So I met one of my favorite bands of all time last Friday. They are called the Futureheads. They hail from Sunderland in the northeast of Britain. They played at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City. If you’ve been there, you know it is basically a shed in an old industrial area of the city. The two support bands for the tour got lost and were and hour late, so I got an hour to get to know the band. They were unassuming and enjoyable to chat with. If you want to download one of their songs for free, click this picture:
Hang in there, this isn’t just a post from a crazed fan-boy. I am going somewhere with this.
I had the whole band sign a vinyl record version of their new album, “The Chaos”. As soon as I got home, I put it on my record player and sat there and listened to the whole thing all the way through.
What is it about records that catch my ear? I found myself noticing nuances that I hadn’t heard in the mp3 version of the album (which I had already listened to dozens of times).
Part of it, I admit, has to do with the nostalgia of pulling a record out of its sleeve, putting it on the spindle, and watching it spin around and around. But there are also other reasons why some prefer the sound of records over CDs and mp3s.
The main difference between these media is that records are analog sound reproductions while CDs and mp3s are a digital representation.
So what does that mean? Imagine a sound wave as a curve like this:
The first would be the analog sound. Notice it is smooth and accurate. The second curve is a digital approximation of the first. It is basically the same thing, but it is obvious that the “stair-stepping” effect, known as aliasing, will not sound exactly the same as the original sound source.
Whether analog or digital music sounds better is really up to personal taste and thus it is an eternal debate. In my opinion, a record has a warmer, more musical sound that I am much more likely to sit down and listen to. But I am open to hear arguments in favor of digital sound’s supremacy.
The Polysonic Journal 
Now I feel bad for making bowls out of vintage records. Definitely need to troll the thrift shop for a record player and some sweet tunes!
I have always wondered why some people still buy the vinyl. Do you think it will always have enough of a following for companies to keep making them?
Very interesting. I always figured that the people who liked vinyl over cds were just stubborn fools who couldn’t let go of the past. Now I know they are really just stubborn fools who can’t let go of the past AND like listening to better quality music.
Thanks Matt. Like I said in the article, the “quality” of music is really just an individual opinion and there are many experts who argue that the sound replication on a CD is more exact, but my personal opinion is that nuances and warmth are excellent with vinyl records. A big factor here is also the quality of your stereo equipment.
It also depends which genre of music you are listening to. For example, rock music is better for vinyl, while dance music with a heavy low-end would typically be better suited to a digital format. Thanks for reading… and if you haven’t, listen to the vinyl version of one of your favorite albums and decide what you think!
Ever since I entered the vinyl world, about a year ago, CD’s feel so cheap to me. Vinyl records make the sound so much more 3-Dimensional, and I think the listening is more engaging. There’s no button to click for skipping tracks, and the different sides of the records are what I now divide albums in to.
Everyone check out some John Vanderslice records. you won’t be sorry.