Preferred FORMAT???

[HOGRA]

I'm fairly new to this site, and this may have been discussed here in the past, but what formats are preferred for noise/PE/industrial etc...? Personally, I think vinyl is the best all-around format. Yeah, yeah, I know: it's expensive. But seriously, are cassettes, cd's, and cdr's anywhere near as good??? I'm not a snob to formats other than vinyl: I have done a few cassette and cdr releases, and they seem to sell better than the vinyl I've done. Is it too pricey, too limiting as to where you can play it? What gives?

[burdizzo]

I must say, vinyl IS better sound-wise. Recently I bought a Bruce Gilbert 2LP rerelease on Mego, because my old CD version was a bit damaged. Anyway, the sounds from the record were way better. Thicker, and fuller. They reckon remastered CDs should be as good as vinyl originals, but I don't know about that. However, for durability into the future, CD is probably better.

[Zeno Marx]

Lots of factors to consider.  Too  many variables to declare just one.  Not to skirt your questions, but they all have potential virtues and limits, so they all have their place.

[HOGRA]

Lots of factors to consider.  Too  many variables to declare just one.  Not to skirt your questions, but they all have potential virtues and limits, so they all have their place.

I agree. I'm just trying to figure out why vinyl doesn't seem to be as popular as other formats in the noise scene.

[Zeno Marx]

How many $20-30LPs can a person buy and still keep up with all the music they want to hear?  Gets to be pretty easy to ween yourself off the fetish when it inhibits other music and other things.  Choices.  Options.  Priorities.  A younger audience with less income.  Basic economics and budgets.  For me, it's other things I've written too many times, but in a general sense, I don't find it difficult to understand at all.

[martialgodmask]

Lots of factors to consider.  Too  many variables to declare just one.  Not to skirt your questions, but they all have potential virtues and limits, so they all have their place.

I agree. I'm just trying to figure out why vinyl doesn't seem to be as popular as other formats in the noise scene.

Could be financial, but maybe portability? I don't know, can't remember what the general consensus was of the "listening habits" thread, but for me personally I listen to the most music when in the car or walking outside so sadly vinyl doesn't lend itself that well to my habits. Cassette offers a similar engagement factor to vinyl, and they fit in your pocket/bag/whatever; I also love the cassette sound.

[eraritjaritjaka]

Vinyl is best.

[Cementimental]

Vinyl is great unless you like music with high or low frequencies or stereo or the letter s

Tapes are best for noise

High bitrate or lossless downloads are reality

[Scat-O-Logy]

Simple answer to simple question: Indoors vinyl, outdoors cassette.

I guess the reason why some albums don't sell is simply because they haven't received the attention they may or may not deserve. When that's the case, people tend to approach the material very cautiously and don't put insane amounts on vinyl which will probably suck. It's easy to grab some tape for cheap and see if it's any good.

[impulse manslaughter]

7" vinyl

[acsenger]

I personally like all 3 physical formats (don't care much for downloads) but the downside of vinyl for me is the shipping cost. 7"s can be OK but postage for a 10" or LP is usually way too high compared to CDs or tapes. For the record, I live in Australia and order almost everything from overseas, so I guess this is not (so much of) an issue for Europeans ordering vinyl from Europe/their own country or Americans ordering from the US as shipping costs for them are much lower.
As for CDs, I've never understood the hostility towards it displayed by many. Even if vinyl sounds better (although that depends on several factors too: quality of hi-fi, pressing, condition of vinyl), it surely doesn't by so large a margin as to disregard CDs altogether. I also find that many times listening to CDs is more practical than to vinyl: sometimes I can't be bothered getting up every 20+ minutes to change sides (or more frequently in the case of a 7" or 10") and I rather listen to a CD uninterrupted for however long it is (which could be way longer than an LP).
I like tapes too, they can have great sound quality, but again, I don't quite get why someone would love tapes and dislike CDs. I assume it has to do with what aspects of the whole format issue are relevant for the individual listener, whether consciously or unconsciously (physical appeal of formats, memories linked to formats, sound quality, dominant format in one's favourite genres etc.).

[Cementimental]

personally:
Obscure/obsolete/anti-record formats (8track,floppy,microcassette,reel,VCD etc) > locked groove vinyl > 7" > 12"/other vinyl > pro duplicated cassette > mini-CDr > lathe cut record > DIY cassette > DIY normal CDr > web video > MP3/download > pro CD > pro CDr > 1-sided anything (unless it has a particularly good art/gimmick/concept for the blank side.)

[HongKongGoolagong]

While some types of music (rock, reggae and bass-heavy dance music) can sound better on vinyl I think CD is the best format for listening to noise and experimental music. I didn't get a really great CD player and speakers until a couple of years ago - just as the format seems to be dying I'm finally appreciating how good it can sound. Good mastering is very important on CDs, I have no time for homemade CD-Rs that have been burned using the horrible presets on a typical computer.

Vinyl is of course the most physically appealing format for artwork and fetishism, although the supposed vinyl audiophile lobby makes me laugh when they are seemingly unaware that 99.9% of modern vinyl has been mastered digitally.

Downloads are always burned to CD-R straight away here. I find listening to any kind of music through computer speakers impossible, and it may be my ears playing tricks on me but if I try to listen to mp3s even through good speakers it all sounds flat after a while. Flacs and wavs are better but hardly portable.

Cassettes have a lot of nostalgia value for me and some noise can sound amazing on them with all the added hiss and frequency range but they are an indisputably fiddly and difficult format - what's more tape decks need regular cleaning if you try to play oxidised 1980s cassettes on them too much like I do.

[Dr Alex]

Vinyl > tape > cd.
All other formats are useless! Especially stupid floppy.

[Otomo_Hava]

Due to lack of money, i'm mostly nowadays into CD/CDr Box sets and then single CDs and very few CDRs, depending on the artist.
I'm not a kind of snob for vinyls and tapes (my wallet does) but, in case of reissued CDs from various old tapes, if the digital transfer succeeds, then i surely have it on CD format.
If there was a battle of analogue formats, i'll stick with tapes.