“Analog Asshat and Digital Douchecanoe” will have me laughing all day 😆. Also, I’m with you. Vinyl, cassettes, cds, and streaming all have a place in my listening universe.
Well-written piece. I've become more format agnostic during recent years, provided whatever my choice is sounds good (or at least brings me pleasure). Vinyl, CDs, and streaming (TIDAL) are my typical options, each with their own appeal. I enjoy vinyl in part because it forces me to slow down and to interact more with the physical media. I have both audiophile pressings and other LPs that have seen better days. CDs are most often listened to in the car, and streaming is mostly done when I'm at the office (though I do listen to both at home sometimes).
Great article! Coexistence is really the way. I’m a vinyl enthusiast at home, but love using digital when on the go or in situations where portability is key. Plus, sometimes digital releases even sound better than the (unfortunately poorly pressed) vinyl releases. There are bad quality digital files/streams and bad quality records. There are also great sounding examples of both.
There is third way to look at all this: cheap used vinyl. This used to be true across the board, genre wise. I bought the entire 70's Rush discography on vinyl for 25 cents a record in the 90's. Nowadays used tock LP's are often quite pricey. But used Jazz and Classical albums are still 2 to 4 dollars in my experience. And a lot of them aren't on digital services. I use it as a cheap educational resource.
Great writing. Elegance and humor permeate this great description. I couldn’t agree more that format discussion and disagreements are very over the top. People lost themselves too much on how they appreciate music and forget to actually appreciate the art.
This is a very sane and thorough discussion - I really appreciate your approach. The argument needs to move to how to integrate this analogue-digital approach, as in so many other areas of life.
Yes to all of this. I listen mostly to digital, usually while doing something else. I use vinyl as a way to force myself to sit with something and give it attention. The two quite easily peacefully coexist.
Great article Syd! Funny AF. I like how you fleshed out the AvsD debate pretty well. I think one wrinkle, that should always be included in the debate post-2022, is the “MOFI Lie”. I think a lot of folks that hated the lie, get marginalized by “you couldn’t even hear the difference”, which is true to an extent, but doesn’t account for the she shenanigans that Jim Davis pulled. In this context it’s not A vs. D, but did you like being lied to or not.
“Analog Asshat and Digital Douchecanoe” will have me laughing all day 😆. Also, I’m with you. Vinyl, cassettes, cds, and streaming all have a place in my listening universe.
Well-written piece. I've become more format agnostic during recent years, provided whatever my choice is sounds good (or at least brings me pleasure). Vinyl, CDs, and streaming (TIDAL) are my typical options, each with their own appeal. I enjoy vinyl in part because it forces me to slow down and to interact more with the physical media. I have both audiophile pressings and other LPs that have seen better days. CDs are most often listened to in the car, and streaming is mostly done when I'm at the office (though I do listen to both at home sometimes).
"format agnostic" love this! I utilize all or most of 'em.
Here's what matters to me: music, music, music
Great article! Coexistence is really the way. I’m a vinyl enthusiast at home, but love using digital when on the go or in situations where portability is key. Plus, sometimes digital releases even sound better than the (unfortunately poorly pressed) vinyl releases. There are bad quality digital files/streams and bad quality records. There are also great sounding examples of both.
There is third way to look at all this: cheap used vinyl. This used to be true across the board, genre wise. I bought the entire 70's Rush discography on vinyl for 25 cents a record in the 90's. Nowadays used tock LP's are often quite pricey. But used Jazz and Classical albums are still 2 to 4 dollars in my experience. And a lot of them aren't on digital services. I use it as a cheap educational resource.
Great writing. Elegance and humor permeate this great description. I couldn’t agree more that format discussion and disagreements are very over the top. People lost themselves too much on how they appreciate music and forget to actually appreciate the art.
🙏
This is a very sane and thorough discussion - I really appreciate your approach. The argument needs to move to how to integrate this analogue-digital approach, as in so many other areas of life.
Yes to all of this. I listen mostly to digital, usually while doing something else. I use vinyl as a way to force myself to sit with something and give it attention. The two quite easily peacefully coexist.
Great article Syd! Funny AF. I like how you fleshed out the AvsD debate pretty well. I think one wrinkle, that should always be included in the debate post-2022, is the “MOFI Lie”. I think a lot of folks that hated the lie, get marginalized by “you couldn’t even hear the difference”, which is true to an extent, but doesn’t account for the she shenanigans that Jim Davis pulled. In this context it’s not A vs. D, but did you like being lied to or not.
Just another old man yelling at a cloud!
Great piece!
Thank you!