Analogue technology can be frustrating – is that part of the appeal?

[drkrack]

Classic is a polite term for obsolete then?
Still valued for their aesthetics and nostalgia and no availability though

Think Again, before Digital Recording era started, During The Analog Recording era, The First Vinyl Pressings Are Essentially like Witnessing a Musical History Being Made ; that too a first hand witness...

So in Recording Studios of 70s, be it Lyla by Eric Clapton or Led Zeppelin recording Stairway to heaven or Miles Davis Recording Birches Brew, The First Vinyl Pressings Are Essentially First Hand Witnesses of Musical Milestones of History, in the Making! That's a remarkable thing IMHO, Especially considering the fact that Subsequent Analog Pressings do degrade the sound by a very minute bit. Next better options are the best sounding First Pressings and Best Remastered First Pressings.

Absolutely, if those First or Best Sounding Recordings are well preserved & still available for buying now (that's well preserved for almost 50yrs), will definitely have a snob value, vintage appeal and horribly skewed Demand Supply Equation leading to unbelievable valuations. Other than those well preserved recordings rest everything is akin to Scam and money minting from a New Trend that's all.

The Whole Analog Music Reproduction may appear cumbersome from current digital era perspective (But Analog playback should be compared with how cumbersome it would have been to arrange a live music band playing, because that was the only other option available before Analog was available) , but if you are chasing a great sounding recording especially the ones recorded before 70s, Analog chain surpasses the digital by a decent margin.
But the current trend of digital masters being used for Vinyl, pressings to fill the demand supply gap, doesn't make sense to me per se.

So, its all worth if you have good unique recordings and time /patience, otherwise its just an exercise in futility when much better options are available.

 

[arj]

If we do not complicate it with too much philosophy and only use the philosophy of Occams Razor, Maybe listen to what sounds best on that medium ?

Old Bollywood, Rock pre 80s on Vinyl, post that CDs, 2010 onwards streaming (Unless there is a vinyl which is better pressed) ?

...And those who want to remain hipsters stuck in th 90's Cassettes.

 

[Analogous]

@arj, now that you mention it I haven’t heard/seen anyone extolling the audio cassette!!!!

Blatant discrimination against a legacy audio technology should not be in a rarified forum such as this

The cassette was an important part of history and should not be wiped out of memory. My Walkman saved my sanity in college years more than any straight razor or vinyl

Cutting, splicing and mixtapes are sadly ignored in todays audio curriculum

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Surprisingly many of those songs were available once and then played on the now defunct worldspace. It was very popular in the south. Almost every restaurant had a worldspace satellite receiver. I paid for 5 years subscription and the company went bankrupt. If you have experienced worldspace receivers in the 2000s, you would miss that with the new streaming services.

Yes indeed. Worldspace was irreplaceable, especially in its programming quality - genre-wise channels/stations, well-informed anchors and good SQ (for that time). But I find Internet radio helps me fill the void to an extent. Especially when accessed through presets on the streamer. Some internet radio stations (eg Shripad radio) have well-curated programs on old Hindi songs.

I don't think any Indian song is available from the old times in any of the streaming services. Private songs sung by Pankaj Mullick, Hemanta Mukherjee, Kishore Kumar, etc too aren't available on streaming services.

Have you checked Apple Music off late? There are many film albums and collections of these and other old singers, including non-film songs. Just today morning I was listening to a 1938 movie album with KL Saigal and Uma Devi. And then a largish collection of CH Atma’s songs.

Of course hard to find private performances are more likely to be on YouTube than on any other platform.