That hi-fi, phono sound

[ Preface: I do realize that this post makes me sound like a crotchety old man, stuck in the Seventies, sitting in a dimly lit, dank living room somewhere in Ohio with old dust-covered National Geographic magazines stacked behind the sofa, a near-deaf mother sitting quietly in the next room attending to her cats, while creditors send angrier and angrier letters to the house and life just swirls around me, the decades advancing. Or maybe like that guy at the bar, alone, drinking Fantas and eating something green, smiling maniacally, nodding, and systematically inching closer to your seat -- you two are the only ones at this bar, it's afternoon and you're killing time before a meeting, he is "recently unemployed", and you want nothing better than to be far away from this guy, but you're stuck -- you are waiting for a business contact to meet you there and then you find yourself talking to this guy, who is now drinking grape soda and still eating a green substance, and he is intense and smells funny and won't stop talking about seeing "the Jethro Tull" in concert in 1973. Fair enough. But I guess that's what listening to too many records will do to a guy.]

Nothing in this world sounds better than a vinyl record played on a decent turntable and stereo system. Nothing.

The pristine, glossy black of the record, its grooves shimmering and rippling in the light, almost begs for the light touch of the needle as it slowly descends. After the needle finds the groove, for a few seconds a dense silence exists, as if any sound, save for the random crackle and pop, is secreted away in anticipation. And when the music starts, everything is reversed.

Layers upon layers of sound come billowing out of the speakers, aided by the organic, analog qualities of records; this is, for the most part, a very good thing. To hear Art Blakey bellowing instructions to his Jazz Messengers, or Muddy Waters stomping raucously as he plays, adds another dimension to the experience of listening to vinyl. Pro Tools wasn't to help smooth over inconsistencies of the performances, so the clunkers stand out, but recording engineers and producers had a mastery of their craft that makes this a rare occurrence. Often, the transfer from analog to digital (think early-90's CDs of older albums) does more to ruin the sound than the orignial mastering could ever do.

And don't get me started on MP3s.

Selecting the perfect record requires more than just a thumb scroll. You have to get intimate. Thumbing through stacks of albums conjures up that old familiar smell, of basements and old boxes, that is comforting and nostalgic. Each exists in the same form it did in decades past, outlines of errant coffee mugs or water damage a testament to its age; or rather, wisdom. Although some are shabbier in appearance than others, the elaborate album artwork stands as a reminder when the art on the album mattered almost as much as the art inside. Each calls out to be played.

It's hard to quantify the difference between listening to a CD or MP3 versus a record. There is a distinct difference in sound and I suppose that some people may prefer one to the other. My guess is that most would choose the vinyl, but I guess you'll just have to come over and try it out for yourself!