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Testing Vinyl CDs: Groovy Up Top, Optical Down Below |
 The idea for last week's Listening Post column, which examined the strange demand for vinyl records in the digital age, was inspired to a small extent by Optimal Media Production's vinyl/CD hybrid, which is just like a normal CD except that on the top, it has vinyl grooves etched in. Place a VinylDisc on your turntable, drop the needle at the start of the track, and you'll hear up to 3.5 minutes of music at 33 RPM.
Since CDs have a hole at their center that's too large to fit on a vinyl spindle, you'll need to use the little rubber adapter that comes with each disc to center the disc on your record player; otherwise, it'll go off-center and you'll hear the music speed up and slow down with each revolution.
As for the overall sound quality, I just finished giving the vinyl side of a Sonic Kollectiv VinylDisc compilation a spin, and it sounded decent -- not as good as 180 gram, but certainly good enough to warrant consideration from bands and labels looking to offer something new to their customers: a CD that everyone can play, with a secret bonus track in the grooves on top for those who have record players.
Other weird offerings from Optimal Media Production include etched vinyl, perfumed CDs, and a partially metallized disc that makes "specially chosen images float through the room, seemingly three-dimensional and extraordinarily vivid."
By Eliot Van Buskirk - www.wired.com
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