With the Australian leg of Tiesto’s worldwide Kaleidoscope only mere months away, local punters are getting into a frenzy of excitement for the trance kingpin’s arrival. But don’t expect to see the globe-trotting DJ lugging any heavy record bags with him around the country, as Tiesto this week revealed he has deserted playing any vinyl during his shows, saying it’s a “nightmare” and “outdated”.

The comments came during an interview with Canadian news outlet Exclaim ahead of Tiesto’s shows over there, with the mighty Dutchman going into detail about some of his past horror experiences whilst playing vinyl out.

“I have a lot of records with me, no vinyl though. It’s not a matter of convenience, it’s just that vinyl is so outdated nowadays. For DJing, vinyl is a nightmare,” he said damningly. “I can make a track in my hotel room today and play it for the crowd tomorrow. That never happens with vinyl,” he explained. “I played a lot of acetates at the end of my vinyl period — I used to make tracks and get them pressed in four or five days — but the quality was always so bad and they would skip all the time. The vinyl days for me are over”.

It’s not all doom and gloom from Tiesto though, as the he explained his digital-over-vinyl preference is simply a professional choice, not extending to private listening activities where the producer still favours the vinyl format. “I still buy vinyl, but only albums, and just to play.”

Tiesto’s unflattering assessment of wax couldn’t come at a worse time for the vinyl community, as it was just a few months ago that the format took a similarly big hit with the news that Australia’s largest vinyl retailer, Vinyl Warning, was closing its doors for greener pastures as a digital outlet.

The ITM massive had plenty to say about that particular event, with some trumpeting the death of vinyl for good, with others staunchly standing by their sevens and twelves. Is the writing on the wall for vinyl? We certainly hope not, but with new technological advancements like the super-sexy Pioneer CDJ-2000s looking seemingly irresistible to DJs young and old, seeing a DJ spin some vinyl records in a club near you could become a true rarity.