Vinyl Records Look So Cool, But....

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Movieman

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#274512 26-Aug-2020 12:38

I am in the process of setting up a sound system in my living room.

I am waiting delivery of a Yamaha R-N803D network stereo amp, and a pair of Q Acoustics Q3050 floorstanders.

My aim is to have a good system based on CD and Spotify music.

My son just threw a spanner in the works, by purchasing a Rega Planar 1 turntable. Now, I am no spring chicken, and I have lived through the LP era of 1960's and 1970's. I had a good collection of vinyl records which i played on my all-in-one box record player of the 60's. When I arrived in New Zealand in 1975, I bought myself a stand alone player and speakers, Then CD's came along, and they were a revelation. So clear and much easier to look after than records. I finally sold off my collection to a second hand record dealer for about $1 each.

In recent years I have played my CD's and digital streams through my Home Cinema set up in my Man Cave, but I want to be able to share the listening experience with my wife in our living room.

I have now started to look at some of the new coloured, splatter and all kinds of other release vinyl, and they look so COOL! 😎

I am fighting the urge to buy myself a turntable to add to my system, but I don't think that I'll be able to resist. Take a look at these:-

Anyone else gone back to vinyl, or thinking about it?

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MikeB4
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#2549982 26-Aug-2020 12:51

The purists say the sound is better from vinyl but my ears don't hear it. Vinyl takes up a lot of space, is delicate and too high maintenance for me. I like to take my music with me. CD at home and Spotify to go.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Movieman

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#2549985 26-Aug-2020 13:03

Its not really about the sound for me, but the collectability of the coloured vinyls.The main thing for me is how incredibly expensive the vinyl special editions are, and how much cheaper it will be to buy CD only.

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#2549986 26-Aug-2020 13:03

I never got rid of my collection (although I have 'lost' some of the more embarrassing items from my youth) and added more over the years. I'm very fond of records in general but TBH they're not practical. They take up a lot of space, are heavy to shift around, somewhat delicate and you have to get up halfway through and turn it over. New issue albums can be split over 2 or more pieces of vinyl which increases your flipping record duties.

They are fun though.

The revival is actually a mixed blessing for me. It's great to have new vinyl on the market but 50 bucks a go or more is rorting the middle aged enthusiast. 2nd hand albums used to be $10 but now $25 is more common.

Turntables is another issue. Getting a decent one is not cheap and then if you're unlucky enough to hear a really good one in action, you will know what you're missing. A turntable can take a bit of fettling to optimise and keep that way but that's part of the charm.

My main advice would be to get a decent/more expensive cartridge. Maybe after a while so you appreciate the difference.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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#2549989 26-Aug-2020 13:10

The whole idea of a record collection isn't to make things easy or practical...

But instead, it's the actual experience of listening to an entire album for once!

It's kinda the opposite of TikTok - an LP asks you to engage in an artist for at least 27 minutes at a time.

Cover art, sexy coloured vinyl, hisses and popos - it all adds to it.

Sit down with a glass of whisky and listen to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and you'll be smiling ear to ear.

There are LOTS of choices when it comes to turntables, so it's a good idea to pop down to your local HiFi store for a chat... don't go and ruin a nice system with a Crossley or $299 deck from JB HiFi!

Look at a hifi brand, ask about the ease of swapping cartridges in the future and consider a cleaning system like a Spin Clean to keep everything nice and sanitary. I actually swapped all my record liners out to soft lined versions and they keep everything nice and scratch free.

But most of all, have fun.

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#2549995 26-Aug-2020 13:21

MikeB4:

The purists say the sound is better from vinyl *

*On first listen. Every playback degrades the surface slightly leading to the sound quality dropping over time.

I think most of the new vinyls produced come with a code for a digital download. This is what gets listened to. The physical record itself is put on display.

Movieman

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#2549996 26-Aug-2020 13:22

I was looking at getting the Neil Diamond "Hot August Night" clear vinyl release. Only the black vinyl release is available in Australasia AFAIK.

To order from recordstore.co.uk it would cost me the equivalent of $69 shipped (expensive hobby). There is the option to save 10% on my first order, which would bring it down to around $63. JB Hi-Fi have the double CD for $29.99, and I could probably get it even cheaper used.

This is why I'm struggling to press the go button. Also, how long will the Vinyl revival last? and CD's rise from the dead like vinyl has.

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MikeB4

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#2549999 26-Aug-2020 13:33

Movieman:

I was looking at getting the Neil Diamond "Hot August Night" clear vinyl release. Only the black vinyl release is available in Australasia AFAIK.

To order from recordstore.co.uk it would cost me the equivalent of $69 shipped (expensive hobby). There is the option to save 10% on my first order, which would bring it down to around $63. JB Hi-Fi have the double CD for $29.99, and I could probably get it even cheaper used.

This is why I'm struggling to press the go button. Also, how long will the Vinyl revival last? and CD's rise from the dead like vinyl has.

I have Hot August Night and Love at the Greek on vinyl somewhere at home. I love those two albums.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Movieman

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#2550003 26-Aug-2020 13:45

Dunnersfella:

The whole idea of a record collection isn't to make things easy or practical...

But instead, it's the actual experience of listening to an entire album for once!

It's kinda the opposite of TikTok - an LP asks you to engage in an artist for at least 27 minutes at a time.

Cover art, sexy coloured vinyl, hisses and popos - it all adds to it.

Sit down with a glass of whisky and listen to Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and you'll be smiling ear to ear.

There are LOTS of choices when it comes to turntables, so it's a good idea to pop down to your local HiFi store for a chat... don't go and ruin a nice system with a Crossley or $299 deck from JB HiFi!

Look at a hifi brand, ask about the ease of swapping cartridges in the future and consider a cleaning system like a Spin Clean to keep everything nice and sanitary. I actually swapped all my record liners out to soft lined versions and they keep everything nice and scratch free.

But most of all, have fun.

I couldn't have put it better myself Dunnerstella.

I have done quite a lot of research on turntables. I'm trying to find something which is neither top of the line or budget basement. Something that I can happily live with, sound quality wise. The Rega Planar 1 that my son has, is apparently very easy to set up, with the counter weight only being able to be set in one position. Also the cartridge and stylus are upgradeable. One thing that stops me from buying this ATM (if I buy one 😉) is the fact that the phono cables are quite short. I don't have very far to go to the phono input on my receiver, when it arrives, but I have read that adding an extension to the cables will have an effect on sound quality. The other option would be to pay an extra $150 for the Rega Planar 1 plus model, which has a built in phono pre-amp.

I'm already ahead of you when it comes to swapping the inner sleeves. The Mobile Fidelity (Mofi) sleeves are highly recommended. Which ones do you use?

How often would you suggest doing a spin clean of the records?

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#2550008 26-Aug-2020 13:58

If you're regularly ordering vinyl 12" on line, get a letterbox that can easily fit an an album and have it in some place out of the sun and rain. Records don't like being folded / squeezed into spaces they don't fit, heated in the sun, and cover art isn't very waterproof. "Fragile/do not bend" labels etc rely on the persons involved in the delivery process actually giving a damn.

Was given a 180 gramme vinyl LP a few months ago, bunged it on the record player, turned the volume up to hear incredibly lo-fi music full of hissy scratchy sound, tin-can telephone vocals, clicks and pops, all very dire. (And caused panic - my turntable has an expensive Dynavector MC cartridge - I had the awful feeling that it had been destroyed) They added "scratched old record" fx to a track they released on vinyl - but it's the same on digital formats. I'm not sure if that was genius or not. One thing for sure, it sounds equally bad lo-fi quality regardless of format. Maybe that was the point. Maybe not.

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#2550010 26-Aug-2020 14:01

Varkk:

MikeB4:

The purists say the sound is better from vinyl *

*On first listen. Every playback degrades the surface slightly leading to the sound quality dropping over time.

I think most of the new vinyls produced come with a code for a digital download. This is what gets listened to. The physical record itself is put on display.

I bought The Fragile and a couple of the other newer Nine Inch Nails releases & rereleases on vinyl because the vinyl came with 96/24 FLACs. I haven't had a turntable for about 30 years. But there is a noticeable difference between HD digital and 256k AAC (let alone MP3).

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elpenguino

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#2550014 26-Aug-2020 14:04

Fred99:

If you're regularly ordering vinyl 12" on line, get a letterbox that can easily fit an an album and have it in some place out of the sun and rain. Records don't like being folded / squeezed into spaces they don't fit, heated in the sun, and cover art isn't very waterproof. "Fragile/do not bend" labels etc rely on the persons involved in the delivery process actually giving a damn.

Was given a 180 gramme vinyl LP a few months ago, bunged it on the record player, turned the volume up to hear incredibly lo-fi music full of hissy scratchy sound, tin-can telephone vocals, clicks and pops, all very dire. (And caused panic - my turntable has an expensive Dynavector MC cartridge - I had the awful feeling that it had been destroyed) They added "scratched old record" fx to a track they released on vinyl - but it's the same on digital formats. I'm not sure if that was genius or not. One thing for sure, it sounds equally bad lo-fi quality regardless of format. Maybe that was the point. Maybe not.

Yikes. The 180 gram version wasn't really necessary then !

I heard a friend's friend play a high end re-master type version of Money for Nothing on his much modified turntable - what a blast! It sounded so clear and powerful I couldn't believe it was vinyl.

But that's the result of many hours and many dollars of hotting up.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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Movieman

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#2550017 26-Aug-2020 14:07

Fred99:

If you're regularly ordering vinyl 12" on line, get a letterbox that can easily fit an an album and have it in some place out of the sun and rain. Records don't like being folded / squeezed into spaces they don't fit, heated in the sun, and cover art isn't very waterproof. "Fragile/do not bend" labels etc rely on the persons involved in the delivery process actually giving a damn.

Was given a 180 gramme vinyl LP a few months ago, bunged it on the record player, turned the volume up to hear incredibly lo-fi music full of hissy scratchy sound, tin-can telephone vocals, clicks and pops, all very dire. (And caused panic - my turntable has an expensive Dynavector MC cartridge - I had the awful feeling that it had been destroyed) They added "scratched old record" fx to a track they released on vinyl - but it's the same on digital formats. I'm not sure if that was genius or not. One thing for sure, it sounds equally bad lo-fi quality regardless of format. Maybe that was the point. Maybe not.

🤣 Why would they do that? Well, it would sound like some of my old records that I never, ever cleaned, or took care of. Teenagers eh?

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#2550018 26-Aug-2020 14:07

SaltyNZ:

But there is a noticeable difference between HD digital and 256k AAC (let alone MP3).

Of course you'd have to be sure that with a demo like that they weren't playing tricks on you by re-mastering / tweaking, so the "difference" may not have quite been what you thought it was.

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#2550019 26-Aug-2020 14:15

Movieman:

🤣 Why would they do that? Well, it would sound like some of my old records that I never, ever cleaned, or took care of. Teenagers eh?

Sparklehorse "It's a Wonderful Life" title track. Was released first in 2001, the 180g vinyl recently. I just looked them up on Wiki - the lead singer is dead - so can't ask him, and the stated "genre" of their music includes "Lo-Fi" - which I never really thought of as a "genre" - more a "mistake".

Some of my old records going back to the '70s are still good condition. The thing that really makes me sad is that so many have disappeared. Probably in the late '70s / early 80s, people would take records with them to parties etc, so probably left behind - or accidentally taken by someone else.

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#2550021 26-Aug-2020 14:17

Fred99:

SaltyNZ:

But there is a noticeable difference between HD digital and 256k AAC (let alone MP3).

Of course you'd have to be sure that with a demo like that they weren't playing tricks on you by re-mastering / tweaking, so the "difference" may not have quite been what you thought it was.

Oh, I have other formats to compare with. The older ones were originally ripped from CD. Some of the newer ones were either only ever released as MP3 or AAC rather than FLAC though I suppose you could still find some on CD if you were desperate. Ghosts V & VI came out during lockdown for free as MP3, which is the only way to get them currently.

So for The Downward Spiral and The Fragile I have CD, 192k MP3 (the rips I did back in The Olden Days when 1GHz CPUs were a shining light on the horizon) and 96/24 remastered FLACs.

Trent, if you're listening, I will gladly pay you again for all that other stuff in lossless!

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