World's largest record collection

[CoolBreeze]

Paul Mawhinney started collecting vinyl records in the 1950s. Today he has more than 2 million records worth around $50 million. Many of these aren't available in any other format. Watch to learn more about his incredible, and somewhat heartbreaking, story.

http://www.tvkim.com/watch/841/kims-pic ... campaign=s

[Scott Reppert]

Okay...so he has a copy of "Coal Dust On The Fiddle" by Somethin' Smith And The Redheads on an Epic 78.

If it's not on CD, who cares?

While I agree with him that this compressed junk available online from iTunes and the like is bona fide trash, vinyl does NOT sound as good as uncompressed audio in a digital format.

If what he says is true, radio stations would still play records...

[Bob Campbell]

Since when has sound quality had anything to do with the music radio plays? Radio followed the formatic trend. FM transmitters don't have the ability to transmit the bandwidth differences between vinyl, cd and mp3. Nor do receivers in cars have the ability to reproduce the difference.
Vinyl may have more noise, but it still possesses greater dynamics and range.
mp3 just plain sucks.

[Tom Taggart]

One thing to take away from the story is that the collection probably is worth preserving, --and conserving.

Preserving the rarer records as artifacts in their own right, and conserving (by transcribing to digital storage--CD Rom) for historical purposes.

[Scott Reppert]

If I was going to spend the three million on something I would start trying to find the best master tapes of all that music that was missing from those years he listed and have them issued on CD. Take the money generated from that and buy more of the tapes and then issue those. The only thing LP's and 45's have over CD's is the artwork. I think we have discussed that here before.

And as for MP3's, they are the scourge of audio. When I have to make our two shows into MP3 copies every week I actually cringe...

[jag]

If it's not on CD, who cares?

Scott, isn't that rather like saying that a rare Hot Wheels model--because it's not made from some new-age material and wasn't made using the finest machining available now--is of no consequence?

[AmpedNow]

While I agree with him that this compressed junk available online from iTunes and the like is bona fide trash, vinyl does NOT sound as good as uncompressed audio in a digital format.

If what he says is true, radio stations would still play records...

The fact that there's no physical media involved anymore probably has more to do with it. Less work for everybody.

Stations can get away with playing mp3s because 95% of the audience are listening on low end mickey mouse radios and couldn't care less what it sounds like. The terms "hot", "muddy", and "watery" doesn't have anything to do with audio with most people.

Of course, I'm not exactly anti-mp3 either. I downloaded some FLAC files one time and compared the same songs to variable bit rate mp3s and I could hear very little difference between them. FLAC sounds a little bit "fuller", but not enough for me to go converting my mp3 collection...

In my opinion, high bitrate mp3s can sound decent on the radio if the processing is done correctly. A low bitrate mp3 truly sounds terrible. It's even worse in HD.

[CoolBreeze]

I purchased my first 45 in 1959. I have had an extensive collection over the years. I now have a large number of MP3s strictly for convenience.... mostly for the car. I'm willing to listen to the MP3s in the car with the road noise and top down etc, but I prefer vinyl at home, because in my opinion, there's simply no comparison. Far too many people might disagree with me, but far too many people don't have a quality turntable and stereo amp either.

[Scott Reppert]

Jag: as far as a lot of us are concerned...and it REALLY ticks the other half off...what makes the most valuable Hot Wheels valuable has nothing to do with the car itself, but it is all about the packaging. Collector #274 out of the package? $3. Collector #274 in the package? $8. Collector #271 out of the package? $3. Collector #271 in the package? $3500 is a very, very conservative guess. And we are talking about the same vehicle here...

I can almost always tell the difference between uncompressed and compressed audio. I know I've only missed it a handful of times when asked. If I had to phrase my stance I would say that uncompressed digital sounds as good as vinyl without the clicks, pops and turntable noise while also having the capacity to last a lot longer in a higher state of listenability.

And by uncompressed digital I mean NO MP3's or other type file that has any compression applied to it. Sure the higher quality ones sound better compared to a lower quality one, but they can never compare to the source.

As Matt in our band says: "the sad thing is is that the sound of compressed audio has become an acceptable standard with most people today"...

[jag]

All the more reason I was surprised by your earlier contention. The original vehicle in its original packaging is what gives it its worth. Hence, these original tunes (the "vehicle") as recorded on vinyl (the "original packaging") is what makes this collection worthwhile, not whether there are CDs of the music available. True, the technology to hear the music as recorded is rapidly changing (some would suggest tending towards obsolescence), but from a historical perspective the colelction is still important, as Tom has noted.



(By the way, what do you call your band? I might check them out when I'm in the area!)