Analog Revolution? Vinyl Sales Up, CDs Down - Will Film Make a Comeback?

[kerne]

"Sales of vinyl albums rose by 40 per cent last year despite a fall in CD sales and an overall decline in the music market, official figures show."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/.../Sales-of-vinyl-albums-rise-as-CDs-slump.html

Digital downloads are up over CDs, but so are vinyl sales. On the film side...since the market is completely saturated with cheap CCDs and cameras with blink detection, smile detection and a host of other useless "features", are we ripe for an analog revolution of sorts? Or is film a different beast entirely requiring a much larger infrastructure to support it?

"Tawlk amongst yourselves."

 

[CGW]

FYI there's a bunch more vinyl on offer now compared to 5 years ago.

 

[MattKing]

FYI there's a bunch more vinyl on offer now compared to 5 years ago.

I wish that one of the digital formats would enjoy a revival - SACD

 

[Klainmeister]

I wish that one of the digital formats would enjoy a revival - SACD

I really miss Laserdiscs!

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I don't know about Canada but over here in the UK SACD seemed like it might become popular a few years ago although hasn't ever really taken off.

Tom

 

[Trask]

Look at the overall figures of CDs vs albums, not just the percentage up/down change, and clearly CD is a vastly more popular medium than vinyl. And I say this sitting in my basement room with perhaps 1200 LPs that I still spin on my Michell and Sansui turntables -- I never left vinyl. But it remains a niche market. I has always been my hope that LPs will make a comeback based in part on its merits as a physical product: large photos, readable lyrics on the sleeve, gatefolds, all the wonderful aspects of LPs that make them mean so much more than a plastic disc in a plastic (poorly designed) box.

 

[Paul VanAudenhove]

Is that a Michell GyroDec?

 

[Trask]

Yes, with a modified Rega RB300 tonearm, a variety of mats, and an Orsonic record clamp (which is excellent). I run either a Benz MC cartridge, a Shre V15 or an Audio Technica TK7E. I have an older SME that I want to refurbish and use as a second arm; ideally I'd like to have both arms mounted up at the same time if I can figure out how to accomplish that. Nice turntable.

 

[Paul VanAudenhove]

Sounds sweet! What do you want to do with the SME arm? I had one on an AR-1 that was pretty good. That combo was replaced by an Oracle Delphi fitted with a Graham arm.

 

[kerne]

It's on a bit of a tangent, but the Vinyl Engine Forum (http://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/index.php) is a great place to discuss turntables.

 

[Klainmeister]

Didn't they do multiple studies to show SACD was discernible by audio engineers and orchestra conductors...etc?

 

[Paul VanAudenhove]

Cool looking site - I'll have to make some time to look around there!

To get a little more on track, I think film will become an item like vinyl. That is there will be a few companies that will support a niche market. What will remain to be seen is how many kinds of film will be available. I think B&W will have the greatest number of companies involved, followed by colour print film and lastly, colour silde film.

 

[j-dogg]

Film has been coming back for years....just as a niche market. Much like vinyl has.

 

[tomalophicon]

Film has never disappeared the way records did.

 

[Trask]

Sounds sweet! What do you want to do with the SME arm? I had one on an AR-1 that was pretty good. That combo was replaced by an Oracle Delphi fitted with a Graham arm.

I thought I might replace the knife-edge bearings, and perhaps get the arm rewired. I would find it useful to have an arm with replaceable headshells. Nothing to match a Graham arm, however! That's a great piece of gear. I've long eyed early AR turntables as I find their design so visually attractive; I've got an original AR amp and some AR-5 and AR-6 speakers. OK, no more hifi here -- it's my other hobby/passion, which means I'm often quite torn as to which has priority money-wise between photography and stereo gear.

 

[NB23]

No.

 

[EASmithV]

Why buy a CD? You can get digital downloads with the best parts of the album/songs you like and pay less, and get it instantly. However, an LP is different entirely. Not only are you getting a physical item, but it's a much more tactile item. You can't just plug it into your computer and throw it onto your iPod like any CD.

 

[Steve Smith]

They should start selling music on 1/4" tape again. This is what I am currently repairing:



Steve.

 

[EASmithV]

They should start selling music on 1/4" tape again. This is what I am currently repairing:

View attachment 43913

Steve.

"I am not a crook!"

 

[Paul VanAudenhove]

Steve - that's a serious looking piece of kit!

Tomalophicon - Film is almost at the place vinyl was. Consumers have switched away from the analogue formats. Selection is down, and distribution is not as widespread as it once was.

EASmithV - you are right stating that buying an album is a more tactile experience. An album, like traditional photo materials, is an investment in a physical object. Digital materials do not have the same physical presence. Listening to vinyl vs a digital source is generally a more satisfying experience, mush the same way that looking at physical photographs is more involving that looking at pictures on a screen.

Trask - doesn't the SME have interchangeable arm wands? I think an interchangeable wand is a better solution than an interchangeable headshell. The Graham uses a fixed headshell/interchangeable wand system. I'm not certain I would want to mess too much with the bearing, but Cardas makes a nice tonearm lead and there are only a few manufacturers who supply internal wiring for an arm.

 

[Steve Smith]

Steve - that's a serious looking piece of kit!

It's a 1950s Vortexion. A British manufacturer who use Ferrograph (Wearite) decks with their own record amplifiers. Each side has its own power supply and amplifier with six valves (tubes). It is two channel (stereo or independantly switched) across the full width of the 1/4" tape (so one direction only).

I am repairing it for Toe Rag studios in London who are going to use it as a tape echo machine.

Lots of vintage analogueness here: http://www.toeragstudios.com/


Steve.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

Film has never disappeared the way records did.

Records have never disappeared. I've been buying them steadily since about 1967... New pressings mostly, but also new recordings. They may have disappeared from the view of the casual listener but dedicated vinyl fans have always been able to get a fix.

 

[steven_e007]

I have recently acquired some new vinyl.

A 1970s rock group I was a big fan of reformed recently and I was heavily involved in helping that to happen...

They were approached by several companies, tiny independent record producers, who wanted to make special collectible release albums of the reunion concerts.

All on vinyl. Vinyl albums are much better than CDs for this kind of collectible artefact. The disks are limited edition colour image disks, the packaging is full of inserts, bonus single, booklet, photos, original art work. There are two albums from two different companies, one American and one German. Both companies are very successful and have large catalogues of this stuff - it is very popular.

I do have a turntable still, somewhere, but I have never played either disk.
The value to me of these disks has nothing to do with the fact I could play them if I wanted to.
I don't need to - I have all the music in digital form on the computer and can burn myself a CD any time I need one for the car or wherever...

 

[Steve Smith]

A 1970s rock group I was a big fan of reformed recently and I was heavily involved in helping that to happen...

Are you going to let us know who they are? I'm sure they don't want their reforming to remain a secret.


Steve.

 

[benjiboy]

These posts about the imminent resurgence of film always sound to me like desperately whistling in the dark, there's no more dedicated film user than I, I've been shooting it all my adult life, and I refuse to buy a digital camera until I can no longer use my film cameras, but sometimes you just have to face the facts.