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Topic: Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue (Read 21606 times) previous topic - next topic
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Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

The FT this weekend has an article on the vinyl revival. Plus a video on the website.

FT: New Age of Vinyl.


Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #2
^ Content = Flash video | Duration = 5 minutes (approx)

My browser: "The Adobe Flash plugin has crashed"

Would somebody care to put a journalistic hat on for a few minutes and summarize the content. Thankyou.
YouTube is full of articles of this nature; why is this being singled out?
What is the significance of all this?

I am a Vinyl and analogue fan, and I also appreciate the digital signal processing world.
Everything in this world has its pros and cons.
The main gripe I have with the CD format when compared to Vinyl, is the relegation of the visual qualities as an afterthought.
The Vinyl format glorified graphical and text presentation in a similar way to admiring an issue of 'National Geographic' magazine while sitting at the Dentist's office.
It's physical qualities are reminiscent of working on old cars and motorbikes......great fun
Life is short; we are all gonna die one day. I want my "brainwashing" from the past, the present, the aesthetic, the physical, and the technical to come together as a sublime personal journey.

Apart from listening to them, I also have another hobby with Vinyl; table-top photography.
I document the objects from a macro and micro perspective using: Nikon D3 camera, Nikkor 60 mm f2.8D macro lens, Zeiss 100mm f2 macro lens, Tamron 14mm f2.8 super-wide lens.
I also use heavy cast steel industrial tripods and continous lighting sources on articulating modular pole systems.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #3
This kind of New Age?



Funny , but it's unfair, because they don't make irrational/unsubstantiated claim in the video (Unless
I  missed something, and then sorry because english is not my native language).
The conclusion is that people like to possess "material" things, and they don't have that feeling with digital.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #4
Yeah. Perhaps it should have gone into the 'pre-digitized thread.

From 3:30 you get to see an original 1960s pre transistor cutting lathe in action.

Not many of those genuinely, totally non digital rigs left in operation.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #5
After visiting that FT video page, you may also be interested in the link at the bottom of the video which leads you to another text article,
to save you the trouble, here is the link........http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/d53edd3c-bf6e-11e3-a4af-00144feabdc0.html#slide8

The headline of that article says:
Analogue is better than digital. To record fans this is an indisputable truth...

Even though I ranted how much I like Vinyl in my previous post, I can not bring myself to put down other technologies in this fashion.
Statements like that are brainwashing; they polarize thought; they don't give you any means for rational inquisition.

Vinyl is great.....the main reason it refuses to die is because the people who designed the newer digital technologies IGNORED the humanist qualities of the medium.
The technical qualities are disputable.

I am actually happy that the audio world "masses" are embracing high-resolution digital audio. But, this is not because I think the audio is superior than a 16/44 Redbook CD.
If given the choice, I would love to have the same source audio as used by the engineers in the studio every time.
If I need to tweak the mastering of the album, then I can do it myself to suit my tastes.
It also gives me great insight into the exact provenance of the recording.
I don't care about the file size issue.
I don't care about being told 16/44 is good enough and having a 24/192 exact studio master in my hands is a waste of space and my time.

Unfortunately for me, no matter what I say about the audio, this high-res digital revolution is never going to give me the sublime visual experience I described in my previous post.

For people like me, there is always this vacant feeling when interacting with digital audio technology.
Maybe this will change one day when Holographic and 3-D virtual reality technologies get assimilated into the everyday computer experience.
With such multimedia technologies, artists of the future may offer their "albums" in a digital form which comes close to replicating the holistic experience of Vinyl.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #6
Yeah. Perhaps it should have gone into the 'pre-digitized thread.

From 3:30 you get to see an original 1960s pre transistor cutting lathe in action.

Not many of those genuinely, totally non digital rigs left in operation.
I'm listening to Lalo Shifrin's Bossa Nova (1962) and on the back there are 5 paragraphs bragging about how state-of-the-art the recoding is with info on everything from the lathe, cutting head and amplifier used to the makes and models of the microphones and tape decks.

Here's the 4th paragraph. Get ready to roll your eyes:
Quote
While the total frequency range of 16 cps to 25,000 cps on this record may not be within the range of ordinary human hearing, nevertheless inspection of the grooves with a microscope will show the etchings of the upper dynamic frequencies. It is the opinion of the manufacturer that if these frequencies were omitted from this record a certain warmth of tone that is felt and sensed rather than heard would be lost.
This record is from 1962. So yeah, it's precisely that kind of "new age", the BS kind, even if it's not all that new after all.
the digital delinquent

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #7
Interesting, particularly in light of what was considered high-fidelity in that era:

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #8
The main gripe I have with the CD format when compared to Vinyl, is the relegation of the visual qualities as an afterthought.


So if they'd used the same packaging for CD that they do for vinyl, which they could easily have done with inserts, you'd have ditched vinyl by now?

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #9
It's an interesting concept.

Considering the resurgence in popularity of Vinyl, I would find it interesting if the Audio CD format was also presented in 30x30cm cardboard packaging the same as Vinyl.

Walking into a record shop and browsing the CDs would have the same effect as browsing Vinyl....you could flick through the milk crates like a Vinyl junkie....you could share your thoughts on the great cover art with that girl looking in the milk crate next to yours....you may appreciate the fact that photographers, graphic designers, essay writers, journalists and printers are also involved in the production of these glorious presentations.

You won't be able to carry  as many things home because of the size, so you will develop innate skills for purchasing individual items.

Such glorified CD packaging may even have a knock-on effect with the sound engineers. It may force the producers of the music to put in a much bigger effort to master a highly listenable non-brickwalled CD release.

Of course, this is not the perfect packaging system if the overriding paradigm is convenience and mass consumption.

Would I have ditched vinyl by now? I don't think so, but I think I would end up developing the same fanaticism for browsing, buying and collecting Audio CDs.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #10
Thanks for the video Ronald, it was pretty interesting.

I completely agree on the visual attractiveness of vinyl, but that's about it. I was born on the nineties though, just when the demand for CDs began to skyrocket, so what do I know... Still I find it funny the guy glorifying analog as so much better than digital is cutting classical records. He could do with that tiny extra dynamic range digital can offer.

PS: Loved the "New Age BS Generator".

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #11
As always, quality isn't "everything". I love Vinyls, pretty much for the reasons the journalist stated: It's about the artifact, the tangibility of the media.

To me, it's not so much about the collector's value, as I don't have any really rare or obscure records. All of them are opened and have been listened to at least ten or twenty times.
It's so simplistic, mechanical. It's fun to put records on, enjoy the nostalgic sound, while looking at the record spinning.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #12
I wouldn't really call vinyl "simplistic," especially when you have to find the right grove for the start of a track or when the needle/weight system needs fixing.  It's not nearly as simple as, I don't know... double-clicking a song to have it start playing or being able to access thousands upon thousands of songs with just a couple of mouse clicks.

I understand that a lot of people enjoy vinyl as it's a large physical format that brings back nostalgia.  Having said that, I don't think it is a "simplistic" format as, in my experience, it requires more maintenance than my large digital library.  Playing a vinyl record is an entire experience whereas accessing my library is commonplace.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #13
vinyl
lego
sheep

three words that should never have the letter "s" added to the end.

But don't let that stop you guys. You probably say "I could care less" too... 

 

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #14
What about the Compact Cassette?.

Even when I had vinyl I liked them more, still do, don't own a single one nor care about owning it but it still is my favorite medium for music. Probably it's just affection (surely is not the quality).

The mechanic sound when you insert it and eject it is amazing.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #15
I wouldn't really call vinyl "simplistic," especially when you have to find the right grove for the start of a track or when the needle/weight system needs fixing.  It's not nearly as simple as, I don't know... double-clicking a song to have it start playing or being able to access thousands upon thousands of songs with just a couple of mouse clicks.

I understand that a lot of people enjoy vinyl as it's a large physical format that brings back nostalgia.  Having said that, I don't think it is a "simplistic" format as, in my experience, it requires more maintenance than my large digital library.  Playing a vinyl record is an entire experience whereas accessing my library is commonplace.


"Simplistic" as in no complicated electronics. It's just a stylus, coil and magnet. It's not as easy to use, and that's the whole point of it.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #16
I could also spin my digital library to say: it's just a touchscreen.  Not only is it extremely simple but it's also easy to use.  Again, nothing against vinyl per se but there is a lot more to it than what you mentioned just as there is a lot more to my digital library that I failed to bring up.  I don't really see anything "simplistic" about it.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #17
derty2, I don't think I have ever seen the aesthetic issues put so well.

Quote
the main reason it refuses to die is because the people who designed the newer digital technologies IGNORED the humanist qualities of the medium.

It was not the technology, but the packaging that ignored those qualities. Reducing the artwork in that way was enough of a disaster, but who, I wonder, then said, "And we'll use a horrible brittle plastic for the boxes, but call them jewel cases."  Hope he spends a chunk of eternity with his broken jewel cases!
The most important audio cables are the ones in the brain


Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #19
Reducing the artwork in that way was enough of a disaster, but who, I wonder, then said, "And we'll use a horrible brittle plastic for the boxes, but call them jewel cases."  Hope he spends a chunk of eternity with his broken jewel cases!


Marketing.

Note how DVD box sets and collector's editions are packaged either in a cardboard or metal box. Plastic equals "cheap" to most, and I think it's usually well put if not using high-quality PVC. If it's just the "Jewel-Case" grade PP, oh wow, that's so horrible. Just image the dashboard in a car made of "Jewel-Case" material...

If they'd ever do this, they would call that "Jewel-Shiny" edition or something, as well...

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #20
Reducing the artwork in that way was enough of a disaster, but who, I wonder, then said, "And we'll use a horrible brittle plastic for the boxes, but call them jewel cases."  Hope he spends a chunk of eternity with his broken jewel cases!


Marketing.

Note how DVD box sets and collector's editions are packaged either in a cardboard or metal box. Plastic equals "cheap" to most, and I think it's usually well put if not using high-quality PVC. If it's just the "Jewel-Case" grade PP, oh wow, that's so horrible. Just image the dashboard in a car made of "Jewel-Case" material...

Ironically, those vinyl records are made of plastic too. PolyVinylChloride (PVC) is used for drainpipes, packaging, bottles, the interior of McDonald's, floor coverings, and those black discs that some people use to play music.

Jewel cases are not made of PolyVinylChloride but rather of Polystyrene.
Every night with my star friends / We eat caviar and drink champagne
Sniffing in the VIP area / We talk about Frank Sinatra
Do you know Frank Sinatra? / He's dead


Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #22
omg did you actually have to Wikipedia-link the cassette? How old are we?


There are younger members here than us HA rats

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #23
Reducing the artwork in that way was enough of a disaster, but who, I wonder, then said, "And we'll use a horrible brittle plastic for the boxes, but call them jewel cases."  Hope he spends a chunk of eternity with his broken jewel cases!


Marketing.

Note how DVD box sets and collector's editions are packaged either in a cardboard or metal box. Plastic equals "cheap" to most, and I think it's usually well put if not using high-quality PVC. If it's just the "Jewel-Case" grade PP, oh wow, that's so horrible. Just image the dashboard in a car made of "Jewel-Case" material...

Ironically, those vinyl records are made of plastic too. PolyVinylChloride (PVC) is used for drainpipes, packaging, bottles, the interior of McDonald's, floor coverings, and those black discs that some people use to play music.

Jewel cases are not made of PolyVinylChloride but rather of Polystyrene.


Please don't use CamelCase. Polyvinyl Chloride is also used for things like figurines, etc. PVC can be of pretty high quality, depending on the manufacturing process. And yes, "Vinyl Records" are made of PVC, where do you think does the "Vinyl" come from.

I was referring to PP (Polypropylene). You see a lot of Jewel Cases made of PP here in Europe, due to recycling regulations.

Financial Times : The New Age of Analogue

Reply #24
Ironically, those vinyl records are made of plastic too. PolyVinylChloride (PVC) is used for drainpipes, packaging, bottles, the interior of McDonald's, floor coverings, and those black discs that some people use to play music.

Jewel cases are not made of PolyVinylChloride but rather of Polystyrene.


I don't have a problem with plastics in general, just the rather nasty one they usually use for CD cases!

I was referring to PP (Polypropylene). You see a lot of Jewel Cases made of PP here in Europe, due to recycling regulations.


Is it polypropylene? I didn't know.  In that case it's another incarnation of the stuff, along with rope, that I hate!
The most important audio cables are the ones in the brain