultaneously and switching back and forth between formats- vinyl won - it was very close but you could hear it in the overtones in the ride and crash cymbals - in the backing rhythm guitar and in the nuances in the vocals. So who amI going to believe ? the experts or my own lying' ears?

[@jjcale2288]

Has the world gone insane? Yes!

[@jimbohnenkamp5082]

Don't forget...there's an extra charge for vinyl noise, clicks and pops.

[@Gamez4eveR]

Vinyl is a fun format. It is quite simply fun. I think there's a portion of people who are starting to value art beyond the immediate - album art, tangibility, ownership and thus access, artist's notes and whatnot. A personal collection of music on a shelf, dare I say, at least for some, will be more engaging than a glorified file picker And, after all, the mixing producer's work is king. I'd wager good money that a good mix with an HF cutoff at 10kHz will be an infinitely more pleasant listen than a poor mix on a completely acoustically transparent medium. Same really goes for all physical media formats. They are just more fun. Specialised equipment for music (record player, cd player, etc) also offer no distractions during a listening session! Not quite something you can say about a phone or a computer (please, no mental gymnastics about 'exercising self control').

[@EgoShredder]

I agree although physical media like LPs require a lot of storage space, especially when your collection reaches 2000 albums or more.

[@thegoldenbox]

Nailed it on the point where streaming mostly offers remastered versions. That is why as mentioned I often seek out CDs for specific versions. Also a lot of older used CDs sound great and are a bargain nowadays (as opposed to old good quality Vinyl)

[@MyouKyuubi]

Literally any version you're looking for on CD, can be found as an MP3, WAV or FLAC on the internet somewhere... :P And instead of CD's taking up space, you can just squish all MP3's, WAV's and FLAC's on a USB memory stick... it'll last decades longer than a CD's plastic would... And unlike a CD, a USB actually has repairable components, should the USB get worn down or whatever, you can just replace the parts with new parts, and keep the music already on the device... a USB memory stick also has way more memory capacity than a CD does. :P

[@thegoldenbox]

@@MyouKyuubi I do use rips of those CDs as lossless (such as FLAC) files. Some older versions are on digital stores such as Qobuz. Others only were released on a specific CD/DVD/SACD/BD. I know you can probably find these but I don’t want to pirate. Depending on your region, you still need to have the physical copy of ripped content. Also, there is some fun in collecting/physical similar to what people say about vinyl.

[@MyouKyuubi]

@@thegoldenbox Buying used CD's, is indistinguishable from piracy, from the perspective of those who created the music, as they get 0% of the money on the used market... So it is piracy, but unlike online piracy, you're spending money, giving it to random people, instead of the creators of the tracks you desire... Whereas with online piracy, you get what you want, for free, without giving your money to some random stranger selling a used-market product! I agree that you should buy when you can, but if you literally can't, then piracy is literally your only choice. :P The problem with CD's though is they wear down rather easily, they're made of flimsy plastic... So simply handling the CD's tends to wear them down over time... Of course you could always burn a copy of those CD's, but, the more copies you make of copies, the lower the quality the track becomes, as copying a track on an imperfect storage medium FROM an imperfect storage medium, tends to lessen/corrupt the quality of the track over time. So, to maintain the integrity of the quality, you have no choice but to store the tracks on some kind of digital device, like a USB flash drive, or a harddrive... And on that note, you can just play your music directly off of that device, instead of using a CD anyway... So CD's are a waste of money, and just an increase in plastic waste! : / CD's are profoundly obsolete as a digital storage medium... Vinyl is analog, so there's an argument to be made for vinyl and its analog qualities, that's why Vinyl outsells CD. :P CD is digital, and it is inferior to better digital alternatives.

[@praximan-ke8ek]

Sometimes a CD is a quarter of the price. So they are roughly selling the sell amount of copies of each!!

[@harrybaque5502]

I have accumulated around 3.5tb of music in flac format most of which I also own the CD. I listen to the cd when critically listening and stream my library for parties and hanging out with the wife. She found Sonos to be the easiest to use so we installed it throughout the whole house and I maintain a listening space for myself.

[@LetsRideIllinois]

Vinyl costs 1.5-2x as much as a CD so that's one reason the revenue is higher. The other reason is that vinyl is more widely available and prominent than CDs are. For example in my local FYE the new release vinyl section is vast and wide vs for CDs the new releases are just one easy to miss rack. Until this changes, vinyl will continue to outsell CDs.

[@joesmith4443]

In short it’s the loudness wars. Digital > Analog

[@Error2username]

The loudnesswar war between 33,3 Vs 45rpm??? Nobody ever lissen to bad recorded stuff...

[@joesmith4443]

@@Error2username ??

[@MyouKyuubi]

@@Error2username rpm?! Bro just download FLAC's and keep a USB-stick with copies of your FLAC's as a backup. Superior quality to both CD's and Vinyl, lol! Takes up less physical space anyway... But this isn't really about audio quality, or physical, space, people who buy CD's and Vinyl's are enthusiasts looking for a more old-school experience, they couldn't care less about audio quality. And CD's aren't old enough to be "in" yet, hence why Vinyl outsells CD.

[@LetsRideIllinois]

The loudness wars are overblown. If you have a good enough DAC even things like Death Magnetic (which has since been remastered and toned down) can sound good.

[@joesmith4443]

@@LetsRideIllinois I have several great DACs and It’s even more revealing of the distortion and clipping which nowadays is a feature not a bug. If you like it the ‘sound’ congrats you’re in the mainstream

[@mattmackinnon9989]

Had an argument on Reddit with someone claiming to be an artist who was trying to push that vinyl was easier to sell at his gigs, and CD offers zero benefit over a digital streaming service. Tried to point out ownership and ability to play when the internet is down (thanks AT&T) but he was adamant that more people own record players now than the Token CD owners. I gave up and went downstairs and pulled a CD out of my wall collection and has a good relaxing evening. Can’t be bothered with idiots.

[@AudioMasterclass]

Judging from comments on this and similar videos, which may or may not be a reliable source of information, many vinyl buyers just want to have the object and may not even have a player. I doubt whether CDs have this level of collectability. But that's just my commenters talking.

[@mattmackinnon9989]

@@AudioMasterclass I think you are totally correct in vinyl has become the status symbol. Oh, you listen to vinyl, you must be posh. BTW: Thankyou for all the great content you put out. I really get great enjoyment from your videos and find them totally entertaining and informative. Keep up the great work.

[@AudioMasterclass]

@@mattmackinnon9989 Your comment prompts me to reply that when I had ~700 boot sale vinyls (1000+ is a collector) it was more the case that I *could* listen to any of them at any time. Did I? Not often.

[@mattmackinnon9989]

@@AudioMasterclass please tell me that is not true. I think I’m around the 1200 CD mark. Just as long as you don’t label me as an Audiophile it will be ok. You are correct in I don’t listen to everything, just figure it’s not worth trying to trade or sell off my collection as i bought all this music for either a certain songs, or perhaps it was that I liked other works by that particular artist. Being an artist myself, I don’t begrudge spending money on new music. Recently I’ve been buying on Bandcamp and just downloading the Flac file to listen to at my pleasure.

[@AudioMasterclass]

You're a collector. You're safe, for now. Fun story though - I saw a record at a boot sale last Sunday that I fancied. I could have had it for a pound or 50p but I thought I'd listen on Spotify later. You can probably guess the rest.

[@andrewmacdonald3667]

Robert is my guy. The best sounding Swift album on vinyl is Red (TV) because its four discs are on 45rpm. They sound very nice on my LinnLP12. Thank you for your frighteningly accurate analysis. 😊

[@djtbs1]

They are charging 2 to 3 times the price for Vinyl reissue as CD, so the $$$ shouldn't count as much as the # of copies.... but I buy physical media because who knows when they are going to revoke your digital rights.

[@adammachin]

Perhaps to compete CDs just need to get physically bigger. Perhaps it’s the imperfections of vinyl that add to the appeal.

[@davidwho7847]

Being a previous owner of a $10k audiophile system, I know the sound of vinyl. That has all been replaced with a NAD CD player hooked to a Denafrips Enyo dac. I'll never return to vinyl, it's too labor/cost intensive for me. If you think vinyl sounds better, buy a better dac.

[@LeifES]

Vinyl! Why isn’t shellac records a thing? 😜

[@jimhines5145]

While we all know that technically, CDs are usually always going to sound better than vinyl (greater frequency response, less noise). However, for some CDs that are mastered BALLS TO THE WALL, the vinyl does sound better because as we all know, you cannot press this kind of sound and expect it to sound good, or even play at all for that matter. So they have to be tamed down for vinyl, which while still retaining less frequency response and higher noise floor, the dynamics are sooooo much better which makes the vinyl version better than the CD, in my opinion. One good example: My Beatles vinyl collection (mostly from late 70s early 80s), in mostly pristine condition, sounds way better than the 2009 Remastered Beatles CDs. Especially my Red Box Mono collection from 1982.

[@davidspendlove5900]

Well mastered yes , wider frequency response no.

[@peters7949]

Admittedly it’s many years since one of the top vinyl cutting rooms in London was part of the facility I was technical manager of, but the practice then was to make the CD master from the Vinyl production master (ie with all the acoustic tweaks the cutting engineer made to get the best sound out of the vinyl) so they would both have a similar sound. I would be surprised if this was not still the same today, so the vinyl of a cd that is Balls to the Wall, is probably also just as limited to death as the CD. That said it does depress me that the 96dB dynamic range of CD is wasted by compressing and limiting to death. I have the occasional habit of purchasing re-issues of classic CDs I first naughtiness the 80s (eg Sgt Pepper) where the advertising blurb claims greater dynamic range, extract wav files from the CDs & compare wave forms, in every case the newer one actually has more limiting and in fact reduced dynamic range.

[@davidspendlove5900]

@@peters7949 unfortunately true.

[@jimhines5145]

@@peters7949 Great post! Oh yeah! The 1987 Sgt Pepper release on CD was pretty horrible. As were the rest of them at the time. Very little time or effort was put into this, even though George Martin was directly involved. The 2009 remasters were not worse, but they were not better either with their own set of problems. For a while, if you saw something that said "Remastered" on it, it was probably best to not waste any time on it. That has changed in the past 5-6 years however, which is a good thing!

[@thornwithin6195]

I'm a cd lover and my collection is almost at 500! I almost got a turntable as the deluxe version of my favorite bands have picture disks as well as different colors [kinds cool as a collection]. Why I love cd. Main reason is cleaning. Vinyl attracts dust and that would drive me nuts. Cd's are really easy to keep clean and they sound great. Also wayyyy cheaper!

[@wrongIQ]

Hi! Let me humbly share some of my thoughts: 1. I'm into vinyl since 2008. And I'm in it not for Taylor Swift but for the original records from 50-70's 2. I guess people who are buying vinyl are not rigorously listening to vinyl only. Most of them I guess are digital+vinyl (that also works for digital+CD, digital+cassetes etc). It means they listen to streaming/files AND vinyl (for specific music in specific occasions)

[@rabit818]

I still buy CDs because it sounds good with little fuss. I thought my Rega or Technics 1200 would solve my audiophile kick, nah. Still have my LP collection gathering dust. Vinyl is doing well because it is desirable and trendy for young people who never experienced shopping at Tower, HMV or Virgin. Living vicariously through boomers and gen x.

[@analogueman5364]

And popular with the grey pound.

[@angelfire2023]

I think there is an even larger question here. Who in their right mind is buying this on tape? The option is there on the amazon page, so clearly someone is.

[@dtz1000]

Tape is probably better than CD in a similar way to vinyl.

[@dtz1000]

@@nicksterj I don't know enough about tape to say for sure, but if tape can reproduce ultrasonic frequencies up to 50khz like vinyl can, then it will be superior to low quality 16 bit audio, like CDs. So that person you are quoting is wrong if that is the case. From my experience of listening to tape for many years, I think it can reproduce those beneficial frequencies. So for that reason, I would put tape above 16 bit audio. 16 bit CD quality audio is about the worst thing ever for music because it does not have those ultrasonic frequencies which are known to be beneficial to the listener.

[@dtz1000]

@@nicksterj Studies have shown that ultrasonic frequencies above 20khz in music do have a positive effect on the human mind. So they can be "heard" but not in the conventional way. The biological mechanism is different. Most musical instruments do emit these frequencies. CD cannot reproduce these frequencies. Vinyl can, but I'm not sure about tape. It's why many people prefer to listen to vinyl over CDs.

[@dtz1000]

@@nicksterj The studies are called, "Inaudible high-frequency sounds affect brain activity: hypersonic effect" and "On the mechanism of Hypersonic Effect". The author is Oohashi. You are right that most of the harmonic energy of speech is below 15khz, but speech has been measured going up to a frequency of 40khz+. Strings (violin) has been measured at up to 50khz. Piano at up to 70khz. At these frequencies the sound level was conservatively measured at 10db above the background level but with the possibility of it actually being up to 30db above background level at those frequencies.

[@dtz1000]

@@nicksterj No, you're not going to hear any difference. But you will feel a difference as the brain enters relaxation due to the effect of the ultrasonic frequencies. My guess is that you will never accept the findings of these experiments because you have not experienced these things for yourself while listening to music with high frequency components. Until you do experience those effects yourself, you will never accept it.

[@DJStanSteel]

I’ve never stopped buying vinyl. For me its about the whole experience of opening cleaning and playing. The art work and inner sleeve notes. Yes it’s got expensive BUT only if your buying new reissues or new releases. I still buy cds. Streaming is fine but I find that back ground sound. I think is someone ask me to listen to Taylor swift id chop my ears off. (63 years and buying for over 50 years)

[@christophmartin5381]

Vinyl, CD ....who cares...Yes I care and I have to admit that I became a CD guy in the last 10 years more and more. Today I buy Vinyls only if CDs are not available from the artist, musician, bands etc..... But why CDs ? There are many reasons. First I hate hype, and Vinyls became a hype, in such a way that small artists are getting pushed down the line to wait month and month because old farts like Stones, Led Zeppelin etc... think they should offer their stuff on Vinyl again. This hype destroys all beauty that was once in that record collecting scene. Second and that is for me most important, sound quality, yes that what most vinyls enthusiasts claim for vinyl, but mostly I've found acoustic reproduction in best quality on CD, the possibility to reproduce the same quality again and again.... Anyway ... Most important thing is we should enjoy music, and nothing else.

[@marcdewolf7334]

There are people who buy vinyl as an investment as a lot of releases are limited. They aren't even opened and sold for around 6 times what they spent originally. There are so many limited, numbered releases that are in demand. CD all the way for me and I was a vinyl collector before CD's were released.