Dean Reid doesn't consider himself an audiophile. He just likes listening to records.

"Nothing quite sounds like it," he said. "It's such a warm, beautiful thing."

Reid is turning his passion for music into a dream job. He's building a vinyl record press in a warehouse in northeast Calgary.

Canada Boy Vinyl, once it is finished, will feature an in-house recording studio and the only vinyl pressing plant in Canada.

Vinyl's popularity is on the rise. According to the latest Neilson Music Report, Vinyl LP sales increased by 52 per cent in 2014 and accounted for six per cent in album sales.

Despite vinyl's growing popularity, Montreal's RIP-V vinyl record pressing plant, closed on Jan. 15 after nearly six years in operation. Reid is hoping Canada Boy Vinyl will be able to fill the void but starting the business hasn't been easy.

It's literally like trying to find the Loch Ness Monster. - Dean Reid

"We're among the many record-pressing plants that are all on a global search for this equipment that may or may not exist," he said. "It's literally like trying to find the Loch Ness Monster."

Read says that back in the 80s, when all the pressing plants started closing down, the equipment scattered all over the globe.

"[The equipment] got mothballed in barns and old warehouses and stuff and now everyone's trying to find it all again," he said.

Reid says the people that are "in the know," aren't talking.

"It you're trying to get in the know, it's a very cold, dark lonely world out there," he said.

Nonetheless, Reid says a serendipitous meeting led him to a viable offer to buy a record pressing plant.

"I scrambled around to come up with a business plan and raised the money that I needed," he said. "We bought the equipment and had it shipped right here to Calgary."

There are only about 40 vinyl pressing plants operating in the world. With vinyl's resurgence in popularity, there is more demand than supply and some plants are operating around the clock.

Reid says it's not hard to see why younger generations are being drawn to vinyl once again.

"It's something real, and it's collectible, and it's tangible, it's something you can hold in your hand," he said.

Canada Boy Vinyl is expected to open its doors this spring.

On mobile? Listen to Dean Reid on The Calgary Eyeopener.