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Vinyl vs. CDs

Vinyl

Vinyl is recorded in what is known as analog format. In the first instance of record production vinyl was only available in mono with a standard sound being reproduced in equal volume through however many speakers were connected to the hifi, in this case the gramophone. The record was produced by a machine that put all the information into one side of the groove which the stylus then "read" thus converting the sound through the equipment and out so it could be heard by the listener. As the technology progressed advances meant that sound could be produced through two channels of sound in preference to the one found in mono recordings. Instead of using one side of the groove to hold one channel, the record was etched by the machine with two channels of sound, the right channel is nearest the the inside of the groove (the side nearest the centre of the record) and left channel on the opposite groove wall nearest the edge of the record. The stylus then picks up the two channels and reproduces them allowing different sounds to be produced through the left and right speakers. Panning frequencies of sound became possible creating a more life-like and full sound to the listener.

Cost

Vinyl is expensive to manufacture as each has to be etched on a machine in turn. Production runs are done in batches with one being very expensive but economies of scale are applicable the more that are produced. Setting up the machine in the first place is time consuming and if only one piece of vinyl is produced this cost is passed in total making it expensive. However If you produce 3000 of the same record this set up cost is split over every record rather than just one making it much more efficient. An average 12" record will cost anywhere up to and around the region of £7 making DJing with vinyl an expensive affair.

Availability

Specialist retailers will concentrate on selling vinyl but these are now more few and far between. Internet retailers have the added bonus of low overheads and simply distribute to order, can buy in large volumes and can offer more competitive deals and also an increased choice. independent shops on the high street have much higher overheads of permanent staff, the organisation of specific opening hours, rent on the shop and have the running costs of the business to cover. More often than not they will have limited stock and thus the choice can suffer. It is time consuming to look for and find a tune you want but that's the bit I love, especially when you find something you have been hunting for for a long time, or one you find that is particularly rare. It needs physical input from you and some effort in getting out there and finding it.

Quality

The quality of vinyl will be determined by several factors. When produced a piece of vinyl is simply a circular piece of material that is totally smooth. The thickness of the vinyl itself will determine how deep the grooves on the vinyl can be. The set up of the equipment that cuts the grooves such as the groove etching tool and the machine itself will also play a part. Material used will also affect the final product. If a piece of vinyl is thin and flimsy the final recording will be less pleasing than one on thick chunky vinyl with deep grooves. Quality of sound will also be decided by the original music that the manufacturing etching machine is actually cutting onto the disc. If the actual music that was written was badly produced on computer for example the best material in the world won't make up for the original sound being fuzzy etc... Independent record labels producing only 100 copies of a tune may have to (due to the expense of the production run) reduce their production costs by loosing some of the material cost in order to make a profit possible and thus making the project to them a worthwhile venture. There is no reason however why a major record label should be producing on crap vinyl. They will be producing vinyl in much bigger quantities so each piece of vinyl made on the same run will bring the cost down as previously mentioned.
The thinner the vinyl the more susceptible it will be to warping too. It won't hold its shape so well and will bend under far less conditional change when exposed to heat for example. A good thick heavy piece of vinyl will offer more resistance in holding its shape. There are means and ways to fix a warped record or at least minimise any warping that may have occurred. For more information on this please see my Fixing Warped Vinyl Tutorial, later in this section.

Finally the other big teller for a good product will be the option of how many grooves per side of vinyl. If you compare a vinyl album to a 12 single the first thing you should notice is that because the album has several tunes per side means you have to squeeze a lot more information on the same physical space. Because there is a great deal more information, you need more grooves per side. The more grooves you have, the closer you have to pack them together and thus sound quality (especially volume for the vinyl) will be considerably quieter. You may find this obvious if you mix an album into a 12" single. You will either have to boost the album track in volume or reduce the 12" to make them sound balanced. the 12" will also sound crisper and a cleaner sound with better clarity. All down to the number and depth of grooves.

Storage

Vinyl is big, bulky and heavy. As your collection starts to grow you'll need adequate storage space unless you plan to sell your records periodically once you don't play them anymore. New replaces the old. this doesn't tend to be the case in my experience. Anyone with a love for DJing on vinyl likes the hands on feel of it and sees it as an investment, not a means to an end. This is why the storage space becomes such an issue. Although there are several methods of shelving available, most DJs I know have cheap plastic crates to house their vinyl which in some cases are stackable. Your average bookshelf won't be deep enough in terms of width (in excess on 12") and those that are deep enough won't be designed to take on anything heavy in the long term. You may find that shelving bows in the middle under the weight or in some cases, unless it is free standing of course will at some point be ripped from the wall.

As a rule there are several things that should be adhered to when caring for your vinyl investment. I've left out the "never touch a record with your fingers" type ones I've heard as for the Dj they are totally impractical! ANyway on with the list......

1. Always store vinyl on its side and keep it as vertical as possible. Keep them in sleeves and wherever possible in anti static ones to protect them from attracting unnecessary dust.

2. Don't let them slant and be stored over a period of time in this manner. The weight of the records leaning up against them over time will mean they all become slightly warped as a result. Use something heavy on the end of a row of records to push them upright reducing the stress and weight placed upon them by the records either side of it.

3. Avoid storing vinyl near ANY heat sources. Move them well away from radiators etc. or you'll have a nice collection of useless records but more contemporary fruit bowls than you know what to do with. Don't forget that sunlight beating through a window on to your records for a few hours will be enough to ruin a few hundred quids worth in an afternoon. Remove any records from the decks when you aren't using them for this same reason. Warping is so easily done and is a git to fix. It can be done but its a tedious process and the results aren't guaranteed either.

4. Room temperature should remain constant. I've read that 21 Degrees Celsius (65-70 degrees Fahrenheit) is the ideal but that all seems overly cautious and a bit too scientific for everyday use. Any indoor room with good insulation (in preference to an outside shed) will be fine. Just be careful of those heat sources.

5. Avoid exposing your vinyl to dust and/or moisture. These two can be potential vinyl killers and although that is the rule it that isn't always the case. Should you not have the convenience of storing all your records in the room where you mix, ensure you cover up any vinyl you happen to store in less than these regular conditions and ensure they are adequately covered and protected. I used a large rug/blanket to wrap the boxes containing the records, then covered all the boxes with a sheet of bendy plastic for extra protection. I stored some of my records for a year in my garage with no ill effects whatsoever. However should you do this, ensure you stack them on their edges totally upright when you return them to room temperature to ensure as they warm to the ambience of the room they retain their original flat form. Its not ideal and should b avoided wherever possible though just in case the moisture does damage them. Periodically if they are just left this will happen without a doubt. You will need to clean all records stored in this fashion BEFORE putting them back on your turntable. See the Cleaning Vinyl Tutorial for more help on this.

Summary

There is a method of making vinyl yourself but this involves you spending a few thousand pounds on your own pressing machine. They are available to try and make vinyl manufacture more home-friendly but the quality of them, so I've read is questionable with the final product being only good for a certain number of plays. Very much like a dub plat in fact. A dub plate (as you may hear DJs referring to new tunes being pressed onto Dub Plates) is an acetate material that is coated. It is etched onto like during the normal vinyl manufacturing process but means it can be produced in single units. However these are extremely heavy and supposedly reduce in quality with each play. It gets worn with each play and crackles become more apparent on playback. You certainly can't scratch with them and one dub costs around £45. As you can see a very expensive method used by pro DJs to test a tune with a crowd before it is on general release and made available for everyone to buy. If a tune flops it is better to loose £45 than make 2000 and sell 100 at a cost of £1000. That's quite a loss.

With vinyl its mostly a space and cost thing and pretty much depends on your viewpoint to DJing. Some people think that a DJ should perform on turntables and nothing else (the purists viewpoint) while others say that CDs are just as credible and is the only way forward in the DJing future - turntables are old hat and purists should get with the times. Others believe a mixture of both is best.

You won't see turntablism of any competition level being done on CDs currently as for one the technology hasn't progressed yet to a level that rivals a turntable let alone exceeds it. There are scratching CDs available now with more being developed. However the limitations of a CDJs and their intricate functions meant heir operation is fiddly in the majority of cases and for that reason fails the test. Turntablism is about manual manipulation of a record with quick and easy access to the medium - a very hands on approach. You can't really do that with a CD that is out of physical reach and in a box with a plug on it.

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