Saturday 19 April 2014

Vinyl v CD

There is a shop in town that sells vinyl records and only vinyl records and as it has been there for as long as i can remember, it must be doing some business but i don't think i have ever seen a customer go in or come out of it.
There are some people who will wax lyrical about vinyl records but i think of them as romantic fools because i have been there in my teenage years and vinyl records are not a patch on CDs. Allow me to explain.

Firstly, vinyl records scratch easily and once scratched you are forever consigned to your song jumping at the same part forever or more annoying, it will keep repeating the same line over and over and over until you nudge the needle.  
Secondly, because the needle staying in the groove of the vinyl depends on gravity and gravity being a bit rubbish, you have to tiptoe around your room while playing the record or else the record player arm will jump and you will go from track 1 to track 4 in an instant, risking a dirty great scratch.
Thirdly, i have heard the argument that vinyl records are of a better playback quality which i have never understood as i remember constant crackling and hissing in the quiet bits of songs.
Fourthly, cardboard sleeves would rip and tear and the sharp edge of the record as you dropped it into the sleeve would tear and the record would poke out the other end of the sleeve.
Fifthly, vinyl records warp and you are treated to a display of Mariah Carey style up and down the range singing even on non-Mariah Carey songs.
Sixthly, CD's take up less room and you don't need to set aside half a room for your collection of Ska albums from the 70s.
Seventhly, downloads and CD's are portable so you can hear your music anywhere you go, try that with a record player and see how far you get.
Eightly, CD's turn into MP3's easily and MP3 players are cheap while your choice of record player is your parents one in the attic from 1980 or a new one which would set you back over the cost of 50 MP3 downloads.
    
So CD's don't scratch as easily, you can move while they are playing, the playback is better quality, plastic sleeves don't rip, they don't warp, easily stored, portable and cheaper equipment are just 8 reasons why CD's are not only far superior to vinyl but a good reason why it's replacement was such a success and vinyl was ditched in the first place.
   

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're using CDs still... Really? Even I left those behind 10 years ago and I'm almost 60. Come on, try to catch up!


Q

Lucy said...

CDs turn into MP3s. You just download?