Why do you listen to records?

For me, it's the same reason I keep a hot rodded 1972 Alfa Romeo for occasional driving. It's nostalgic, tactile, imperfect yet exciting in a way my daily driver modern car isn't.  The modern car does everything well without much engagement. It corrects problems automatically with traction control, ABS, cruise control, lane change warnings and so much more. Yet, it doesn't provide the joy of driving that hot rodded Alfa. The Alfa experience is far more engaging, requiring my regular attention, and always leaving a smile on my face, except when she's fussy. Even at those times, the mental and mechanical challenges to "make her right" bring me joy that no modern car can bring.

For me, vinyl is nostalgic, imperfect, fussy at times, Yet, vinyl is far more engaging and tactile than streaming or CD's, which I listen to regularly (my daily drivers).

However, when I want that special experience, and I'm willing to invest my time and effort, it's hard to beat the joy of vinyl.  Vroom, vroom!

There's a guy who shows up at my house every other weekend. We hang out and he gets introduced to new artists everytime he's here. He'll bring records and do the same, introduce me to artists i hadn't run into.

There was one specifically that blew his mind not too long ago (i played him the cd and it was a decent recording, nothing spectacular). He insta-orders the record while he was sitting in my house....A week later, he shows up with the brand new record, he plays it on my reference turntable and the pressing  just sounds bad.

A few weeks later, I ask him if he's been playing that album in his house....and..he says no.. He says the pressings quality was not letting him enjoy it.

His vinyl fanaticism and the inability to be medium agnostic made him abandon the artist.

I find that UNACCEPTABLE!!

Cuz:

(1) I have thousands of LPs and 45's and the sound is great.

(2) Looking for an old gatefold from high school that still has crumbs of weed in the spine! 

Nostalgia. That is all. It is kind of fun to relive the 1970s. On most modern music (anything after say around 1990) you might as well listen to digital because that is how it was recorded. Any "warmth" or whatever you want from vinyl can be had with a little judicious EQ. 

I still listen to my vinyl, but rarely. 

I mean there are those who would love flying in an open cockpit Sopwith Camel, but most people know modern airplanes are better. 

Look at it this way:  For the last 40 years recording studios have invested heavily in PCM digital. The guys who understood how to master well for vinyl are long retired or dead. 

I listen to records because I'm fascinated by how the same music can be reproduced in so many different ways, and playing different pressings of the same record and hearing the differences, some subtle and many much less so, is an endlessly engaging exercise for me.

Oh, and also because a digital format cannot compete with a top quality vintage pressing, properly cleaned and played back on a system built to play it, which precious few systems are. If your digital front end competes with your analog, you're not getting analog right and have some work to do if you want that.

And that's not to say that you should! Digital is relatively easy and analog is a major pain in the butt. I happen to find the experience of hearing exactly what's on great record so magical and rewarding it's worth the effort, but I realize it's not for everyone.