The Who's Roger Daltrey & Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes agree on vinyl

Danny Tse

From Roger's point of view

"They've destroyed the form, as soon's it went digital. The CD was a confidence trick," Daltrey said. "It wasn't just music that people used to buy, it was a total art form. ... I think that's what people like. They like it personal. They like vinyl because if you scratch vinyl, it'll be scratched, but it'll be your scratch. It will only be on your record."

"Now for people, (music) is just not a big part of their lives. It's like background noise. There's just so much else going on, isn't there?" he said.

With a wistful but sly smile, Daltrey summons his own nostalgia for the time of "Baba O'Riley": "That's all we had was music. There was nothing else. There was cinema, music and sex. Life was better."

While Nick wrote the following in his blog entry earlier this month

Why had we all forgotten how much fun records are? I realized that
this wasn’t just about nostalgia at all, a truly great album will
always remain a great album whatever the format, but the visceral
ceremony of vinyl fetish and the shared pleasure of the listening
experience have not been superceded by the I Pod. I could continue to
wax lyrical about my personal rediscovery, I’m truly only scratching
the surface, but why not try it yourselves? You just might find you
get what you need….

F1nut

I don't know Danny, but Roger seems to be a little off key.

reeltrouble1

I think I will bring Jess a TT.

Better yet I am asking Santa to bring him a TT and Cathy some Tubes.

hohoho

RT1

George Grand

I think Roger nailed it Jess. Maybe not with his vinyl lament, but definitely with music being really nothing more than background noise for 99% of the people who say they love music.

Very tiny portion of the crowd is sitting in the sweet spot, no matter what format they're listening to.

F1nut

definitely with music being really nothing more than background noise for 99% of the people who say they love music.

Yeah, that I agree with.


Hohoho

strider

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

I think I will bring Jess a TT.


hohoho

RT1

F1nut wrote: »

Yeah, that I agree with.


Hohoho

:eek::D;)

F1nut

You a ho, he a ho, ya'll are hoho's.

RuSsMaN

Why is Nick having so much fun scratching the surface of records? Scratched records don't sound good?

I won't get involved in a format debate, but one thing Nick says that I agree with is :

"the visceral ceremony of vinyl fetish"

It IS a ceremony, and I think that's what a lot of audio fans enjoy, the mechanics of it all. Man and machine, the removing of sleeve, the cleaning, the gentle lowering of the stylus, etc etc - the listener becomes involved, much moreso than simply pressing play - and I think that's probably a pretty big part of the experience for some, sound aside.

Cheers,
Russ

dougy

Personally, I'm getting a little tired of all this crap about how vinyl records "sound better". Funny, how it is somehow fashionable now to be very vocal in your opinion that vinyl sounds better, and has always sounded better than CD. Suddenly, everyone and their brother has always liked LP's better all along. Strange.

ben62670

dougy wrote: »

Personally, I'm getting a little tired of all this crap about how vinyl records "sound better". Funny, how it is somehow fashionable now to be very vocal in your opinion that vinyl sounds better, and has always sounded better than CD. Suddenly, everyone and their brother has always liked LP's better all along. Strange.

Nope. I was digital only. I hated the thought of cleaning albums, and the pops, and tics. I have a 200 disc CD changer, and a nice external DAC. I had a cheap Technics TT that I hooked up recently, and the sound stage, clarity, and dynamics are fantastic. I have a new budget TT($300), and I prefer to listen to vinyl over digital any day. Once you move up with a high res system, and you get your ears on some good vinyl you may be changing your mind like I did.
Ben

LuSh

If you truly enjoy music how can one not use digital as their main playback system? I always thought vinyl was for the birds as well as tubes. I've heard countless systems that used both and my conclusion is always the same, nice sound but not nice enough that I want to spend hours tweaking away with various tube arrangements, tone arms and isolation platforms when often times I can achieve the same or close using technology to my advantage.

After spending some time with a Benchmark DAC for a few weeks I've come to the conclusion that if it can be modded (and it can be) I will likely replace all optical formats with a MAC based system using an iTouch controller via Benchmark USB DAC. The Meitner DAC I have is more musical but the simplicity of a MAC controlled system out-weights the differences.

To those who suggest that Vinyl beats Digital I say this - In certain areas there are differences no doubt but with the level of Digital playback that is often available for a higher price (Ayon CD-1, Audio Research CD7, any number of dedicated DAC's with suitable transport) the differences are slight and often lean towards the digital source when other variables outside of sound-stage depth and warmth are taken into consideration; bass response and noise are two notable improvements found on the digital ledger.

I enjoy music, I find it a heck of a lot easier listening to it on digital then vinyl. Perhaps I don't feel I music should be a chore but instead something that is easy to access in a life that is filled with complications.

stuwee

F1nut wrote: »

You a ho, he a ho, ya'll are hoho's.

I like mine with da creamy filling :eek:

shack

George Grand wrote: »

I think Roger nailed it Jess. Maybe not with his vinyl lament, but definitely with music being really nothing more than background noise for 99% of the people who say they love music.

Very tiny portion of the crowd is sitting in the sweet spot, no matter what format they're listening to.

I can safely say that FOR ME, music is almost never "background". I rarely turn on the radio in the car to music. I don't listen to music while I'm at work. The closest I come is when I use my iPod for working out or doing yard work. When I listen to music...it is because I make an effort to do so. It may be on my HT rig, it may be on my 2 channel rig, it may be on my iPod, it may be digital, it may be analong, CD, DVD, SACD, cassette, vinyl, etc...

There are things I like about vinyl. I like the sound on a good rig. I like the fact that sometimes I have to listen to an entire side of an LP rather than skip to the next song because I hear stuff I might not otherwise. I like the fact that I can find a LP for $1 and try out some music I might not ever be exposed to. I like to be able to hear music that was recorded before recording engineers decided that the treble should be "hot" and the bass "bloated" when mastering to CD.

I DO NOT LIKE the rituals of vinyl. I HATE the tweeking of a TT or the cleaning of the records (and cleaning is a necessary task). I'm too much "plug and play" I guess.

Tubes are the same way. The sound of a well set up tube pre or tube CDP can be very nice...although not that much more than a well set up digital rig. I don't like "tube rolling" (see the tweeking comment above).

I'm fine with digital...so much so that I really considered a fully digital music server (similar to the Cambridge Audio Azur 640H Music server) to load all my CDs on. I like the thought of instant access to any music in my collection on my 2 channel rig. I like CD changers for this very reason.

Back to George's comment. For me...music is an opportunity to take the time to sit down and enjoy "just the music" in whatever format I choose at that particular moment. It has never been and never will be "background noise".

BlueFox

The only thing I miss from the days of records is the album covers. That is where the real missing art is/was. CD/SACD provide the music without the scratchs. Plus everytime you play a record you damage it a little. Over time that damage adds up, until the record sounds terrible. A good cartridge will delay that, but not prevent it.

stuwee

Obviously, vinyl is not for everyone, some folks like to mix their own cocktails to enhance the drinking of one, some folks enjoy taking the pieces of stems and seeds out of their tobbacy to enhance the smoke.

Some folks can't stand the pops and clicks of LP's, I really can't hear them 1 or 2mins into a LP, I want to hear Sir John stomp the pedals on a rickety upright and a concert grand, yes, I hear these things on CD's as well, just not as real IMHO. This arguement will never have an answer. Too many variables, I'll listen to yours if you listen to mine