I think of this whenever people argue that traditional tango music should always be played preferentially even over that of currently existing orquestas, based in Buenos Aires or elsewhere, thereby demonstrating a lack of desire to support these groups and disinterest in tango music as a living, breathing thing.
Chalk it up to preference if you will — I personally find the sound engineering of many modern records grating on the ears if played too much — but I believe many, many people simply just don't want to have to get used to new music that is arguably a (interrupted? spiritual successor?) continuation of the tradition of tango music.
You can't lump vinyl and shellac together. Here is why:
It's important to distinguish between vinyl compilations made from used older shellacs and freshly recorded studio albums with current up to date technology.
Due to their higher rotation speed of 78 rpm, shellacs inherently have a higher resolution of the audio signal than vinyls at only 33 rpm. Mint shellacs sound better than vinilos.
Often apple and oranges are compared, as shellacs were produced long before vinilos. From around 1958 onward, all recording studios in Buenos Aires used good dynamic german microphones. From that moment on the recording quality of vinilos and shellacs were comparably good. Victor was the last to switch, which is why Odeon shellacs from before 1958 generally sound way better than Victor's.
With a groove width of 120 µm, shellacs simply attract dirt particles and dust like crazy, while the 40 µm of vinyls hardly picks up dirt. That's why they have very little crackle and hiss.
Many shellac records were played with steel needles on a Gramophone or Victrola. Therefore, shellac records wore out much faster. The tracking force was up to 1000 mN. Additionally the DJanes back then, the so called Vitroleras unfortunately did not care much about the conditions of the shellacs back then. They did not change steel needles after every side as it is recommended. An early electric record player with a crystal cartridge only pressed into the groove with 50 mN. People in BsAso only started buying record players when more vinyl records became available. These players usually had reversible styli and could play either speed.
There were no commercial vinilos in the 40s. d'Arienzo published his first studio-LP in 1954, di Sarli in 1959. Before that he published vinyl EPs in 33 rpm at the Music Hall label from 1951 on. But MH quickly returned to shellac as nobody bought those vinilos.
I used to do ABX tests every few years. Up to 128k mp3, I could reliably tell. With 256k mp3, and slightly older ears, my hit-rate was still valid but lower. Once it was FLAC versus 320k AAC, I absolutely cannot tell the difference even with headphones. On a dance floor? I doubt 0.1% of people could.
