Page 8 - The Edge: Issue 7

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Listening to records can make you appreciate a certain album or artist more. It is common to find lyric sheets or inserts with liner notes that feature information about the recording process of the album or quotes from the artist about their newest release. Tiny additions such as these enhance the music-listening experience and allow the listener to dig deeper into their music more than they are able to with streaming services. Records collectors today love to gather their favorite albums and experience music as a physical format rather than just a digital file. They often spend time admiring the amazing artwork on the covers and sitting down with the album to listen to it while the needle runs through the grooves of
the disc.
“It’s like a ritual of mine to listen to a new record all
the way through and then put the cover up on my wall,” Taylor said.
Although record players may be viewed as obsolete, enthusiasts dismiss this as a misconception, as vinyl records are still able to produce high quality sound despite being played on systems that are a half century old. Despite being an aged form of a technology that has not seen many advancements since its exit from the mainstream, turntables can actually produce a very high-fidelity sound that has sharp differences from its digital counterpart. The sound from vinyl records is often described as “warm” and “vibrant” because unlike digital playback, the sound is uncompressed and comes from the raw analog source. According to record enthusiasts, this difference in source does produce an audible difference. Many record collectors enjoy the difference in sound quality that analog systems can produce, and many collect records specifically to enjoy this difference in sound that many prefer over digital remasters.
“I occasionally listen to famous records like Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles) and Pet Sounds (The Beach Boys) because I want to hear what they sound like on vinyl,” Adam Glover, 11, said.
Listening to your favorite rock or jazz album on vinyl might leave you surprised with how different the music sounds, since listening from the original source for which the music was first recorded has noticeable differences from digitally remastered music that is found online. Ultimately, listeners might not buy into the sound quality of records, as they might enjoy the crisper vocal effects and the punchier bass lines that digital files and CDs can provide. It is primarily based off of preference for a certain type of sound.
“I love the experience of finding new records, because most music sounds better on vinyl,” Taylor said.
One aspect of the vinyl record community that many people find surprising is just how much some of these albums are worth. When it comes to classic albums from the 1960s and 1970s, many of the original pressings have become scarce in quantity over the years. Over the last decade, these highly-collectable first edition albums have slowly risen in value, and have left collectors spending