When Benn Husman, an Iowa State sophomore in art and design, turns on his stereo and lowers the needle into the vinyl groove, he breaks all conceptions of those “outdated” vinyl records that were tossed aside after the introduction of the compact disc in the early 1980s.

And the sound quality of the music pouring out of the speakers has none of the hisses and crackles you would expect to hear. In fact, the music sounds the same if not better than any compact disc you could pull off a shelf.

As the Beastie Boys groove into the instrumental “Sabrosa” it hits home fast that this album wasn’t pulled from between the Olivia Newton-John and Steely Dan albums of one’s parent’s dusty old record stack. In fact, this particular Beastie Boys album The Sound from Way Out isn’t even available on compact disc.

Welcome to the new generation of vinyl records: where the albums feature a variety of hues and special inserts, the average vinyl record consumer wasn’t alive to even catch a glimpse of the first Woodstock, and the low-priced LPs are being snatched up for their unique, old-school appeal.

“I’d rather be listening to a record than a CD,” said Husmann, who just started assembling his vinyl collection a few months ago. “I like the sound quality of vinyl. It’s not some laser thing or mechanical reproduction like you get with a CD. It’s this needle skidding across these grooves and reading the sound that way. I like that. I just have more of an attachment to my records; they’re much more friendly than CDs.”

Husmann is not alone in his excitement for those peculiar wax discs. These days, more and more people are rediscovering the benefits of vinyl. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), sales of old-fashioned vinyl LP records are on a rise for the first time in over a decade.

Record companies shipped out 900,000 copies of vinyl albums during the first six months of 1994, compared to 500,000 for the same period a year earlier, RIAA told the Tampa Tribune.

“Vinyl is definitely coming back thanks to bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden,” said Sophia Johns, a DJ at KKDM-Des Moines. “Core artists are making a point to release their new albums on vinyl before they come out on CD out of respect for the medium.”

Some experts suggest that the interest resurgence in vinyl can be pin-pointed back to Pearl Jam and their 1994 Vitalogy release, which Epic debuted on vinyl two weeks before it hit stores on compact disc or cassette. Not only did the band release the LP early, but it also championed vinyl in one of the album’s songs, “Spin the Black Circle.”

About 65,000 of the 2.7 million copies of Vitalogy sold as of last year were on record, according to Soundscan, a national music-sales tracking service.

But Pearl Jam is not alone. Many other alternative big-namers have followed Eddie Vedder’s suit, including Matthew Sweet, Cake, Dinosaur Jr. and Siouxie and the Banshees.

In addition to early release dates, today’s vinyl is lavished with special attention. The Indigo Girls’ Swamp Ophelia is a green LP autographed by the Indigo Girls themselves, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray. Sonic Youth’s album, Dirty offers listeners a bonus track not found on compact disc or tape. And the grand daddy of them all, Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way, is pressed on clear vinyl and outfitted with a six-page insert of lyrics and artwork, plus a bonus compact disc containing eight unreleased tracks.

With all the vinyl improvements bands are making to draw attention back to records, it is no shock that people are becoming LP fans again.

Young adult make up the majority of buyers.

“Do you want to know is buying vinyl now? Teenagers, ages 12-24,” Johns said. “It has suddenly turned into the cool, hip thing to do.”

Rusty Poehner, Maintenance Shop coordinator, can attest to that. She’s seen many independent bands come through the M-Shop toting vinyl albums and 7 inches, and she’s also watched the kids shell out the cash to take home their very own Mercy Rule or House of Large Sizes record.

“Buying vinyl is a statement,” Poehner said, while reclining in her office, littered with mementos from M-Shop veterans. “All the indies carry vinyl. It’s alternative and very bootstrap. Also, there’s a roughness and depth to an album that you don’t find with discs.”

That roughness is what people may remember about vinyl; the scratches, the crackles and the raw sound stick out most in people’s memories.

“Jazz sounds a lot better on record with a little hiss and crack,” Husmann said. “CDs sound almost too crisp and too produced. Vinyl has a warm feeling.”

With the proper equipment, some say that there is little to no difference between the sound quality of a record and a compact disc.

“Vinyl can sound much better than CD,” said Scott McClure, manager of Peeple’s Music in Des Moines. “If you get new vinyl and play it on a good turntable, 95 percent of people who hear it would tell you that it sounds better. “

However, Husmann does concede that the sound quality of a record decreases the more it’s played “because the grooves wear down. Sometimes it gets a little annoying to have the Rice Krispie Singers behind the music. “

Poehner also endorses vinyl’s “human” quality and big 12×12 cover art eyeball feasts. She said that in addition to the older vinyl buying crowd, the high school and college students who buy records at the M-Shop shows are looking for something fun and unique.

“Vinyl never died; it just went out of stores and underground,” she said. “Now it’s trendy again. Iowa lives several years behind the national curve. It never quite left here. It was starting to die just as it became nationally popular again.”

Travis Graves, an Iowa State junior in art and design, is a record lover who takes an exception to the recent vinyl craze; he can sit back and watch the resurgence with a knowing smile.

Graves began listening and buying vinyl years ago when he was in high school. He said the main reasons he got into vinyl were mostly the novelty and availability of records in town.

“When I was pretty young in high school, I started getting into the punk rock scene that was going on,” said Graves. “So, I started going to see the bands playing in town. Every band that came through always had stuff for sale, but it was always on record. So, I ended up buying that because it was the cheapest thing. And it was really cool. I got totally into it.

Since then, Graves’ collection has swelled to almost 600 12- and 7-inch records. He doesn’t own one compact disc, or even a compact disc player, for that matter.

“I bought a CD once, ” he admits. “It was for my mom’s birthday. “

The albums that rest in Graves’ record crates reflect his punk roots. But in addition to the Fugazi and Descendants albums that punctuate his collection, Graves has the unique honor of being a student who has his own record.

Graves’ band, the now defunct Ames group Pawnbrokeher Pipedream, pressed their 7-inch in 1994, but only put out l00 because “we wanted to make sure we got rid of them all,” Graves said.

Pawnbrokeher Pipedream did manage to unload all their records, and by selling their music on vinyl were able to pick and choose the people who bought their songs.

“Who we would want to have our 7-inch would be the people who have record players,” said Graves. “You kind of target your audience in that sense. “

Pawnbrokeher Pipedream’s vinyl sold for $3, which is a feature that attracts many people to records. For new LPs, the price-tag is usually never over $10, and for 7-inches it’s considerably less.

“Vinyl is dirt cheap,” said Poehner. “That’s part of the reason why people went away from it and now are coming back. For some students, [buying vinyl] really is just a question of poverty. What is mom willing to part with? Maybe the shitty old turntable, but certainly not the high-quality CD system. “

While paying for good vinyl finds may not be a problem, actually locating the albums can be hard. Ames only offers used vinyl, which can be found in places like Goodwill, the Salvation Army and The Pak Rat. In fact, Peeples Music in Des Moines, which sells anywhere from six to 20 albums a week, is one of the few stores in the area that actually carries new vinyl.

Husmann and Graves said that most of their new vinyl purchases were made outside the area in places like Minneapolis, Omaha and Chicago.

One reason why new vinyl may be difficult to find is that most of the stores who deal with vinyl are independent shops that don’t have a contact with a big record label. According to an article in Rolling Stone, major labels rarely press more than 10,000 copies of a given title. Yet many independent labels are starting to dip their feet in the record pool.

Locally, Iowa labels have also started to become more involved with the vinyl fad. North Cedar Records, based out of Cedar Falls, releases only vinyl albums.

Dave Deibler, House of Large Sizes frontman and North Cedar co-founder, said that the 7-inches the label has put out by such bands as Fat Bertha and Tiny Lights are made because they are “cool and cheap. “

Deibler, who remembers the first record he ever bought ( “Meet the Beatles”), believes that “almost all aspects of vinyl and its future are tied to the major record labels. They have tried to kill it. “

But if you ask vinyl fans, the good ole’ wax disc is far from the graveyard.

“The word ‘album’ is embedded in our heads from a long time ago,” Johns said. “People don’t realize they’re saying it. And ‘album’ is vinyl; it’s not a CD or a cassette. It’s a big part of who we are.”