Why vinyl took the nose dive in the late 1980s - early 1990?

[magiccarpetride]

Having recently made a comeback to LPs and turntables (after a 27 year hiatus), I've rediscovered the uncontested beauty of reproduced music. During the course of previous 27 years or so, I was listening to music via digital sources (CDs, DVDs, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3 files). I was building a fairly high end digital stereo system, upgrading components (CD players, DACs, digital transports), configuring, tweaking and fine tuning my digital playback.

Then, on a whim, suddenly decided to go and get me a turntable (I sold my old Thorens in 1989). I was sure that my new turntable is going to sound charming, quaint, nostalgic, 'warm', but definitely inferior to my mighty digital system. Boy was I in for a huge surprise!

My analog rig now beats my digital system by a country mile! And my analog system is barely entry-level audiophile grade. Be that as it may, I now started mulling over why did such obviously superior medium (LPs), lose to digital discs etc. Here is the 'explanation' I came up with (and you'll tell me if I'm way off or maybe on the right track):

1. Profit margins #1 -- as music industry ballooned in the '60s and '70s, initial passion and curiosity gave way to cold heartless business concerns. Simply put, music publishing became all about the bottom line. And I'm assuming that, all things being equal, corporations can squeeze higher margins from selling CDs and downloads and streaming subscriptions than they can from selling LPs. So that would be one reason why they came up with that bullshit slogan "perfect sound forever" and bullied the general public to switch to CDs.

2. Profit margins #2 -- (yes, it's all about the bottom line). As consumers started getting better and better turntables in order to enjoy the hi fi recordings that popular acts like Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Steely Dan, Mike Oldfield etc. were releasing, they started also getting pickier. Back in the early days of music industry, when most people were using cheap crappy turntables sitting on top of their radios, high fidelity wasn't at the top of their minds. But by the '70s (and especially going into the '80s), more and more people started getting very selective with their listening. Meaning, people would go to the record store, buy and LP, take it home, and then if the LP wasn't in perfect shape (a bit warped, or having a bit of a surface noise etc.), the consumers would promptly return the record. Once a sealed record is opened, it cannot be resold for a full price, and the manufacturers were not too keen on taking returns, so record stores realized that selling LPs is a finicky business. That's why they eagerly embraced CDs, because chances that something might be wrong with a CD are infinitesimally smaller than chances that something might be wrong with an LP.

These two forces contributed to the demise of vinyl. Luckily, we're now slowly getting back to our senses and are reclaiming our lives by turning our attention to the analog sound. That's a reason for rejoicing, and we need to make sure that the sleazy snake oil salesmen tactics don't bite us again, like they did thirty years ago. Music must come first, and only then corporate profitability and all that jazz.

[Paul-H]

In the eighties the new CD format offered or was advertised to offer a solution to everything that most people didn't like with LP'S ie no noise less space needed for storage less susceptible to surface damage (remember on tomorrow's world the jam incident) and to most users it did everything it was advertised to do. Plus in the eighties the cost of oil went through the roof so Vinyl got too costly to make and quality suffered with LP'S getting thinner and thinner.

Plus the 80's where not a good time for new music with much of it being of a listen once and throw it away quality thanks to the likes of stock aitken and Waterman

How digital sounds compared to analogue depends on how you listen to your music, with your head or your heart do you listen to the music or the electrons.

Personally I prefer Vinyl but still enjoy a good CD.

Paul

[Haselsh1]

I first got into compact disc in 1983 when I bought a Yamaha CDX1. Almost immediately I started to get rid of my vinyl collection. Then my Logic DM101 bit the dust and was sold off. I realised that the things I hated the most about vinyl were now gone forever.

[Ziggy]

I think vinyl took a nose dive in the early 90s because of the emergence of cheap portable CD players which were snapped up by the mass market. They did sound a lot better than the previous radio cassette players.

Whether or not vinyl sounds better than digital is a matter of opinion. For me it is digital, providing the DAC is up to it. The inherent problems of vinyl, pops, hiss, restricted bass and deterioration of SQ near the end of a record side cannot be overcome. Added to this is the cost of a decent TT/arm/cartridge/phono stage, compared to a good DAC, not to mention the cost of new vinyl. Funds save can be spent on the amplifier, speakers, cables and speaker stands.

[Oddball]

I think vinyl took a nose dive in the early 90s because of the emergence of cheap portable CD players which were snapped up by the mass market. They did sound a lot better than the previous radio cassette players.

Whether or not vinyl sounds better than digital is a matter of opinion. For me it is digital, providing the DAC is up to it. The inherent problems of vinyl, pops, hiss, restricted bass and deterioration of SQ near the end of a record side cannot be overcome. Added to this is the cost of a decent TT/arm/cartridge/phono stage, compared to a good DAC, not to mention the cost of new vinyl. Funds save can be spent on the amplifier, speakers, cables and speaker stands.

Convienience of the CD ,a new thing , plus ,you could take the cd out into the car , to rock out to !!
Then folk copied cd's for their own use and as a compact format was great!

We lost a good bit of physicality via the album sleeve to peruse . I think the returners and audiophiles are sucking the younger generation along with their second love affair with the Vinyl record !!
I never got rid of my vinyl ,its not mint but is basically clean and listenable , so I personally play mine on the less desirable sort of kit .
I have bought a few albums I wished I had at the time but I dont think I will buy new stuff on vinyl.
Thats just me!!

[Marco]

Hi Clive,

The inherent problems of vinyl, pops, hiss, restricted bass and deterioration of SQ near the end of a record side cannot be overcome.

You can certainly overcome pops! Simply clean records thoroughly through an RCM, one of which should be owned by any serious vinyl and T/T owner. And you can reduce end of side distortion to the status of virtual inaudibility, by using a cartridge equipped with a fine-line stylus, and optimising all aspects of set up.

"Restricted bass", whilst a measurable phenomenon in comparison with that of CD, is never a real-world issue with any good turntable. I can assure you that if I played you a 12" single of, say, Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Two Tribes', and whacked up the volume, you would not be complaining of "restricted bass"!!

At the end of the day, it's all relative, depending on how much time, effort and funds you're willing to throw at vinyl or digital, in order to hear either format at its absolute best, and therefore be in a position to properly judge what it can *really* do

Marco.

[petrat]

How people choose to consume 'content' is a generational thing. I have just retired after working in higher education for twenty years, and, for the most part, the current generation of students simply don't buy ANY of the following physical artefacts: televisions, hifi, CDs, DVDs, books (including textbooks!), newspapers, magazines, watches, and diaries. All they own are clothes, a phone and a laptop ... and the most important thing in their life is constant access to the net, with dependable and secure data storage! From now on, each decade will see the further demise of all physical media, until they are all just 'niche' pastimes for eccentrics. Bookshops and newsagents are already going the way of Tower Records and Blockbusters. As I've said before, I truly think that my precious record collection and exotic hifi will be, essentially, worthless to my heirs if I manage to make it another couple of decades.

[struth]

Not to say it wont swing round again though.

[Marco]

How people choose to consume 'content' is a generational thing. I have just retired after working in higher education for twenty years, and, for the most part, the current generation of students simply don't buy ANY of the following physical artefacts: televisions, hifi, CDs, DVDs, books (including textbooks!), newspapers, magazines, watches, and diaries. All they own are clothes, a phone and a laptop ... and the most important thing in their life is constant access to the net, with dependable and secure data storage! From now on, each decade will see the further demise of all physical media, until they are all just 'niche' pastimes for eccentrics. Bookshops and newsagents are already going the way of Tower Records and Blockbusters. As I've said before, I truly think that my precious record collection and exotic hifi will be, essentially, worthless to my heirs if I manage to make it another couple of decades.

...and yet that attitude isn't reflected in the current resurgence in the popularity, and thus production and sale of T/Ts and records, and I'm not talking about in the 'high-end' sector either.

I guess it depends on where you look, and which sub-section of young people you know. Every generation has always had its fair share of those who simply follow what the mass market dictates, and those more discerning, who take a less well-trodden path. Not everyone, you know, is a brainwashed, peer-pressured sheep

There are still free-thinkers out there in our young community, keen to do their own thing and stand out from the crowd.... The problem is that there's always a danger of viewing the world, rather superficially, simply through the evidence of your own surroundings, and as a result forming some rather erroneous conclusions. We're all guilty of it.

Every independent record shop I'm in these days (and many new ones are popping up here all the time) is filled more with 'bohemian trendies', under 30, buying their 'vinyls', than us 'ageing hippies', not only because its cool, but because they love how it sounds (and yes I've spoken to them about this), and I don't think it's a fad either, but rather something that's liable to slowly grow more momentum, simply because as humans, when we're exposed to it, analogue sound has something intrinsically 'right' about it that digital simply doesn't deliver.

And trust me, when you expose young people to it, whose ears up until that point have been 'weaned' on MP3-quality digital, listened to through tinny sounding earbuds, the 'warm', rich sound of vinyl its a veritable revelation to them!

That is why (along with the physical nature and looks of LPs) they become hooked on it. After that, human nature being what it is, some will undoubtedly explore things in more detail and seek better sound quality, which means better equipment, and before long they're visiting their local Richer Sounds - and a new generation of audio enthusiast is born....

Look at the way the headphone market is going, for example. Youngsters are spending significant amounts of money on better ones because they can hear the difference, so it's not that they don't care about good sound. Now don't get me wrong, I agree that they will always be in the minority, but then that was always the case for us, even in its heyday, when the vast majority of the population couldn't have given a hoot for quality hi-fi equipment. Our behaviour was always very much contrary to the norm!

And for me that situation will continue, albeit true high-end audio (amps and speakers costing the price of a large house, etc), will become a thing of the past, but there will always exist discerning people in this world, and those whose tastes extend out with of that catered for by mainstream products, which is subsequently why I believe that the market for quality audio equipment will always exist, in some form or another.

Marco.

[WESTLOWER]

All they own are clothes, a phone and a laptop ... and the most important thing in their life is constant access to the net, with dependable and secure data storage!.

I have to sadly agree with Peter, my son (19) has never once asked me about the thousands of records in every available space in the house. He just thinks i'm a Caveman. Clothes, Phone tinternet... thats all he 'needs'!

My first love is my Vinyl collection, built with considered passion and care over 30+ years, I did buy CDs in the 80s - 90s, lots of them, but only because the market dictated i must and I had no feeling for them at all
bloody hard to read the booklets as you get older too!...I also purchased MiniDiscs!! That seems like a long time ago. But the point being, I purchased what the market told me to at the time.
The industry 'needs' the next format to use as a vehicle, Vinyl, CD, Mini Disc, streaming whatever.. they have no preference, if it moves units they will back it. After backing streaming services I can't imagine the industries next move.

I personally have now gone full circle and ripped the CDs. sold 'em and gone back to my Vinyl. Lets get it right though, a badly recorded record on a poor system can sound like a kick in the nuts
so it takes a lot of care, consideration and dosh to get it up to scratch. The streamed music files and subscription music supply has also invigorated my hunger for music, I check out lots of new material
or stuff I never bought on Vinyl and put through the good quality equipment, it sounds great... But my lust for tactile objects with history and the sheer beauty of Vinyl when it hits the sweet spot is unquenchable.

I am very good friends with a record shop owner in North London, (Flashback Records) one of very few left!, the New Vinyl market is thriving, the second hand record sales are thriving (recycled stock dependent, which seems to be drying up at an alarming rate) but his view is the bubble will without doubt burst on the New Vinyl fad.

I'm afraid what's been said before is correct, the future shelves of houses will have very little content with few books, records or CDs... Not a house I want to be in thanks.
Heartbreaking to think but my son will without doubt skip my wax when I'm dribbling in front of a 3 bar fire.

Now, i wonder where all my MiniDiscs have got to... !