We’ve covered plenty of conventional methods for cleaning vinyl records at Sound Matters – from relatively expensive vinyl cleaning machines to humble but effective manual cleaning solutions. But there’s one method we haven’t yet touched on that’s rapidly gaining popularity in the vinyl community, and that’s ultrasonic cleaning. What is Ultrasonic Cleaning? In a nutshell, Ultrasonic cleaning is a process … Read More
The Best & Worst Album Covers
The large-format cover art of vinyl records is one of the key draws for many music fans. There’s nothing quite like the blank canvas of a 12inch record cover for making an artistic statement that compliments your music. In the digital age, some would go as far to say we’ve lost the art of making great album covers – a … Read More
The Pros and Cons of Vinyl Records
Few debates in the audio world create such a large divide as the analog vs digital question. Vinyl vs CD/Digital is the classic battleground, where passionate enthusiasts on both sides of the argument often partake in heated exchanges with no real conclusion. The question itself is undoubtedly oversimplified – there are far too many variables to draw a line under such a broad debate, … Read More
Vinyl Record Sales Outstrip Downloads – But is it Sustainable?
If you’re an avid vinyl fan, you’ve likely heard the news that revenue from vinyl record sales outstripped digital downloads for the first time during the week spanning November 25th to December 1st. Great news — at least on the surface — but is it sustainable? We take a look at some of the recently published stats in an attempt … Read More
Measuring Vinyl Dynamic Range – It’s Complicated!
As a young(ish) person discovering vinyl for the first time, I was fascinated by the claim floating around in many of the Internet’s forums that some vinyl releases have better dynamic range than their digital or CD counterparts. This immediately seemed odd to me, as digital music – on paper at least – is capable of much greater dynamic range. See figures below: 16 … Read More
What’s Wrong with Cheap Record Players?
As record sales continue to grow year-on-year, so too has the market for cheap starter record players. The demand is so great, last year’s hottest Christmas seller on Amazon was the Jensen JTA-230 3-speed stereo turntable with built-in speakers. Priced at just $51.99, it’s safe to say the majority of these players were bought as starter turntables. The Jensen JTA isn’t the only … Read More
Vinyl Stylus Shapes Explained
The hi-fi world is full of technical jargon and vinyl records are certainly no exception. In the following article, you’ll learn about the most common stylus shapes on the market designed for vinyl playback. So what exactly is a stylus? In simple terms the stylus (or needle) is the tip that tracks your vinyl record. Most styli are made from industrial diamonds … Read More
Vinyl Record Inner-Groove Distortion (A Simple Explanation)
While vinyl records have plenty to offer, both sonically and from a listening experience standpoint, they also come with some trade-offs. One of the most commonly cited but also misunderstood trade-offs is a phenomenon known as inner-groove distortion (also referred to as end-of-side distortion. Inner-groove distortion is an audible deterioration in sound quality that sometimes occurs when playing tracks close … Read More
HD Vinyl Patent Proves Market Forces Can Save the Vinyl Record
For some time, independent record labels have expressed concern about Vinyl hype and the very real problems caused by the production bottleneck. According to small labels, independent artists now struggle to get their work pressed as the major labels leverage their size and budget to squeeze more and more records through a limited number of pressing plants across the globe. Due to … Read More
How to Look After Your Vinyl Records (Part Two)
In 2015, sales of vinyl records grew for the tenth consecutive year, and while millions of music fans are rediscovering the joy of music on wax, they’re also learning how maintenance comes with the territory. As we’ve already established in our first post about vinyl record care – great sounding records require care and attention. In this second edition, we’ll cover plenty more methods … Read More
