Why analogue?

More than two decades after launch of the digital CD, the analogue long-playing record (LP) is alive and thriving. LP sales are growing. Major record labels are again offering new releases in vinyl. LPs even outsell the new digital formats, SACD and DVD-A.

Today, there's a huge range of equipment currently available at all budget levels for LP playback, much of it of far higher quality and greater capability than what was available back in the 1980s, when the introduction of the CD prompted many to predict the death of vinyl.

The reason for the continued, even increasing interest in analogue audio is simple. Many music fans, unhappy with what they hear as the sterile sound of digital, believe that analogue remains the superior format—more musical, more organic, more nearly like the real thing.

Superior sound isn't the whole story. With digital formats like MP3 existing only as invisible files, there’s something thrilling about the physical record album—the cover art, the cover notes, the labels, and the actual disc itself. Little wonder vinyl is enjoying a 21st century renaissance.