jazznut saidWould be interesting to know what’s your main motive to buy vinyl as a first choice…love for the physical product? …you like the sound better throughout in your system? … love for the vinyl playing process? …or all that?
Do you buy digital only for the albums not available as vinyl?
I would say I primarily like the sound of vinyl, but not always. More times than not I prefer vinyl and I’d like to think part of that has to do with my vinyl rig, which I’m very pleased with (see signature). That’s not to say my digital setup is weak. It’s not. I just love the overall sound and tempo of vinyl on my system. It’s also pretty evident to others who listen to my system. It’s funny, I find the best vinyl rigs have digital sounding aspects (lower noise floor, flat and extended frequency response, accurate and non-wavering pace, rapid transients) and the best digital systems are more analog (even tone, solid bass, luscious mids, smooth highs, etc). I find the DS DAC approaches many of the best attributes of vinyl, especially with Red Cloud. Still, I tend to prefer vinyl unless the digital strikingly outperforms it. My main digital consumption is Tidal streaming and hi-res if not available on Tidal or Vinyl, as was the case with Bill Evans Some Other Time (although I would have bought it even if it was available in Tidal).
I also do love the process; taking care of records, handling them, sitting down to listen an LP at a time. It relaxes me in a way that digital doesn’t. I also really love the fact that I am in a small way helping the artist out in buying them. They actually make money on vinyl. So does the vinyl pressing plant. So does the record shop who sells them. And so on. Not so much with streaming. Since I don’t buy CDs anymore, I don’t really consider them as a viable alternative. For me. Finally, I love collecting records. I actually have a tangible product that is worth something in the end, even if not a great investment. Actually, according to Discogs, I probably am about even money in terms of what I have paid into vinyl and what it is worth, according to Discogs. That is no doubt helped by my MoFo Ultradiscs. Still, most discs are holding value well and several are appreciating. Try that with CDs!!