Get Ready For HD Vinyl

Austrian-based startup, Rebeat, has received funding to start manufacturing records. HD vinyl promises higher audio fidelity, louder volume, and longer playing times – all on your regular record player. And we could have it as soon as next year.

In a recent interview, Redbeat’s CEO, Günter Loibl said his companyhas received a US $4.8 million investment to pursue the project. It will use lasers to create a new recording that then goes onto the stamper that is used to press the vinyl. The process was patented in the European Union about three years ago.

The new records will have about 30% more playing time and far better sound quality.
Given true vinyl aficionados cringe at the claims made of higher sound quality from CDs and digital formats I wonder if they’ll flock to this new format which looks like a bridge between the old and the new.

I’ve recently gotten back into vinyl, after my wife bought me a record player for a recent milestone birthday, and there are lots of things I really enjoy. Aside from the different nature of the sound that I get – I’ve hooked my record player, which has an integrated pre-amp, into a Sonos Play:5 speaker so that I can listen to the music around the house – I’d forgotten how much cover-art and the information on record sleeves contributed to the experience of music.

Loibl said. that he was going to have the new stampers running at five new “early mover” pressing plants later this year with the first test pressings available by September with a view to showing them off at an upcoming conference later in the year.

Are you back into vinyl? As someone who works from home, I’ve found another advantage is that I need to get up from my desk more often to either flip the record over or switch albums. That’s a good way of avoiding spending too much time sitting and not enough time moving while I’m working.


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