Learning to Listen, in a Los Angeles Cafe Built for Vinyl

Mr. Cowie pays attention to the quality of pressings, and allows in the bar’s collection only reissues transferred from original analog-tape masters, as opposed to vinyl records made from digital masters, which are essentially CDs on vinyl. This means that the inherent continuity in the analog process (as opposed to the chopped, discrete sound-wave in digital) travels all the way: from the original recording technology through the storage medium through the playback gear, and then even through the purposeful, undistracted way the record was put on by the bartender that Monday morning, whose name was Dane. If a record isn’t something so valueless you can’t give it away, it’s the signifier of taste and an ambitious, highly tailored social life.

Source: www.nytimes.com