Why we are living a new Golden Age of Analog

We are currently living a new Golden Age of Analog media, vinyl and tape, as well as its digitalization. Discover with us the main reasons behind this phenomenon and let's celebrate together this special era!

#analog #highres #audiophile

[cdl]

The current trend in analogue audio is paralleled by a similar situation in photography, where there is growing interest in the use of photographic film, and making prints on photographic paper. Real images were born analogue, as well.

[TheCharlesAtoz]

This channel is truly about living your passion. I am working on putting together my own system and music. Thank you.

[martinmullen]

Good video, I have discovered so much new music on YouTube, and I have gone out and purchased it as I like physical copies CDs and vinyl.

[hugobloemers]

I love the enthusiasm of this channel. It has to be fun and it has to be a hobby. I recently also decided to return to cassettes as well. I bought a broken but cosmetically 9/10 Marantz 5025 (OMG, they are not cheap any more) that I still have to repair and I bought a Kenwood KX520 for 7 euros or so (and it works) and a Luxman K5 because it was cheap (but I did not even look at it yet). Cassettes are far from perfect but they are fun so why not have some fun with them, because we can.

[BogoEN]

Great episode! So many things I want to comment on so I’ll do my best to be brief:
1) So true about knowing where we are on that graph. Yes, some of us missed out on the 70’s and early 80’s analog peak, but I think another way to look at this NEW analog golden age is that now we also appreciate it, compared to the 80’s when all we could focus on was what was to come (digital).
2) I record my music to analog. Both here at home for demos and all the way in the studio where we record to 2” 24 track tape. And the masters will be analog as well. I sincerely hope channels like yours (and people like you (-;) can encourage not just audiophiles to hear and appreciate the very-real difference of analog audio, but also musicians who may not yet realize the different impact analog audio can have on their audience and fans (a stronger one, imho)
3) CASSETTES!! You are so right about what we all thought ten years ago, including me. I remember seeing this promo video from Phillips, asking the question whether we’d see a cassette resurgence since we got a vinyl boom. I laughed at the hipster kid in it and shook my head. Who wanted to go back to THAT? Then I watched @TechMoan and @CassetteComeback and realized a few years later how wrong I was. Fast forward to present day and I’m listening to a pristine copy of my OG pressing of “Are You Experienced?” as I’m about to watch your video. And it sounds UH MAY ZING. (Made w a Sony ES deck)
4)Lastly, I bought that record in 2001, the year I started collecting records in earnest. The price sticker said “$20” and I looked at the much-older-than-me store owner cross eyed and asked how he could charge so much for a record. He had to explain what an original pressing was to me and so I decided to buy it, begrudgingly. Sometimes I look back on those days and wonder if they ever actually happened 😆

[mykolamisyura]

Even some artists are making full AAA recordings nowadays and, I hope, there will be more and more such an examples. Diagonal - Diagonal (first album, fully AAA, incredible quality and beautiful progressive rock music, it blowed my mind, highly recommend). Even Yann Tiersen (famous for Ameli soundtrack) produced his compilation of best tracks by re-recording them on the fully analog technology and making real AAA vinyl issue with not a high price - about 40€ for 3 LPs and one 7”. Amazing. What a great time we are living in!

[ROBERTODILANDRO]

Very good analysis, I think the same ...
I am convinced that the resurgence of vinyl is also due to
YouTube and the proliferation of channels like ours that we have been fighting tirelessly for the dissemination of analog sound. People feel a certain emotional connection with the format, whether due to sound quality, placebo or nostalgia. Just do a test in the search engine, when we put the name of an artist or album we already get the option "vinyl" at the end of the phrase automatically.

[amirkessner]

Basically, this makes sense, though I think there are a few issues, not sure I remember all of them.


First, the curves at 1:30+ are questionable in a few aspects. The quality and condition of tapes depend on when the recording was made, and cannot be graphed this way. Once a recording is made, the quality and condition never go up, as in the first half of the graph. Moreover, tapes do deteriorate badly over time, and often need to be restored, which is not always possible, and even when possible, not everybody has the equipment and know-how of how to do it.


The problem with early pressings is not only the EQ but also the low quality of the cutters and their amplification. Initially there were tubes, with their problems, then transistors with their early problems, which improved later.


Also, the reference to "reproducers" seems to apply to the replay tape machines during remastering, but all other audio equipment, from the needle to the speakers have improved beyond recognition, and we can hear the original records and tapes at a level nobody dreamed of at the time.


The session tapes are those from copies of which, cut and pasted, the master tape was made. However, this cutting and pasting -- selecting takes and patches -- was often done with the session producers and technicians, and confirmed by the artists. Using the session tapes directly for remastering means that different choices can be made, which may yield a significantly different result from the original, that is not what was approved/confirmed by the producer/artists.

[stimpy]

This is a great discussion! Also my cousin Alan who went to medical school in Siena watched this video and said you remind him of his Italian medical school professors.

[DenianArcoleo]

Love that characteristic Italian gesture at 8.50-reminds me of the Italian side of my family.

[trondam]

Hehehe....enjoyed your video and I love the big comeback of analog music 😃🤘🤘

[leon]

Its indeed a new golden Age. The best years for vinyl in general are probably the 90s when you could get any original cheap and the 2010s when they reissue so many quality products.

The only issue now is how the prices for some of these original and limited releases keep going up, like MMJ titles which are 400$ or so on the aftermarket. Quite insane.

[NickP]

Excellent vid. The black & white pic of the family sitting around the HiFi at aprox 6:48 is priceless, although record changers always make me cringe. lol Edit: It’s such a shame that every copy of Zep ll isn’t an RL mastered one.

[JDG]

Nice and interesting to know. Thank you again for this explanation. Peace and love and of course High end. Music was born Analog. Greetings from the Netherlands Limburg Maastricht.
✌😘👍👌😉
Until next time and stay safe with your family.

[gabrielspiropol]

Excellent topic! As an analog guy in a digital world being reborn as it were, into my Vinyl, cassettes and enjoying the sweetness of those recordings my biggest gripe is trying to hook up all the analog devices with a TOTL AVR connected to a 4K Dolby Atmos system. I was fortunate to have phono jacks there but a tape monitor loop? Nope. I’m sure work arounds exist but it becomes quite unwieldy when trying to add Laser Disc, VCR’s etc. My 1990 AVR had all those needed jacks. Decades later audio companies have forsaken to a large degree the analog aficionados!😔 Digital only.

[QoraxAudio]

8:18 LMAO 😂
Literally replayed that 5 or 6 times 😆

[benpit]

Great stuff, hope you’re keeping safe and well! Would be great to hear your views on Roon and vinyl record cleaners, cheers!

[jn]

It is indeed. My r2r tape decks NEVER sounded better, if paired with today's super-hot (+9 dD) tapes with superior formulations such as ATR Masters or RTM SM911. The frequency responses are now MUCH higher/wider than those originally measured (with tapes of their era) by the manufacturers (nearly TWICE in my case). In fact, the Absolute Sound stated a few years ago that the modern reel tapes (2-track/2-inch) even outperform DSD. Don't forget the ReelToReel Resurgence around the world. R2R tape decks have tripled their prices in the last 5 years.

[Axer]

Wow! It seems to me that this chapter should be put in all schools of sound engineering. What reason do you have regarding the current immediate availability of any music that you are capable of reaching, and when you are put to death in this process, the next logical question is: Can I improve the quality of what I listen to ?, and thanks to God the answer today is yes. Congratulations Guido you have surpassed yourself.

[EC-utdy]

The new Blue Note Classic series on 180 gram vinyl are excellent value for £22. Looking forward to the rest of the series.