i love 12"s and i'm worried about them

A message to Geir, Rudi.

Most of the new technology is just ways to do the same thing you do with 12s. You can argue Ableton has superceded them but then, as I always say, at the moment most people aren't creative enough to use Ableton, they're better off without it.

I don't mind hearing Optimo re-edit a tune but my friend doing it is usually a different story. One that ends with the line "I prefer the original, why have you put that stupid "rock this party" vocal over a good tune at a pitch that makes it sound like the Bee Gees"

Also I don't think the mp3 stores are as good as the vinyl ones anyhow.

Yeah, I understand the argument of "let's not lose the music." It's a seductive argument, but it's one that inevitably does a disservice to listeners and music history. Digital formats in and of themselves are not the problem - the lossy nature of the ubiqitous MP3s/MP4s are. There are plenty of open source digital formats (e.g. FLAC, SHN, APE) that are lossless but don't have the file bulk of WAVs.

It would nice if DJ culture took the same attitude that tape traders have - they're real sticklers for preservation through lossless file formats. Most live trading boards won't even accept mp3s. Or check out Archive.org - sure, they offer mp3s versions, but alongside lossless FLAC versions of live shows.

Some people say, "Well, this 12" was recorded in somebody's garage in '85, it didn't sound great in the first place, so who cares if it's lossy." Think about it though - the worse the recording is, the more important it is to avoid losing MORE sound quality by converting it to a lossy format. It's like saying, "Well, the typeface on this old out-of-print book is fading, I might as well copy it using a crappy Xerox machine that's low on toner to preserve it for future generations."

Plus an mp3 conversion will smear details you might not hear on your iPod headbuds - but when you pump it through a big soundsystem you might...

but mix cds are juts mixes of...12"s! so i cant see 12"s disappearing any time particularly soon, and not becasue of the rise of mix cds (are mix cds necessarily more prevalent than they were 5 years ago, say?)

I think they always have been! This is the main reason I buy or listen to mix CD's. I buy vinyl to get more versions/tracks, or as many others have said, for the sound quality.

yes yes, it's the fault of the device makers really for being half-ass & lame technically. But I guess if you ARE using mp3's to DJ with... you really have to take a lot more care about these things & head potential problems off at the pass. I'm guessing that's why VBR sucks.