Vinyl Records.

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Eldon, Jul 14, 2017.

  1. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I subscribe to Ashampoo Blog and two days ago I received an email linking to this interesting article.

    "The return of vinyl"
    https://blog.ashampoo.com/en/2017-0...content=the-return-of-vinyl&utm_campaign=blog

    MajorGeeks has many active older members - what are your thoughts?
     
    DavidGP likes this.
  2. Anon-469e6fb48c

    Anon-469e6fb48c Anonymized

    Vinyl is old out dated tech.

    The only reason for any one to use them any more is really radio stations.But even then they just make digital copy's.

    Making a digital in this day and age is not a hard thing to do.
     
  3. Anon-469e6fb48c

    Anon-469e6fb48c Anonymized

    All so sound quality is better now than it was back in the 50's 60's 70's.It got a little better when the 80's hit when computers started coming out to the public.
     
  4. MaxTurner

    MaxTurner Banned

    There is nothing 'outdated' about Vinyl. It is a unique and lossless format that doesn't loose the full picture of the music when produced that digital inevitably does. Of course, it's about money too. Digital is a cheaper and 'more convenient' method and doesn't really require the care that vinyl does.
    But as someone said so well: "When you listen to vinyl exclusively, you unconsciously make the decision to never, ever have to be confronted with Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. And that’s lovely." ;)
     
    Eldon likes this.
  5. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

    wile e coyote,
    Did you read the article?
    It's not about sound quality - it's about the nostalgia of playing and listening to vinyl records.
     
  6. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    I am a big vinyl fan and on a really good system I think they sound better than any digital media. I think the reason records sound so much better is the lack of compression which gives you much better dynamics in the music. Also digital files have higher levels of distortion/sound artefacts in the higher frequencies as the higher frequencies are bigger numbers although the current crop of powerful processors at a cheap price mitigates this somewhat. Remember analogue is all the music/waveform but digital is only a digital representation of an analogue waveform.
    If you think I might have a better turntable setup compared to my digital setup you would be wrong as although I prefer listening to vinyl, I mostly stream lossless flac files from my server. My digital sound setup ignores windows drivers and sends the signals direct from the pc through a fibre optic link (toslink) to my Bryston BDA-2 D to A convertor which then goes straight to my audiophile stereo setup. The Bryston DAC cost me AU$3700 and was the best sounding DAC I could afford and sounded better than several brands costing more.
    My turntable is a heavily modified Rega Planar 3 (I bought it new in 1984) now with a new high precision sub platter and ruby bearing and it also now has the Rega TT-PSU speed controller and the new series 24V motor and an upgraded rega RB 303 tonearm. The cartridge is an Ortofon MC-20 Supreme moving coil cartridge which feeds into an Ortofon Verto step up transformer then direct into my audiophile stereo setup.
    If I play the same song from the same release album side by side vinyl v digital then vinyl usually sounds slightly better.

    Further up in the post I said that I mostly stream flac files and you may wonder why. One word CONVENIENCE!!!!! If you are having a critical listen and giving all your attention to listening to music then records are fine....... BUT......if you are working and listening to nice music at the same time then you don't want to be getting up to change sides on records every 15 or 20 minutes. It is not just turning the record over because when you have a high end turntable with a very sensitive cartridge then dust and static is a real issue so when you change a record over you have to then clean and anti static it unless you like listening to snap crackle and pop and so it is impractical to play vinyl as background music when working.

    I still buy and listen to vinyl regularly and I have a big investment in my record collection but I also buy the CD and rip it to flac and then store it on my server. I buy most of my vinyl and CDs from Germany, USA or Holland as they are half the price that we pay here in Australia and have a much bigger range and availability.

    So referring back to the original question about my thoughts. My heart says vinyl sounds better but from a practical user point of view digital sounds pretty damn good and it is so much more convenient to both play and store. Digital also sounds reasonable on cheaper systems whereas a cheap turntable and cartridge into a cheap amp and cheap speakers generally sounds ..........less than stellar ;)
     
    Eldon likes this.
  7. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    For me nostalgia isn't part of it as it is all about the music and the media is just the way to listen to music. I have had a gramophone, several turntables, reel to reel tape decks. cassette decks, CD players, SACD players, Oppo music streaming devices and Sonos. The reason I have only kept vinyl and CDs/flac files on my server is because they sound the best to me.

    Nostalgia isn't the big reason that records have been having a resurgence. My friend who is music manager for JB Hi Fi, which is the biggest recorded music seller in Australia, and he reckons the main reason is young kids who have grown up listening to low bitrate MP3 music files have discovered how good vinyl sounds. My friend told me that last year at JB Vinyl outsold both CDs and DVDs combined. When you buy a record you also get an album cover and sometimes some extra fan art inside the sleeve. Most people these days don't buy CDs as they prefer to only download the tracks they want and often miss out on the extra album information and extra pictures on the sleeve. When you buy a record you have a disk and a cover but when you download your music it is just files on a HDD or memory stick. ;)
     
    the mekanic likes this.
  8. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    Have a Technics turntable, and it's piped into an amp that's more than thirty years old.

    There's nothing quite like "Dark Side of the Moon" on vinyl.
     
    cabbiinc, Spad, joffa and 1 other person like this.
  9. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    "Songs that were originally meant to be played in succession as part of a greater fabric, an album, are now being reduced to solo experiences."

    I never really had any albums that fit the description above. Usually my favs were separated by tracks that were hit or miss.
    On 8 track I used the track button quite often to go to where I knew my next fav was located. And really around the time of 8 track and cassette I became more 'mobile' and tape was easier to carry with you than vinyl.

    The nostaligia for me is more the music than the medium.
     
  10. Imandy Mann

    Imandy Mann MajorGeekolicious

    One example here - I don't know what it sounds like on vinyl. And the video here is lacking. But I would love to hear some of the old ones like this while going down the road on my FM . That would bring back memories of days gone by in a heartbeat. Just the lead-in chords almost always bring back memories!

     
  11. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Amen and if you have an original first release pressing of Dark Side of the Moon it is worth big $$$$. The one with this code Harvest ‎– SHVL 804 is worth the most and currently there is a VG+ condition (NM or near mint or brand new are both better again) going in France for €350.00 and this is one in only average condition. If this was near mint it would be double this price.

    Hmm if you have a Technics SL-1210 or SL-1200 turntable these are considered the best of Technics turntables and even though some are quite old, they are still excellent turntables and outperform many modern turntables triple their price. These turntables were made at a time when Technics was trying to make the best products without cost constraints and they didn't have a priority on making the most profits and it shows in how reliable they have been and how well they have lasted. If you go to a website called vinylengine you will notice that Technics turntables have been voted the best turntable in 5 out of the top 10 turntables as voted by their members and the top two are both Technics models.
    Here is a link to the review page https://www.vinylengine.com/reviews.php

    It is a crappy rainy day over here so now that you mention it..... I think I will go and fire up my Rega Planar and break out my audiophile pressing and sit down in my stereo listening room with my dog at my feet (she likes good music) and a nice glass of Cab Sauv and let Pink Floyd carry me away :D:cool:
     
  12. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Great thread Eldon

    The thought is Vinyl is raw and pure sound over the electronic digital which some say is flat no soul!? dont have a record player now but I do have 300 vinyl records that actually now maybe worth some $$££
     
  13. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Hey David, you can find out the value of your records at Discogs. Here is a link
    https://www.discogs.com/
    and if you become a member you can sell your records to the world ;) :cool:
    If you have any good condition first release original pressings they maybe worth lots of money especially if it is an obscure release :)
    Have fun
    joffa :cool:
     
    Eldon and DavidGP like this.
  14. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi Joffa

    Yes I'm a registered member at discogs already, juts a bit of a PITA to go through all the records, but I may pick on ones I think are valuable, like limited editions and coloured vinyls etc I do have some obscure demo pressings from some artists, worth anything I will check.

    Cheers mate :)
     
    joffa likes this.
  15. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    I still have my turntable and records. Won't part with them!
     
    DavidGP likes this.
  16. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Has anyone heard of this?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_turntable
     
  17. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    I saw one made by ELP at a hi fi show in the late 1990s. Unfortunately the day I was at the show there was a technical hitch and it wasn't playing records so you could only look at it. Maybe today it would be better due to better lasers and more powerful microprocessors but even with better data processing power, there remains a fundamental flaw in the design. It can't play coloured or transparent records and this includes picture disks. Another problem happens when the record is a bit warped as it has to accommodate the rise and fall and there is only a limited range of correction. The record has to be very clean and free of scratches when played as any dust or the smallest of blemishes will also be played.
    My friend was supposed to go to the show with us but couldn't make it so went the next day instead. The day he went to the show, he saw and heard it playing records and said although impressive it wasn't worth the AU$27,000 they were asking. He also noted that the only records they were playing had never been played by a conventional player and they were fastidious about cleanliness including finger prints on the record........My friend said he would rather have a Linn Sondek at one tenth the price and use the change to buy more records ;)
     
  18. Anon-469e6fb48c

    Anon-469e6fb48c Anonymized

    Don't get me wrong i like Vinyl Records,I just don't like the fact that one finger print or that the vinyl record get's scratched you need to buy another copy.Or that if it sits in a hot area it will ruin the vinyl record.

    So many do's and dont.

    They are slightly more of a pain to take of than a CD.
     
    DavidGP likes this.
  19. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

  20. Spad

    Spad MajorGeek

    Now when I get off work, I gotta go and dig out my Pink Floyd albums, etc. and crank 'em up!


    Personally, I feel vinyl sounds better than a digital copy . . . I have a pretty good turntable and amp, though. Getting long in the tooth (like me) but they still pump out the tunes at a window rattling level.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2017
  21. Anon-469e6fb48c

    Anon-469e6fb48c Anonymized

    play dark side of the moon backwords lol.

     
    Tweety1964 likes this.
  22. JonahWales

    JonahWales Staff Sergeant

    vinyl sounds better and larger covers -more artsy--i got down to just 6 lps in 79 and now back up to maybe 275 but my turntables are cheapos
     
  23. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    I actually went a bit further with the setup. If you remember what a line converter was they've come back into vogue for people who don't want to remove the stock head unit in their car.

    Connect that to the speaker outputs on your amp, then buck the RCA down to a 3.5mm plug. Pipe that into your computer, and viola...
     
  24. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Indeed so many things to preserve the quality and shape as you say heat and how stored can cause them to be worthless. Mine are in a dark, dry place vertical and fairly tightly packed so try and stop warping.
     
  25. JonahWales

    JonahWales Staff Sergeant

    rca jack?is that what have? the rca goes into a y adaptor then plugged into a tiny guitar amp i got for 20 bucks -sounds ok -too loud--now that radio shack is gone immpossible to find y thing?
     
  26. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Try this from ebay and just pick the mono one....
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6-35mm-M...hash=item23844912a8:m:mi3v0-iKmyZPiN03GioPHQw

    It costs $2.18 but not sure of the shipping ....... they are in New York but I don't know where you are ;)
    If you keep looking there are other ones with cables too :)
     
  27. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    Fry's is good too.
     
  28. legalsuit

    legalsuit Legal Eagle

    Last party I went to I was surprised to see vinyl records being played...good record player so quality of sound proved nostalgic for me personally...but we found we had to find a stable position so the needle would jump when the wooden floor bounced!:p
     

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