As one who never seems to get rid of anything that may hold some kind of fond memory, I find that my collection of vinyl records takes up a considerable amount of space, and for a while there I thought of throwing out all those that I had replaced with CDs. Good thing for me that I never did, because for one thing, they represented something of a past and beginnings at the same time.

For a while I got sheer pleasure from being able to listen to music such as pure as technology could provide, all the way from the best sounding system through the 50s to present time. However something strange began to surface in my appreciation for what today's technology brings in the form of almost pure audio sound. There was something definitely different as I could hear all these subtle sounds of the different instruments that were never audible on earlier playback media.

This brought a lot of that nostalgic sound into the present day quality of sound which in my mind, didn't make me feel what it is that I liked feeling when listening to music that I first listened to many years back on old 45s and LPs. I dusted off my turntable, made sure that the cartridge and stylist were in good condition, and played a few good pieces of music that I use to enjoy before new technology and CDs took over.

To my amazement, I actually enjoyed the lesser quality of sound, and all the clicks and surface noises of the record, snapping my memory back to when it was the last time I ever heard music on vinyl. That was it, which was what was missing! The impure sound and noise associated with use over time, gave each record a signature of sorts that I was able to identify with so well. Each click, each bit of noise could only be found on the vinyl collection that I owned.

I could play five records, all being the same, but owned and used by different owners, and there would be no doubt I could identify mine by the sound of what use over time has engrained into the vinyl. That in itself was engrained into my memory of that particular music, and it was all missing when I played a CD with the same songs.

Taking a trip down memory lane just isn't the same if your listening to some old music re-recorded with today's technology. That is why I don't think vinyl will die anytime soon, or ever for that matter. There is a certain kind of mystique to anything that was used to preserve sound or images as a result of poor quality that separates it all from being almost real as we have today.

Time and time again I have heard it said that listening to Pink Floyds "Dark Side of the Moon" just isn't the same when it was available on CDs. The novelty of an almost pure sounding cut soon wears off, and that is where that old vinyl takes center stage.

Learn more about this author, Richard Serra.
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