Records or The Love Of Vinyl I know this may be hard to believe, but records are not only not worse than CD's, they actually sound better. Manufacturers are constantly trying to advance technology. Not only for the simple fact of trying to make things better, but for monetary reasons as well. A new medium every dozen years or so keeps you buying new products. Since the mainstream use of the vinyl record began, many technologies such as reel to reel, 8 track, cassette tapes and compact discs have been introduced with the thought of replacing them. So far vinyl has survived them all, even CD's, which were really touted to be their death knell. In fact, the CD's own flaws have spelt it's own demise with the invention of it's replacement, called SACD. (and they told us 20 years ago CD's were already perfect, remember?) But vinyl remains as it ever was, still with us, and still perhaps the best, if not perfect medium. To understand why this is we need to destroy any myths you might harbour about records. The biggest complaint everyone had with them was the "pops" and noise. A fact you are probably unaware of is it doesn't have to be that way. The noise you encountered was not there in the first place. It was the act of playing the record that caused it, and for several reasons. To begin with, it didn't help that many US manufacturers used poor quality vinyl and overpressed their masters to save money. They also shrink wrapped records. Nobody else in the world does this. Why would you subject something that can melt to heat and pressure? Doing it doesn't mean the record got damaged, but it can. The problem is, you can't know if it was that or the bad pressing to begin with etc... Foreign records tend to be much better, with japanese records being the best of all. (short of master or 180g pressings, but your average japanese pressing is nearly equal in quality to these types) So the first thing we see is, making a fine record is simply a matter of wishing to. Sure, you can press a crap record, but you don't have to. Another problem that needs addressing is your playback system. My guess is you had a $99 Technics turntable with a $15 Shure cartridge and you used discwasher to clean your records. (do I win a cupie?) The table is awful, so is the cartridge (which itself is aiding to the damage being done) and guess what, the discwasher does nothing. In fact the Last company did tests which showed there was more dirt after using the discwasher. It was just a filthy rag which deposited dirt when drug across your records. (you cannot clean a room by simply sweeping the dust around forever. It HAS to be removed. What gets the dust off of that pad?) The term we need to interject here is record slob. If you never cleaned the lens of your camera would you complain about grainy, awful pictures? Would you wipe your lens with a rag that was already dirty? Why was that OK for your records then? To further prove it, if you have discwasher, take the bottle to a bright light and look inside or pour it into a clean glass and look at it. My guess is it will be full of particulate, sometimes even mold. While the above problems don't help, one of the biggest troubles is how records are made. Well, they are made like waffles, right? OK, now when you make a waffle, you have to spray or oil the maker so you can get the finished waffle off of it in one piece. They do the same thing with records. This mold release compound however remains on the record surface and when your stylus goes thru it, it melts, drags and re-welds it all over the groove wall and the damage is permanent. Obviously, this mold release agent needs to be removed. The fact is that they don't remove it, but it can be removed and you can easily do it. The next biggest problem is the vinyl itself. In order to become pliable and pressed, it has to be made of a consistency which enables these things to be done to it. Therein lies another slight flaw. The Last company found thru testing that the side of a new record being played is not the one getting damage most, it's the side OPPOSITE that gets damaged most. What happens is, the "shock" wave created by the stylus moves from the point of contact like the ripples on a pond when a stone is cast in. The waves are strongest at the nearest point, which happens to be just under on the opposite side. When these waves hit that side, and the side abruptly ends, physics tells us the waves want to keep going. If there are any microscopic soft spots or cracks in the record, these waves punch them out. (like the air pressure of an explosion blowing out windows) This debris then lies in the groove, and when the stylus plays that side, the heat from the stylus tracking welds this debris in place. The result is a miniature speedbump, that comes thru your stereo as record "noise" or a "pop" if it happens to be larger. This stuff can also become affixed to your stylus. That's how and why it happens. Those reasons: Not removing the mold release compound, not treating the vinyl soft spots and using filty tools to clean the records, caused all the noise you ever heard. It can all be prevented however, if you choose to do so. While I own the odd badly pressed album that has the occasional pop, none of my records make "noise" or sound like you expect a record to sound like and many are over 20 years old with hundreds of plays. They are still dead quiet. To see how to make yours like this visit my page on the subject here. If you bother to take the time to clean your records properly, and you bother to use a decent table and reasonable cartridge, the results will amaze you. So will the lack of noise. There are chemicals which can remove the mold release agent, de-grease, remove static and bond with the vinyl to make it harder. There are also machines made you can buy that suck all of the dirst and cleaning agents off the record, leaving it spotless and static free. When done correctly the results are quite wonderful. But even cleaned, why are records better? I think it derives from the fact that a record is a real thing, and a real copy of the actual performance. A CD is a digitized interpretation of that performance in bits, and while todays discs are FAR better than the ones from the 80's and early 90's, if you listen on a half decent stereo I am sure you will find the same thing on record sounds more "natural", more pleasing to the ear, and simply more "musical". Sometimes the difference is sublime. It's there, but not glaringly obvious. Most times however the difference is obvious within 5 seconds, especially if you listen to the CD first, then put the same thing on as a record. Beyond the sound, the size of the art and sleeve lend it an air of importance, all things lost on a compact disc. That clunky little plastic case has alwasy been just that. That's part of the reason digipaks are getting so popular. The drawbacks? Oh, there is one. You need to get a better table, a new cartridge, a record cleaning machine AND the chemicals (I'd recommend a target wall mount for the table as well) and that means money. Even all bought used (but the cartridge) you're looking at just under $1,000. Not a fortune, but not chicken feed. What may happen then too is it will be so dynamic that if you have crap gear it may not be able to drive the load the turntable is giving it, and instead of getting better it may sound worse. The sound of your amp choking on the detail is very different from sounding bad on it's own and it is not an uncommon thing. Then you need to upgrade more gear, and there's more costs. If you really care, if you really like your music my suggestion is to try it. If not, at least you know things are not what you thought them to be and perhaps you'll give the next record you see a nod of deserved respect. Doing it all is almost a lifestyle and apparently not for everyone. However if music brings you joy and is a prime motivation in your life, it is something worth considering.