My (F44) son (M15) bought a vinyl record player

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xfan10@reddit

"So he asked me to buy him a record player, I said absolutely not" Yikes. I would be elated.

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Why vinyl? Because a large swath of my collection (currently around 10000) is not available on any streaming platform. Additionally, most of the stuff that I play regularly would be compromised by the lossy compression of streaming services.

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tunaman808@reddit

>where’s the trope of your teenager being more tech savvy than their parent ? As an IT guy... they grew up in an age where most things "just worked", much like how we grew up not needing to know much about landline phones or electricity because they always "just worked" for us. Kids today don't know what "defragging a hard drive" is, or "IRQ conflicts" or "converting a FAT16 to a FAT32 volume" or "it's been six months, time to reinstall Windows 98". In fact, at most of the small companies I support, twentysomethings tend to know even less about desktops and laptops than Boomers because, again, Boomers and GenX invented all this stuff, and assumed out kids would understand it, too. But that's now it works. >why waste money on physical things when you have unlimited access to streaming it on your mother’s subscription ? Well, for one thing, people *like* collecting things. I use Spotify 19 times a day, but I like having actual, physical objects to look at and touch. To have something that says "hey friends, here's my music taste on display". And while colored vinyl was kinda rare in the 80s, it's really common now. Some *beautiful* records are being made these days. And while I'm not normally one of those "vinyl sounds SO MUCH BETTER than CD" people, vinyl *does* sound a lot better than you may remember. I guess the biggest thing is, I listen to vinyl when I really want to *listen* to music. Spotify is great for listening to in the car, or as I mow the lawn or do household chores... but there's nothing like sitting down in a comfy chair, clearing your mind and putting on a good LP. >Smh at this generation OK, grandma.

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the_spinetingler@reddit

>"it's been six months, time to reinstall Windows 98". dammit, you just triggered my PTSD

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Coconut-bird@reddit

My 17 year old loves vinyl. He also built his own computer. So I don't see where wanting a turntable corresponds to not being tech savvy. Also, I work at a college library. A year ago we began purchasing vinyl for our students to check out, along with turntables if they don't have one. They have been extremely popular. Vinyls are a big thing with the younger generation.

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the_spinetingler@reddit

>Vinyls no.

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DrebinofPoliceSquad@reddit

Vinyl is super trendy atm. Even with the crazy prices. New record players even have the bluetooth’s and casting abilities.

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Wormwood666@reddit

This has been said about vinyl for most of the 21st century, not just atm.

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alsatian01@reddit

My 10 yo keeps asking for one. All bc Taylor Swift puts out vinyl collections. It has inspired me to try and put together a nice vintage rack system. I keep my eye out on FB market for nice components that people don't know the value of.

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HillbillyEulogy@reddit

*where’s the trope of your teenager being more tech savvy than their parent ?* There has been this "walk away" trend and I love it. The pendulum needs to swing back a little bit from everyone being a cartoon avatar of themselves speaking in pictures of clowns and fruit. *why waste money on physical things when you have unlimited access to streaming it on your mother’s subscription ?* You answered it. It's a physical thing and yours to keep. And it's a return to listening to music as an activity - records are a tactile part of the experience. Besides, if Spotify shut down tomorrow, it'd be like somebody setting your record collection on fire. Maybe it's because I grew up on the format. Maybe it's because I have the record collection I dreamed of as a kid (1000+ and counting) so I sympathize. But for all the advantages of streaming, it does remove part of the experience.

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dhalem@reddit

Or you can have an all digital collection that takes no space and won’t get dusty. I

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HillbillyEulogy@reddit

Sure. That's also an option. I grew up on records. And I'm also a recording engineer, so you're not going to hear me say some bullshit about vinyl being superior when, by every conceivable metric, it simply isn't (at least compared to red book CD standard, much less a high resolution 96kHz/24bit master). I just like listening to vinyl. It's a whole experience. The cover art, the brief cackle of the static as you pull the vinyl from a dust jacket, the "thwap" and brief surface noise building anticipation to the first downbeat.

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

Interesting I don’t consider Spotify as being my collection. It’s a service I subscribe to, on their terms I recall the times when I could only afford to buy one cassette or CD every 4-6 months. At his age I would probably have 3-4 cassettes in total. I don’t think he realizes how amazing it is for him to have access to virtually any genre

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HillbillyEulogy@reddit

Here's the amazing thing about it: You don't have to choose one or the other. Also, if this is worth anything to you (and as a published songwriter and engineer/producer who receives points and publishing on record sales), buying an LP is actually helping the artist get paid something for their work. I admit, I use Spotify as a subscriber for its insane convenience and near-limitless selection. But what they pay the actual publishers/performers/labels is so unfathomably abysmal it would boggle your imagination. One of my most played tracks on there has just north of a couple hundred thousand. After the distributor and label takes their chunk, I walked away with about $300 total. I know this isn't a conversation about the lack of ethics in the music industry, but it does bear pointing out. Spotify looked at the old ten-cents-on-the-dollar after recoup model when CD's reigned supreme and said "hold my beer", or however you say that in Swedish.

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ButIAmYourDaughter@reddit

I mean I’ve never had much use for vinyl (like you OP, I’m a Late Xer/Xennial and records were never really the dominant medium for most of our childhood/adolescence), but they’ve been enjoying a resurgence for quite a long time now. It’s not really even a “kids these days” thing. Vinyl really began its mini-comeback back in the 00s, when us tail end Xers were still in our 20s. And it was a young adult movement, driven significantly by Xennials/Millennials of that time. These were the people who were kids when records became nearly obsolete, and carried a lot of nostalgia for a time period when that was a part of our childhood. Some of us felt like we missed the boat and, as adults, now had a chance to go back and relive the magic. I live in NYC and I remember how new record stores just suddenly started opening up and the places could get pretty packed. It’s really not unusual for younger people to become interested in old stuff. It happened to us and it happens to every generation.

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

I had a vinyl player in my childhood bedroom. It was just opposite the gas stove. I had probably inherited it from my father, and I only had a couple of records to play, including a tango one. I still love listening to tango

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incredibubblez@reddit

My 10 year old buys vinyl from the local record shop and also plays my vinyl on the turntable that my dad bought me for my 18th. I inherited my dad's record collection, so they get a spin too. As my son was born after my dad died, this is a nice physical thread linking us all.

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

Love this for you!

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Nerds4Yous@reddit

You said 'No' to a record player for your son? You're outta the GenX gang Dad. Fuck me you'e a grump.

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HealthyTemporary9924@reddit

Was thinking the same thing 🫣

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

It’s Mom and not Dad but grump if you say so 💁‍♀️

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HealthyTemporary9924@reddit

My kids into vinyl. Why say no? This is a good thing. Let him explore music and give him the tools to do so. My son is 17. I encouraged and now he shares new music with me, keeps me relevant! I love when he wants me to listen to a song or drive and listen to an album start to finish. It’s a way for us to connect. Just my two cents.

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WylieCoyoteT@reddit

I’ve done comparisons on my own equipment and have definitely noticed the difference. Bluetooth is not a lossless format. Streamed music is typically a compressed format that is also not lossless. I personally prefer the convenience of Bluetooth and streaming over slightly better quality. Audiophiles do not. That said, records are probably not the best way to get the perfect sound. This is a good article about it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/interactive/2022/perfect-sound-quality-vinyl-records/

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DanTreview@reddit

>I personally prefer the convenience of Bluetooth and streaming over slightly better quality. Audiophiles do not. Audiophile here, and I've come full circle, and enjoy both. If I'm at work, or in the car, or cleaning the house, who tf cares - it's not like I can tell a difference between a lossy stream vs my disc-level quality FLACs in those situations, be it shoddy speakers, ambient background noise, or hardwood floors, etc. So I'm a Tidal guy for those types of environments. But when I'm sitting at my home workstation, that's when it matters.

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devilinthedetails@reddit

I (M43) only buy new albums on vinyl (they almost all come with free mp3's for digital use anyway) and fully support my youngest (M16) son's love of vinyl. Yes, more often than not I use Spotify, and so does he, but there are some things that I want a permanent physical copy of. I also read primarily on a Kindle, but still buy hardcover copies of books by my favorite authors because they, like vinyl, will still be usable when today's technology moves to the next thing. When I want to ensure that I will always have access to that thing that I love, analog is the way to go.

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67alecto@reddit

My 16-year-old loves going to the record store and picking up vinyl

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DanTreview@reddit

My son is 21 and bought a turntable, a DAC, preamp, and some floor-standing loudspeakers a couple years ago, and is snagging all of his favorite albums on vinyl. Not only are albums generally mastered better for vinyl, but he also adores the liner notes, gatefolds, and the physicality of it. And you should see some of these albums - he picked up the deluxe edition of Tool's last release and it is bigger than a coffee table book and the artwork in it is head-spinning. Worth every penny. I would never discourage that. I went through the same thing in the late 70s/early 80s. But he also supplements his (small) vinyl collection with Tidal. No, your son doesn't "need" it, but going vinyl is a hobby. ***Let him have his hobby***. My son and I are also into automatic/mechanical watches (the kind that need to be wound up), and yes it's a vintage thing, but it's also a fun hobby.

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WylieCoyoteT@reddit

Bluetooth does not sound as good as a wired connection

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DanTreview@reddit

Audiophile here, and in blindfold tests, most people can't tell a difference.

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

I’m not so sure about that Also, we’re just regular people enjoying music, not musicians

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Maison1984@reddit

This 43 year old has a huge vinyl collection, your son has a different appreciation of music and you sound like a boomer for judging him for it. He needs to connect physically connect his vinyl player to speakers through an amp, some players already have one built in and a good chord will do. If he needs help with that, he is welcome to contact me - I’m also in Switzerland.

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MrsQute@reddit

Plusses and minuses to everything. My 20 year old got a record player when he was 18 and has a small collection of vinyl - some newly bought and some from my late father's collection. Most of the time he's listening to his digital music - either stuff he's gotten or just via Spotify or whatever but some days he just wants to sit and listen to the album. When I was 15 I had an extensive tape collection and a bourgeoning CD collection. Music was always around when I was growing up so it was perfectly reasonable.

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fridayimatwork@reddit

I love being able to listen to any song at any time without lugging around vinyl

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fortunatelyso@reddit

So much media is being lost because streamers of movies and music are shutting down. Owning physical media might be the only way some of us can listen and watch our favorites someday. There is a growing movement to re own media and media players (Walkman and record players etc and wired headphones). What your kid is doing is great. I'd chip in for wired headphones!!

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Lonestar-Boogie@reddit

Nothing beats the crackle of the needle on vinyl before the music starts. Nothing. And perhaps your son is enamoured with actual physical things making the sound, rather than 1's and 0's. Either way, I think it's cool when younger people go analog like this.

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ktzamama@reddit

If you know a thing or two about music, how about you support him in his love for this format, regardless of your preferred method of interaction? Get him the wires. Hook him up. I’m 44 and have Spotify, but was thrilled to get myself a turntable and some records. It has a warmer feel to the music if you have the right speakers and such.

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Foolazul@reddit

Using screens and speakers and Spotify is not tech savvy.

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thedatagolem@reddit

Retro is cool.

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micmarmi@reddit

Ah, my 15 year old is completely into vinyl, same as they prefer actual books to virtual and I’m so here for it. It’s been explained to me as being a tactile thing and I get it. It’s much more fun to unwrap a record and admire it and go through the album cover and inserts than just looking at another screen. The speaker thing though maybe they want the complete old school experience?

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BellaFromSwitzerland@reddit (OP)

I also love paper books, in an attempt to minimize my screen time We also go to the local library

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