I love vinyl! (1 Viewer)

[Matt Butler]

After the last 12 years of not playing vinyl I decided to go get a new turntable. OMG!, it sounds wonderful. Ive raided my folks house of all the original Beatles and some of the old Neil Diamond library as well as others.
They just sound so much more alive and natural than cds. I will never get rid of cd or hi-rez though.
I have started to collect the 180-200g vinyls. AC/DC and Sarah Mclachlan had my jaw on the floor.

One exception though: Pink Floyd- The Wall sounds muted on vinyl vs the remastered CD.

Thoughts?

 

[Angelo.M]

Right there with ya, for the most part.

I wrote the following in another thread, earlier today:

I dig vinyl as much as, but not more so, than I dig the CD. And not because I'm some kind of purist, or because I want to convince anyone that good vinyl is better than good Redbook CD (YMMV), but rather because the experience of buying vinyl was so integral to my musical education.

I love the big, bad gatefold album covers. I love reading the lyrics to Born to Run in that really difficult silver/grey on white type. I love the Beatles smeared in animal parts, examining the clues to Paul's death on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's and the rare blue and red vinyl of those greatest hits compilations. I love the smell of new vinyl, and the memories of hanging around the record store.

I feel a bit sorry for the downloaders who really haven't had the experience of an album, of Side A and Side B.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

While I loved vinyl "back in the day", the fact of the matter is that everything had to be *perfect* in order for them to sound great. You had to have a great turntable that would not transmit "rumble", a state-of-the-art properly counterbalanced tonearm, a perfectly maintained pickup, and a great receiver/amplifier with a proper RIAA equalization circuit.

If all of those ingredients didn't come together just right, then you had a fuzzy mess on your hands. And there was also the little matter of the needle in the groove sucking the life out of your platter a little on every play.

Naw ... I don't miss those days in the least!!

 

[Mark All]

Me either. However, equipment and new high quality pressings have improved things so much since the "old" days, I'd recommend that an enthusiast get back into vinyl now if he or she has sufficient disposable income and some patience. It can be worth it, and it doesn't cost a lot to greatly exceed the quality of playback available to most LP listeners who experienced vinyl before CD's advent. Listening to LPs sure isn't plug and play like CDs are though.

 

[Seth--L]

Exactly. Also problematic was how a bad pressing could mar a perfectly good recording.

 

[NickSo]

Ive been really into vinyl recently, though I dont have the funds for a nice turntable or anything, I use my dad's low-end 'fisher' turntable. But even still, the experienece of vinyl is great. The big artwork, the process of flipping discs, settig the needle, etc, all makes listening more involving.

My dad has an 'audiophile' Japanese Pressing of ABBEY ROAD that just sounds AWESOME.

Today i went downtown and picked up a few as well.
Radiohead - Kid A (ive been looking for this for awhile, the record places near my home doesnt have it. It was a bit pricey, but I love this album)
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (been planning on picking this up in vinyl online, but coincidently, the record store i went to had this! I was so happy. havent spun it up yet, still enjoying Kid A)

Oh my god, its midnight, the house is silent, 'How to Disappear Completely' is playing. Eeerily extraordinary.

 

[Chu Gai]

Your folks just might've played the sh*t out of The Wall you know.

 

[Vickie_M]

Heh, I have about 1500 CDs, but I can't bring myself to get rid of my LPs. I'd say about 3/4 of them I do have on CD. My husband built these shelves specifically for the LPs.




There are more behind the speakers. And in the fireplace!



You are not alone.

(However, if we ever have to move again, you want 'em?? 'cause they're NOT going with us. At least, not the ones that I have on CD. )

(btw, those ugly red curtain thingys were here when we moved in. And those windows are blacked out now, like any self-respecting home theater room)

 

[Matt Butler]

Chu,
I got the Wall at a used record store; I hadnt thought about it being overplayed though. Its in very good shape.

Vicki,
PM me if you are serious about getting rid of those. Im looking for a few titles right now.

 

[Rachael B]

I have a love/hate relationship with vinyl. I love it when it's purr-fect but get annoyed by the audible flaws. Last year I stated buying some new vinyl. I was disappointed with way too many of the records I aqquired. Pops and jumps were far too prevalent. It's pretty dishartening when records don't even have one good play in them. If I could get really great pressings I'd buy more but I feel anything but confident about that.

 

[Chu Gai]

Overyplayed or overgouged...my vinyl copy sounds pretty good. Rachel, do you transcribe your vinyl to CD at all?

It's Friday...I love this bar.

 

[Rachael B]

Chu, I've been putting vinyl on MD and CD both for several years. I have so many I want to do that I'm never done and never will be, I imagine! That pic makes me thirsty, so did the 2 miles I just jogged...

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Nice collections.

 

[Angelo.M]

Chu:

Never hoisted one there myself. Must do.

 

[Chu Gai]

get the liverwurst with mustard on rye...

 

[Angelo.M]

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I went home for my parent's 30th anniversary/Mother's Day, and I decided to listen to some of my Dad's collection.

Wow.

Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" kicks ass, and I love Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. I was tempted to hear Paul Simon's Graceland, but I had to do some grillin'. Oh well.

 

[Alex Shk]

Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

McSorley's!!!!

I would sleep on the floor there - but they always had sawdust and peanut shells down there so that you wouldn't. Gotta admit - I haven't been there in 20 years....

I love vinyl - I like the high-rez sound (continuous analog). Yep - some pressings sucked, but I never heard a clean US domestic or UK vinyl (or German, Japanese, or Hong Kong)copy that sucked as bad as any Aqualung on CD (er - the DCC gold CD is to die for - but pricey).

My point is: I would rather have the crackle of a crappy vinyl album than a "life sucked out" poor digital copy. You take your kind of distortion, I'll take mine.

 

[Philip Hamm]

It may appear to be in good shape, but it may be overplayed. If you took great care of your records but played them on an out-of-kilter turntable they could look perfect and play like total ass. That's what my copy of Steely Dan's "Aja" is like. Looks perfect, no nicks or pops, sounds like ass. I bought it used.

I transcribe my vinyl to CD using a really nice MD player as the ADC and my computer for authoring and burning. I'm no audiophile, but vinyl sounds fine to me, I certainly won't complain about most of my records. My $300 10 years ago Denon turntable is still going strong.

 

[Trina]

I've also recently gotten back into vinyl. After getting sick and tired of the flat sound of my CD's, I drug out my old Dual, put a new cart/stylus on it, and WOW! I can't believe I went so long without listening to my records. Even with a few pops here and there, the sound of vinyl is a breath of fresh air to the stale sound of CD's that I've grown accustomed to over the last 15 years.

I've been doing the LP vs CD comparison with the titles I have both of, and the vinyl is winning hands down. And this is with a cheap 20+ year old table. I plan on upgrading down the line, but still, I'm having a blast re-discovering my original love.