Vinyl’s having a big comeback, though of course it’s always had its hardcore fans. It’s now been joined by a renewed interest in CDs and even cassette tapes, often by people who were born after these formats were common, but Vinyl still holds its own unique niche.
Now, all physical media is susceptible to the ravages of time and wear, but vinyl records in particular have significant degradation issues, even when you use them as designed.
Every Play Wears the Grooves
A vinyl record works by physically dragging a stylus (the “needle”) through a cut groove. The groove is a physical representation of the original waveform, and it’s the tracing of that waveform by the stylus that allows for a direct, analog reproduction of the original sound.
The thing is, whenever two objects are in contact with each other, there’s friction. Where there’s friction, there’s wear. This means that, even under perfect circumstances, the act of playing a record damages it slightly. The first time you play a new factory-pressed vinyl record is the best it will ever sound—and it’s all downhill from there.
This was one of the biggest improvements that CDs brought to the table because, although strictly–speaking you’re “touching” the CD’s surface with laser photons, there’s no physical wear on the disc from reading the information on it. Additionally, since the data is digital rather than analogue, there’s no gradual degradation. The CD audio either sounds just as good as the day the disc was pressed, or it doesn’t work correctly. Just like binary code, there’s no middle-ground here.
Assuming your player is correctly set up, there’s nothing more you can really do about this, other than limit how many times you play the record—but that rather defeats the point!
Dust and Dirt Do Extra Damage
That popping and hissing noise that’s so characteristic of vinyl record music is a bug, not a feature. A properly-maintained record does not snap, crackle, and pop like a bowl of cereal. These audio artifacts are caused by the presence of dirt and dust in the grooves of the record. They alter the shape of the wave and randomly corrupt the sound.
However, because casual listeners weren’t going to invest the time and buy the equipment necessary to properly maintain their records, people just accepted that this is what vinyl music sounds like.
However, it’s not about awful-sounding music, it’s also a damage issue. Dragging the stylus through dirty grooves is like using sandpaper on the inside of the groove. So this just accelerates the deterioration of your record. What makes it even worse is that vinyl tends to build a negative electric charge, which means it will literally pull dust from the air and onto its surface. Fun!
To combat this, you can invest in a vinyl vacuum, which can range from cheap and cheerful to “I need to call my bank manager”, or you could buy a vinyl washer, or a fancy ultrasonic vinyl record cleaner.
Now, to be fair, CDs also have issues with dirt and dust that can interfere with playback. Sometimes you have to take them out, wipe them a few times with a cloth, and put them back before they play correctly again.
Improper Storage Warps Records
It turns out that a big floppy plastic disc needs to be stored in a very particular way if you want it to keep its shape. Turning your record into a rollercoaster for your tone arm does no favors to the music. The basic rule is that people should store your records vertically in their sleeves. A lot of people tend to stack them horizontally, which warps them as the weight increases.
Direct sunlight, heat, and humidity make this happen more easily, so you need to have those records vertically in a cool, dry place. You can take your chances with a vinyl de-warping machine, but I wouldn’t put any money on the end result being successful.
Bad or Cheap Equipment Makes It Worse
Because the record is in contact with the device that reads the recording, it means that a crummy player, or one that’s not been set up right, can ruin your records. The most infamous of these is probably the Tamco Soundwagon (aka the Vinyl Killer) which is notorious for destroying records. However, any cheap record player, or one where the tone arm, tracking force, or cartridge aren’t right can become a vinyl killer in short order.
I’m not going to mention any brands by name, but if you do a little digging on the right forums, you’ll see that certain brands of cheap record player are notorious for damaging records.
Stylus Wear Is a Silent Killer
The stylus wears down just like the record, and if the stylus is worn or chipped, it’s like dragging a chisel across your record and gouging out the contents of the groove. Which is technically what the stylus would do anyway, but much faster than designed. So inspect and replace your cartridge at regular intervals!
Environmental Slow Death
Even if you never play them, and just store them in an optimal environment, your vinyl records are going to decay bit-by-bit anyway. Now, all physical media have a shelf-life. On paper, vinyl records and CDs, assuming both are stored correctly, should last you a lifetime. Not factoring in all the other sources of wear and tear.
However, UV will degrade an exposed vinyl, the additives that make the record flexible may evaporate over time, making it more brittle, and temperature fluctuations make this all happen sooner than it should.
While both vinyl records and CDs that are well taken care of should last longer than you need them to, in my personal experience it’s much harder to take care of vinyl than CDs. As an anecdotal example from the real world, none of my parent’s vinyls from the late 80s and early 90s are what I would call “listenable” but pretty much all of their CDs from that time period sound just fine.
So, if you are buying brand-new vinyl pressings today and are getting into the hobby, you need to establish the right storage and maintenance habits from the start to keep them sounding as good as possible, for as long as possible.