To occupy a middle ground of sorts:
1. I spin CDs in my DJ sets and at home for a variety of reasons. Having
mastered music on vinyl and on CD, I am all too familiar with the
compromises one must make in getting music into analog grooves, especially
into grooves of long 12-inch pressings made at 33 RPM. I also don't much
fancy surface noise fluffing its way into quiet passages, nor do I like the
idea that each play of my favorite vinyl degrades the sound of the next.
CDs, even with my very low-tech set-up (two cheapo CD-walkboys - actually,
I have yet to determine their genders), are easier to cart around to DJ
sets (two portables, headphones, and a disc wallet fit nicely into a
backpack) and are quite handy for repetitive recueing of tracks).
2. A very well pressed piece of ideal vinyl (i.e. 12-inch, 45 RPM, less
than 5 minutes of program material per side, originating with a gourmet
pressing plant) usually can beat a CD for pure viscerality of sound. But
the average cheeezzzily pressed LP, without a rather amazing turntable,
sinks mightily.
3. Despite all of this, I miss the age of vinyl for aesthetic reasons. A
well-printed cover on good stock offers a tactile and visual feast (and
often a beautiful trip tableau), whereas a jewel case, of generic and
easily scratchable and crackable plastic, offers little comfort, especially
when the shrunken artwork presents an ergonomic struggle in its removal.
Jewel cases also take up about 5 times the width of their contents, making
them both profound wastes of plastic and of shelf space. To me, the
"digipack" is not a solution either - it too contains breakable plastic
tabs and takes up too much space. Some labels - Touch comes to mind - have
been experimenting with more pleasurable paper packaging for a while now,
and the good old slipsleeve is a quite satisfactory alternative. CDs can
be delicious as well as nutritious.
4. Tube amplification returns to CDs analog warmth, while retaining
digital repeatability.
5. Beware the spell-checker: ClarisWorks corrects *DJing* as *dying*!
Whatever is it trying to say? (I spell-check as *merriment*.)
Joshua
thermal@hooked.net
Thermal & Freezer web page:
http://www.hooked.net/users/thermal