Streaming Is To Audio What Red Plastic Cups Are To Wine
Unpacking and going through my vinyl collection, it occurs to me that vinyl is it, whereas streaming is Audio’s red plastic cup.
The best wines taste low-shelf in the red plastic cup. Yes, the red plastic cup is cheap and convenient, just like streaming. Wine should feel the same regardless of the vessel - it’s the same wine - but it does not. So should music - but it does not. Streamed music may sound (nearly) as good as vinyl, but it feels... disposable. Vinyl does not. Vinyl is the thing. Vinyl is it! Just my opinion, of course.
The OP, @devinplombier said "Folks, this is not about sound quality or, heaven forbid, cost of gear. Vinyl and streaming can both sound great."
This is not true. I spent less on the vinyl side than streaming. But as the OP said, this is not about the cost of gear, either. |
Perhaps we could all benefit from being a little less literal. An apt analogy might be religion; for some, I imagine that the rituals surrounding their religious practice help them more easily or effectively to connect spiritually. And yet, objectively, you could easily argue that those rituals should have no material effect on one’s religious practice. Heck, I’m an atheist, but if I’m in a church around the Christmas season, I invariably cry like a baby when we sing Christmas hymns because that ritual brings up so much family history. It somehow bypasses my brain and gets deep into my heart. A red plastic cup would probably get in the way of that connection. |
Respectfully, that’s completely besides the point. The point (my point) is that the practice of vinyl - with its sensory, tactile, experiential, taxonomic and humanistic ramifications - is rich with meaning, whereas streaming is largely a flat, disembodied experience that facilitates (but does not impose, to be fair) a passive, listless participation style. The red plastic cup does not change the taste of wine, but it robs the act of wine drinking of its context and wrings all the charm out of it - try clinking red plastic cups with friends. SOUND QUALITY ISN’T THE POINT (apologies for the caps)
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