To those interested in history, this is perhaps one of the most exciting eras in vinyl records.

On the production side, there was a steep learning curve and added expenses for releasing stereo records.Īlbums originally released in this purgatory period between 19 – when many albums were produced in both mono and stereo versions, in varying degrees of quality – require some extra consideration from collectors. To play a stereo record, collectors initially needed specialized setups, or they would risk damaging their equipment and records. Let’s just say that both collectors and engineers entered into a more complex world once stereo technology was introduced to consumers. There’s a reason for this gradual change. However, unlike the almost immediate shift from 78s to LPs, sales of stereophonic records would not overtake monophonic for more than a decade. Stereophonic records were now for sale, promising immersive sound and other auditory benefits. Nearly 10 years later, in 1957, another major change was slowly making its way into record shops. LPs showed the promise of advancements in vinyl technology and paved the way for more developments in the future. It was a monumental improvement for music listeners, and it changed the way music was created and released. The days of flipping noisy shellac records every five minutes were over.

In 1948, LPs were introduced to the world. Let’s go back in time and view some of the major technological advances vinyl records went through for a better understanding of why this choice matters. In the 1960s and 1970s, many collectors had a different dilemma – whether to buy a mono or stereo version of an album. For modern releases, vinyl collectors might have to decide between a color, clear, or black release of a record. If you were a casual consumer of music and wanted to play an album at home, it was vinyl or practically nothing else. Stereo: Some Historyīack in the mid-20th century, there were no cassettes, no CDs, no MP3s. To fully understand the differences between mono and stereo, we’ll dig into the history of vinyl records and the valuable insight of Larry Crane, editor and founder of Tape Op Magazine and the owner, engineer, producer, and mixer at Jackpot! Recording Studio in Portland, Ore. What’s the deal? Is one better than the other? Does it even matter? Maybe you’ve found yourself in a situation like this: Browsing one of the hundreds of vinyl releases of a popular 1960s rock album on Discogs, you see wild price differences between a mono and stereo version of a record.

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