Sometimes I regret selling off all my vinyl, but I only had about 150 LP's, and it would have been too difficult and expensive to collect all those oldies on vinyl. CD's offered a whole new world of reissues for me, and I'm glad I switched to CD format. But I never bothered with DVD-A and SACD and other hi-rez formats.

I still have lots of vinyl in the Archives--at least 3000 LPs, 1000 45s, maybe 500 12" singles. I haven't played a record in 20 years. I do like to preuse my vinyl and just 'appreciate' it sometimes--most of it is in great shape.

Now that vinyl is back in vogue with collectors, I should get ambitious and sell off some of it.

You could sell it all and buy even more CD's!

I miss some of the tactile and olfactory sensations of vinyl--the sensation of static as one unwrapped the plastic from a brand new record, or the distinctive aroma of vintage vinyl (or perhaps it's the old cardboard sleeves). Listening to clean vinyl playing through headphones is also a much different experience than hearing a CD through modern speakers. As I squint at CD booklets these days, I'm also reminded of how much time I used to spend pouring over lyrics printed on long, accordian-folded cassette J-cards. And, of course, I also miss going into stores and flipping through the racks, whether it be mall retailers with walls lined floor-to-ceiling with 12' album covers of new releases, or used music stores with milk crates stuffed with mysterious bootlegs and other discoveries. At the same time, however, I try not to take for granted the ability to immediately play a particular song at the push of a button--no fast-forwarding, rewinding, or trying to place a needle in a groove--and the relative lack of crackling, skipping and hissing of digital music.

I too still have about 2,500 lps and 750 45's - I think I used my turn table a dozen times in the last 20 years...It's there if I need it.

CD's sound okay to my soon to be 57 year old ears.
LP's are nice but it's a pain changin em every 20 minutes.

Plus my stylus is nearly as old as I am.

Someday I will listen to em all at least one more time.

I don't miss it in the least. I still have some, and occasionally pull it out, clean it up and rip it. And while I'm cleaning it, and definitely while I'm spending an hour or two taking the pops and clicks out on the computer, I'm thinking how much I DON'T MISS VINYL AT ALL!!!

not for one single solitary second.

there is nothing that could ever make me go back.

just the thought of that sound when the needle hits the record, the pops, ticks, scratches, and hiss make me love CD's even more.

renny

p.s. well OK, some of the small print in CD booklets is a pain in the ass.

In the old days I was too lazy to change LP sides every 20 min., so I'd put side one or two on repeat for hours before flipping over. That is one thing I used to hate, much more than the pops and the crackle. It was a real luxury being able to play an album from start to finish, once I got my first CD's. The first CD's I bought were The Beach Boys' "Still Cruisin'" from '89 and Brian Wilson's first solo album from '88.

I also sold all my cassettes except for two Rascals albums and Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" - most of them I traded in, a few I just gave away. I didn't get much in trade.

Nope. Still have some of my old LPs and never play 'em. CDs are far more convenient and sound fine to my ears.

I only ever owned one 12" single, an extended dance remix of Santana's "Say it Again", the big single from "Beyond Appearances" - not even a very good song, but I had to have everything by Santana. They could slap that one on a remaster of "Beyond Appearances" as a bonus track.

The stuff from Supernatural onward notwithstanding, I don't recall ever having heard any of the post-"Hold On" singles on the radio. Okay, back to vinyl discussions!

The dance remix of "Say it Again" was a club hit in the UK.

I'm glad to see that I'm not alone. I love the convenience of CDs and the lack of the pops, crackles and hiss. Not only are CDs better at home, but the ability to pop a CD into a car stereo is so much better than a cassette recorded from vinyl. I never carry original CDs in the car, but with today's technology, I can make a decision that I want to take something out with me and burn a $0.15 (or so) CD in about 2-3 minutes. It's all good!

A few years ago, I tried to play a 7" single that I'd gotten as a bonus with a CD purchase. I turned the turntable on and found that due to inactivity, the belt was shot. I ordered a replacement belt and never bothered to install it. Now even my stereo has disappeared from my music room. I have a nice set of speakers on my PC, so my PC is now my primary stereo system. To my 49 year old ears, it all sounds fine to me.

Vinyl? Miss it? It's still around. Plenty of new releases and so much used vinyl now in stores because of younger people.
The thing I miss the most about buying an album is the artwork-so scrunched down for CDs. But I love CDs and vinyl was too incovenient. Find me a way to skip having to get up and flip to Side 2, or play a vinyl album in the car without a pothole destroying it, we'll talk.
Chris:
Regarding Santana, "Say It Again" was played a lot on the radio and MTV and just missed the Top 40.
Here are the AOR hits post-Shango and pre-Supernatural, all of which were played here in Philly:

Say It Again (#15) 1985
Veracruz (#21) 1987
Peace On Earth...Mother Earth...Third Stone From The Sun (#14) 1990

Now, we slide back to vinyl again!

The problem with vinyl vs CD is the fact that anyone can play a CD almost anywhere...and it will sound at least halfway decent...vinyl DOES sound better than CD IF you have a better than decent system for playback...but space is also an issue...as is cost...also, there are always going to be titles available on vinyl that will never EVER see the light of day on CD...

I make sure I still play my vinyl. It becomes sort of a big deal - Haha! Taking the time to get it out, maybe spin it on the VPI cleaner vac, turn it over after side one. In a way, I miss all that. I do love the whole larger artwork thing, and I love records themselves, and the memories that go along with them. I am in that group that HATES surface noise - though some find a charm in that, I never could. I'm definitely a CD guy, but I like to revisit my vinyl. I only have 5 or 6 hundred vinyl albums these days, down from thousands (a cross-country move a few years ago forced me to part with a lot of stuff), but they are all in mint condition in the thickest plastic outer sleeves, softest inner sleeves and VPI scrubbed! Whenever I hear or read anything about downloads, I wanna take out a record and play it!

Street Survivors with the flaming cover; Some Girls with the faces intact; Odessa with the velvety cover; Brain Salad Surgery with (I'm sure) the die-cut cover and insert--and I suppose that copy of Hey Jude reads "The Beatles Again" on the record label?

Someday I'll get to Vegas and hang out with DanO's collection!

The scary thing is what if the CD was never created?

LPs were fine but once your collection got large, they are unwieldy and heavy. I'd hate to think what my house would look like if I had the same amount of lps as I do CDs right now.

CDs saved tremendous space.

But soon an unwieldy collection won't be a problem anymore as servers take over homes.

Haha! I can't wait! I'm betting you still have all of those in your LP collection too. I must admit, just looking at those pictures makes me want to play a record right now.

Hey, I've been in Bill Levenson's house with you. That looked pretty dang nice to me!