A Passion For Sound

by Robert Benson

As CD sales sour, the music industry is evolving in a peculiar way. Music lovers' are turning their attention to the past, reverting back to vinyl records.

For some it is an enjoyable hobby, recapturing a part of their youth. Yet for others, collecting vinyl records is a passion, as they scour the online web sites, record conventions and small resale shops to secure their favorite records.

However, if you were to ask them why records are so appealing most will tell you it is the sound of vinyl that is the most enjoyable. They may be tired of the sterile music reproduction of a cd or digitized download. You will hear the term, 'vinyl just has a warmer sound' or that they love the experience, an almost ritualistic pattern that is involved in playing a vinyl record.

But I think the best way to describe the sound that vinyl exudes is an analogy I like to use. A vinyl record is like a 'fingerprint' of the recorded music. There is a clearness and clarity to the music, and the sound is actually captured and etched into the grooves of the records. Conversely, digital sound is like a copy of that 'fingerprint' and something is lost when the music is compressed into 1's and 0's, or what I refer to as 'binary sound.'

Now, this phenomenon may be satisfactory to some and the CD certainly has its place as a musical format. In our throw away society, CD's offer convenience and a method to play music that the vinyl record cannot offer. But 'binary sound', to me, is just too clear- you are missing important elements of the recorded sound, sounds that the artist who recorded the music wanted you to hear.

In our digitized world there are compelling arguments for whatever sound reproduction format a person chooses. But you will never take the vinyl lover out of me.

Robert Benson operates www.collectingvinylrecords.com and is an avid collector and has written the ebook 'The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting', which is available at the web site.