Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 53

Thread: A new format, better than CD, vinyl, or any non-physical format

  1. #1
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,532

    A new format, better than CD, vinyl, or any non-physical format

    Imagine if electronics companies announced an imminent launch of a new physical format that had clearly superior sound to CDs, vinyl, and all non-physical formats. Just use your imagination and pretend it's clearly less expensive and has large benefits to users.

    How silly would people feel who sold their old vinyl, bought lots of CDs, then more recently bought tons of new vinyl? All their physical media would be outmoded and they'd have bought into vinyl twice then needed to switch to a new format.

    I know this is hypothetical, I'm sure there'll be no further physical formats, and I know even if there was one that sounded better a lot of people would say well, I'm not getting rid of my vinyl, CDs, MP3s, WAVs, etc.

    It just occurred to me that if there WERE to be some new physical format that dominated and was clearly superior, those who wanted to own all their music in that format but bought their music on vinyl twice would really be peeved!

  2. #2
    In the late 80s, when CDs were all the rage and titles were readily available, I ditched a large portion of my vinyl collection. Maybe not even a year or so later, I regretted that decision and spent the next number of years getting it back. In retrospect, a lot of people dumped their vinyl too and living in a major metro area at the time, the pickings for records were fantastic, and very inexpensive.

    Living in a different major metro area now, I can say with some authority, that the pickings for vinyl records has dropped off considerably over the past ten years, and prices have risen dramatically over the last five.

    New format? No thanks, I learnt my lesson!
    "Always ready with the ray of sunshine"

  3. #3
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    in a cosmic jazzy-groove around Brussels
    Posts
    6,091
    I probably wouldn't be interested by this new technology unless it brings a whole totally new dimension (one not even imaginable)...
    - Mostly because you can only do so much with the ancient stuff released in inferior/previous technologies
    - there is simply not enough new interesting (for moi, of course) stuff released now (either in film, or music) to make it worthy of investing in a new format and its equipment
    - I stopped buying a while ago all these remastered reissues and boxsets of albums I've owned since the 70's.... and I simply am not interested in "going vinyl" again
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  4. #4
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    I probably wouldn't be interested by this new technology unless it brings a whole totally new dimension (one not even imaginable)...
    - Mostly because you can only do so much with the ancient stuff released in inferior/previous technologies
    Precisely.

    The Compact Disc releases all of the fidelity available in old analog recording formats, there is no "better" to get. I could see music moving into a new visual dimension (incorporating footage from the recording studio) or interactive dimension (multi-track, allowing the listener to remix the music on the fly) but neither of those is possible retroactively.

    I sold off many many LPs to finance the purchase of their CD reissues, and never regretted it. I kept all of the Jazz and classical LPs that I *didn't* replace with CDs, until last year when I decided, since I hadn't played a record in years, I probably wasn't going to. Sold the whole lot (9,200 pieces) and bought a few CDs with the proceeds. With almost everything available online these days I haven't missed the LPs at all.

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    800kpc from home
    Posts
    196
    New format ??

    Something like a band's entire music output on high-rez usb memory stick ??

    With accompanying video included ?

    Box sets are the last big deal for before physical media dies. The future is a stick with scarf and marbles included.

  6. #6
    Member Man In The Mountain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Chicago area
    Posts
    1,067
    I'm not interested in the latest and greatest formats that came out in recent years. Stereo CDs are fine for me, and I never got rid of my vinyl.... though I will be getting rid of half of my vinyl in the next few weeks before we move to a new house. I figure sell them while the market is hot.

  7. #7
    facetious maximus Yves's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Posts
    1,621
    I never regretted ditching my vinyl in the 80s. It was all cheap, mass-produced vinyl. The kind that had a warp in it the first time you took it out of the sleeve (the kind of sleeve that created instant static and drew every particle in the room straight on to your disc). Most of it was cheesy 80s metal which I was not listening to by 1987. I was also a guy who supplied music to a lot of house parties so the albums and covers weren't anywhere near mint condition, In light of all that, ditching it to embrace a new technology was a no-brainer. I simply re-bought the stuff I really wanted to keep. I've always been about finding new music anyway so I kept exploring new bands, only in a different format. If the OP's magical new medium were to come along, I'd slowly embrace it and merge it with my existing collection until I phased out the latter. Life would go on.
    "Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."

    -Cozy 3:16-

  8. #8
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    small town in ND
    Posts
    6,432
    I await the day when I sit in the nursing home and can access my entire music and video collection via neural implant.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  9. #9
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,532
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    I await the day when I sit in the nursing home and can access my entire music and video collection via neural implant.
    I've heard they'll be able to bury us before death, with the neural implant and also implanting stents that release just enough nutrients, and also drugs to keep us nearly comatose.

    We can enjoy the music, with nearly no care required. Our bodies will peacefully give in before the stents run out of nutrients. Bliss... Perhaps they can introduce some kind of drug that slows time, so it seems we're listening to our prog endlessly. Of course, what if the sonic implant fails, and we have no way to notify anyone!
    Getting into Twilight Zone territory...

  10. #10
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    Or with my luck, I'd get stuck on a endlessly-repeating Depends commercial.

  11. #11
    Member StevegSr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Brexit Empire
    Posts
    91
    After spending the better part of two months transferring old 1/2 inch analog master tapes to digital files (so called "archival work"), I will happily kill anyone that invents a better sounding music medium then we have at the present time. Unless I kickoff first, which is likely.
    To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.

  12. #12
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    The Planet Lovetron
    Posts
    13,024
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Imagine if electronics companies announced an imminent launch of a new physical format that had clearly superior sound to CDs, vinyl, and all non-physical formats. Just use your imagination and pretend it's clearly less expensive and has large benefits to users.

    How silly would people feel who sold their old vinyl, bought lots of CDs, then more recently bought tons of new vinyl? All their physical media would be outmoded and they'd have bought into vinyl twice then needed to switch to a new format.

    I know this is hypothetical, I'm sure there'll be no further physical formats, and I know even if there was one that sounded better a lot of people would say well, I'm not getting rid of my vinyl, CDs, MP3s, WAVs, etc.

    It just occurred to me that if there WERE to be some new physical format that dominated and was clearly superior, those who wanted to own all their music in that format but bought their music on vinyl twice would really be peeved!
    There's a massive flaw with your logic. There are many, many LPs that either were pressed in very small runs, or sold at a paltry rate, which have never been reissued in any format. You either own them on vinyl, hope some blogger posts a crappy mp3 download, or do without. However, these are the music purchases that can also have a secondary purpose as investments. The initial cost is comparatively high, but unlike CDs, they are retaining their value, and even increasing.

    I would much rather have these than any hypothetical new format, or CDs, which exclude those releases.
    Last edited by moecurlythanu; 04-15-2016 at 06:18 PM. Reason: clarity.

  13. #13
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    Or buy the LP, clean it up and transfer it to CD-R, sell the LP at a profit, and go home happy.

  14. #14
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunset Blvd.
    Posts
    385
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post

    It just occurred to me that if there WERE to be some new physical format that dominated and was clearly superior, those who wanted to own all their music in that format but bought their music on vinyl twice would really be peeved!
    My advice? Don't be a trendmonger.

  15. #15
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    How silly would people feel who sold their old vinyl, bought lots of CDs, then more recently bought tons of new vinyl? All their physical media would be outmoded and they'd have bought into vinyl twice then needed to switch to a new format.
    I see the flaw right there.

  16. #16
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    small town in ND
    Posts
    6,432
    I've got some pretty heavy regrets about vinyl purges I've made in the past. Now we're two people living in a house built for an entire family so we have room to sprawl. I got plans for the next few years, upgrading the equipment and just expanding the vinyl/CD library. And then I can cruise into decrepitude and senility, known around town as that old man that plays music all day while his wife watches gory horror movies.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Imagine if electronics companies announced an imminent launch of a new physical format that had clearly superior sound to CDs, vinyl, and all non-physical formats. Just use your imagination and pretend it's clearly less expensive and has large benefits to users.

    How silly would people feel
    Not at all. Well--very silly for re-buying vinyl after 1990, maybe, but not silly at all because of this new format. The older CDs still would have been the best option at the time they were bought. It would be perfectly feasible to just continue playing/ripping old CDs and just switch to the newer format when buying new stuff.

  18. #18
    My "re-buying" days are over.

    And so are the days of new physical formats.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post

    The Compact Disc releases all of the fidelity available in old analog recording formats, there is no "better" to get.
    SaidNoOneEver_webSmall.jpg

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    My "re-buying" days are over.
    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    And so are the days of new physical formats.
    Not true. 4K films are on the way.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    It just occurred to me that if there WERE to be some new physical format that dominated and was clearly superior, those who wanted to own all their music in that format but bought their music on vinyl twice would really be peeved!
    Not me. I'd choose the ones where the new format really shone. And, of course, I'd buy all new music in the new format, assuming it's available.

    I don't fine it annoying, and I know I'm in the minority. I just view it as the passing of time...and the advancement of technology.

    Waddayagonnado?

  22. #22
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Tejas
    Posts
    1,065
    If they were ever going to add a feature to make an album or song more interesting, I would want to see video footage of things like recording sessions. or each player actually playing the part thats on the recording, or video showing something about why the song was written, like background stories, whatever. I would also like to see submixes of the songs - so that if you are a bass player, you can hear the song without the bass mixed in and you can write your own part, or without vocals, so you can make up your own, or just solo over the music. I know that would be wierd for the artist, but really something fun for the listener. For about 10 cents an artist could add a CDR with all kinds of interesting features, pictures, outtakes, mp3's - or 24 bit .wav files if it were it (most music is recorded at higher resolution, but eventually gets trimmed back to CD resolution.

    Just a thought of what I would think might make an album a little more interesting. Perhaps in a DVD or Blueray format. CD's are pretty much stuck with what you already have. Music releases could be so much more than they are. Of course, it all can be pirated and redistributed by bootleggers who dont give a crap about the artist, so these ideas are probably pretty bad.

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    I would also like to see submixes of the songs - so that if you are a bass player, you can hear the song without the bass mixed in and you can write your own part, or without vocals, so you can make up your own, or just solo over the music.
    Great idea. I've seen at least a couple in the past that offered the individual masters or stems on a DVD for sampling or remixing. That would have been a nice trend to see take off, especially outside the electronica world where it would be much more novel. (It's clearly got big potential--there was one by Duncan Sheik of all people.) Even though the philistines are abandoning physical formats, that kind of thing could still be offered with a download code on purchase. Byrne & Eno had a remix contest with the My Life... reissue, but even that was only two tracks.

  24. #24
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Tejas
    Posts
    1,065
    If you make music more like a video game where people can actually influence the mix themselves, you may get more interest in what you are doing. Of course you would have to provide some kind of software that gives the listener control over what they are hearing. As an artist I have considered this to put out on the internet to collaborate with other musicians. If this were available for some new music, it might really be a cool way for people like me who arent all that great at some instruments to share music and let people create their own leads (I am not a lead guitarist, but I play most other instruments well enough to get by)

    Anyway, glad to see that someone see's this idea as a potential new way to expand music. I for one would love to spend hours creating my own bass lines for something like a Dream Theater album. I dont find Dream Theater bass playing very creative - although Myung is a monster player, its just always so buried, and in my head I hear parts that I just think would be better. Sure, that makes music "all about me" (as the buyer) but I would gladly purchase a duplicate version of a good cd that would allow me to mix my own playing into the songs. For the band (take DT for example) would sell more copies, Both to me and to people who might want to do the same thing. I see how it could detract from sales, it might just add some - and in some cases, a lot. Has Karaoke harmed or helped music sales?

  25. #25
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    16,532
    Quote Originally Posted by Yodelgoat View Post
    If you make music more like a video game where people can actually influence the mix themselves, you may get more interest in what you are doing. Of course you would have to provide some kind of software that gives the listener control over what they are hearing.
    King Crimson and Todd Rundgren both tried this - big failure, IMO.

    Actually, I never got to sample the Rundgren one, but since Phillips never really got anywhere with it, I'm assuming.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •