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matthewb
@matthewb
this is Serious Gourmet Bait to get me to write a long hi-fi thread. maybe these could be sit and talk videos instead if there's any interest. * here's a tldr; on the hi-fi format wars in 2025: - vinyl is still enormously popular and many serious audiophiles optimize their entire system for vinyl playback rather than CD or streaming - despite CDs being largely forgotten by the average consumer, audiophiles still love CDs and often prefer them to streaming - streaming is becoming more and more prevalent, to the extent that it's the default for most showrooms. arguably the most complex and expensive to optimize vs. vinyl and CDs.
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matthewb
@matthewb
* is vinyl a more performant format for critical listening? yes and no. it has certain characteristics that are desirable: - greater sense of spaciousness, instruments occupy a realistic amount of space with "air" around them. - relaxed and sweet character vs. digital sources that encourages long listening sessions - a satisfying tactile ritual that encourages you to listen to an album as intended by the artist who created it it also carries some notable disadvantages vs. other formats: - very susceptible to dust, requires a cleaning machine to remove dust prior to playback for optimal performance - adds a significant amount of complexity with a cartridge, tonearm, turntable, phono stage, and the record itself as elements of your chain - generally speaking a smaller soundstage, less low-end weight, and less detail retrieval vs. the best digital sources
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