Does anyone use vinyl?

[Greg]

I'm not even sure if I already asked this.

I only play vinyl at home, have no cds, and have millions of mp3s.
It's fun and there are many positives about albums for me.

*I like the process of selecting what comes on next and what side of what album it will be.

*Maybe it's nostalgia, but having to get up and change the album is alright with me. 

*It's way fun, like yesterday on campus, to go to a record show and peruse.  I brought about $30 and had to figure out which combination of albums to buy under $30.  It's actually more fun with albums being different prices as opposed to the days when they were all basically the same price.

*The record shows are also fun when you see someone who is checking out, or has bought, an obscure album that you like and to strike up a conversation.

*I still can buy new albums that just came out.  Just got Elvis' National Ransom (2010).  At the show I got London Town, Ohio Players, Toots and the Maytals, and a Partridge Family album for my wife (She bought us tickets for David Cassidy in two weeks.  I don't even know what to say.  At least I admitted I'm going.)

*It's still fun to sometimes just look at the front and back of the cover while the album is playing.

[mervap]

*I still can buy new albums that just came out.  Just got Elvis' National Ransom (2010).  At the show I got London Town, Ohio Players, Toots and the Maytals, and a Partridge Family album for my wife (She bought us tickets for David Cassidy in two weeks.  I don't even know what to say.  At least I admitted I'm going.)

Vinyl is still way cool for me...still have lots. Ohio Players? Great stuff if you like funk, which I do. Don't be embarassed to say the Partridge Family album is for you ;) ...."I Think I Love You" and "I Woke Up In Love This Morning" are two fine slices of pop/rock from the early 1970's.

[lampie1970]

I still have vinyl and a working record player. If a vinyl edition is available for an album I really like I will buy it. ANd I actually saw a bin at best buy with LPs in it...THAT was nostalgic! Flipping through the albums...

[chris]

i was left hundreds of vintage vinyl albums by my uncle. it was how i discovered the beatles, actually. i had all these thick pressed albums, all on the apple label, natch...and i proceeded to ruin each and every one of them. i was never taught how to care for an album (granted, i was about 12 at the time). i had become accustomed to hearing scratches and pops (all self inflicted, sorry to say) in my music listening experience. when i later bought a home...i had already replaced my vinyl albums with casette tapes (and then cd's)...so i had no need to even keep my albums any more. i put them in my crawl space. it flooded. the album jackets were ruined.

but i will say one thing, vinyl albums represented a time when album art mattered. now it's just a passing thought. but once upon a time...

[Greg]

Loved reading those replies.

About three million albums were sold last year.  That's the most in 20 years. 

Top 10 Vinyl Records of 2010:

01. The Beatles – Abbey Road
02. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
03. Black Keys – Brothers
04. Vampire Weekend – Contra
05. Michael Jackson – Thriller
06. National – High Violet
07. Beach House – Teen Dream
08. Jimi Hendrix Experience – Valleys of Neptune
09. Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
10. The XX – XX

[oldasSoul]

Still have a couple of hundred LPs, although many were sold when I replaced them with CDs. Beatle collection is still pretty much intact, all 24 albums, or so, that it took to get everything.

Bought a USB turntable a while back which works great. Funny how quickly we get used to ripping stuff in seconds, rather than having to wait through the whole song, stop the recording (or insert a break) and carry on with the next tune. Have to get on with Hollywood Bowl soon, although it's a little scratchy, but not bad for 30 years on.

The smell of a new record still excites me, and being able to read liner notes without a microscope is very nice. There's something to be said for sitting back and listening to something while poring over the album cover and any inserts. My 11 year old son thinks I'm an old man, of course!

[Kylenz]

I sold most of my vinyl (the LPs still in excellent condition, not the scratched ones) before going on my overseas trip - but hey it was worth it to see Macca in London!

I still have a lot of 45s and old 33s in fair / played-to-death condition but don't play them anymore. I have a USB turntable with the intention of recording them onto hard drive but the task was far too monotonous for my liking, I just ended up seeking the albums on mp3 instead!

CDs don't get played either, they get ripped at the highest quality onto computer, then up onto a shelf never to see the light of day again. All my music is now on mp3 in one huge jukebox, slowly making sure it's all at 320k or highest quality it can be (eliminating anything 128k if possible). I know you can also get lossless FLAC files but can't be played on my Ipod (or Windows Media Player unless you have a plugin and even then, you don't get cover art) so I don't bother. I'm happy with 320k mp3, ripped with LAME codec.

I too miss the smell of a new vinyl record, the label design, the gatefold sleeve, the liner notes and lyric sheets, the pullout posters. But I don't miss the pops, crackles, scratches and skips. There is a certain air of romance with a record, and the sound quality of an LP in pristine condition on a high-end turntable is superior to a cd. And it's always great to see David Letterman holding up the record of every band that plays on his show. Vinyl is still alive and kicking. I hope it continues, and possibly outlives the cd pressing plants that are slowly shutting down in the face of mp3 downloads!