What is your own personal reason why you like and often listen to Vinyl compared to regular music on the computer?
It's a novelty for me. My "vintage" early 80's component stereo (minus a cassette deck which I gave away years ago) is in our 3-seasons room along with my meager 3/4's full milk crate of vinyl records that I've purchased at rummage sales and thrift shops over the past 6 or 7 years. I don't believe that I paid more than 2 USD for any of them. The collection consists mainly of my old favorites such as: Dire Straits, U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M, and Led Zeppelin (of course).
I'm certainly not a collector, or a vinyl-a-phile. I've no intention of purchasing new vinyl unless it would come with a FLAC download. My turntable was in storage for twenty years until our new home provided me with a place to set it up, along with my original Nintendo gaming system. It's an Eighties retro "man-cave" of sorts, on the cheap.
It's a nice place for me to get away for about 20 minutes (roughly one side of an album), have a cup of coffee, and read a newspaper or magazine. Upon occasion, I might bring one of my children that is in need of a time-out, out with me. Again, around 20 minutes is usually about right.
I enjoy the different sound of analog vinyl. It's (usually) pleasant to my ears. On the other hand, all the fuss and flaws of vinyl remind me of why I prefer and am very thankful for digital media.
I enjoy the different sound of analog vinyl. It's (usually) pleasant to my ears. On the other hand, all the fuss and flaws of vinyl remind me of why I prefer and am very thankful for digital media.
Same here, yet I'm also often amazed at how good well-cared-for vinyl can sound, considering all its limitations. As long as the surface noise and distortion isn't beyond the pale, my enjoyment of the music is just as great as it would be with digital.
my enjoyment of the music is just as great as it would be with digital.
You hit the nail on the head Enjoyment! So many people forget that this is what music is supposed to be about.
What is your own personal reason why you like and often listen to Vinyl compared to regular music on the computer?
I listen to my mp3 player far more.
I like the music on my records, plus the experience is fun and different. Physical analogue media, where you can see and understand what's happening and how it works, is interesting. This applies to film as well as records IMO.
I really really really x 1000 wouldn't want to go back to
just relying on vinyl and cassettes for music though. It's too fragile, impossible to copy properly, and inconvenient.
Cheers,
David.
Vinyl compared to regular music
By regular, I assume you mean digital. Some of my music has never been released digitally. Digitally recording the analog vinyl is a lifesaver, both for the music and for the vinyl. I like anything that allows me to play my music. To me, it is not an "or" thing but an "and" thing; and sometimes the "only" thing.
I like that the cover is big and that I can see how playback works.
That´s about it and not enough reason to buy vinyl often. I bought the most recent in 2013, the one before that in 2010 and the one before that in 2008 (which included the CD too).
Why do you like Vinyl?
I don't like vinyl! I can't remember the last time I "listened" to a record! Sometimes I digitize vinyl when the music is not available on CD or MP3... Then, I clean it up to make it sound as clean and "digital" as I can!
Some people do like the sound of vinyl. To them it's "better", and that's fine. But
technically (noise, distortion, and frequency response) digital is superior. Technically, CDs are better than human hearing and vinyl is worse than human hearing.
I grew-up with vinyl and even though it was the best thing available, the "snap", "crackle", and "pop", always annoyed me. The frequency response varied from record-to-record and "great sounding" records were rare. I was always upgrading or
wanting to upgrade (my cartridge, etc.). I don't buy modern records and I
assume they are better produced & manufactured nowadays because people are used to (and expect) "digital quality". But, they still have the same 'ol technical-analog limitations, and turntables & cartridges haven't really advanced.
Yeah... When I was a kid, I had some shelves in my bedroom with my albums displayed like artwork.
The size of the cover... that's the only thing I like about vinyl.
As someone who didn't grow up with vinyl (cassette and CD), I really have no love for the format. I have a record player, my Dxad's original pressings, and some modern releases that were part of collector packages. I play them only when someone makes a request or I want to experience things as my parents once did but that's it. I don't get any special feeling when listening to vinyl, cassette, or even a CD. Digital audio has spoiled me as the quality is far superior (at least compared to vinyl and cassette) and it's extremely convenient. I can control the playback of my lossy and lossless libraries right from my smartphone and have it played back in any room I want. It's much easier for hosting and for general listening. To me, vinyl is a hassle. I have to make sure the records are clean, the player has a needle that isn't damaged along with proper weights, and the records are delicate. It's not like my digital library where all I have to do is make sure my PC is on. After that, everything I want to listen to is just a virtual button away.
I grew-up with vinyl and even though it was the best thing available, the "snap", "crackle", and "pop", always annoyed me. The frequency response varied from record-to-record and "great sounding" records were rare.
Same here: not to mention that having to rely on hissy, crappy cassetes whenever I wanted to duplicate my 'reasonably good' vinyl experience elsewhere was a real PITA!
And I won't even get started on how difficult it was to get that certain release you were craving for, going from record store to record store with no avail or, at least in my country, the easy trap of buying pirate, crappy cassetes, sold as if they were the real McCoy when its vynil-equivalent wasn't available!
The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on. As much as I hate audiophile jargon: 'it was as if someone had taken a veil off my then-teenage ears!'
I guess, with my lossy/lossless files today I try, as much as possible, to replicate that first 'epiphanic' contact with digital.
The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on.
Could you perhaps be referring to Bach's Toccata and Fugue?
The second best musical experience I ever recall having (second only to a lunch-time organ recital of Mozart's Toccata in Fugue in a London church) was the first time I ever heard a Compact Disc playing on.
Could you perhaps be referring to Bach's Toccata and Fugue?
LOL exactly!
Cheers!
And as usual, this goes from people talking about why they haven't completely abandoned vinyl to other people talking about how vinyl sucks and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.
I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't asking for the participation of people who hate or no longer listen to vinyl. Why the Vinyl forum is even being paid attention to by such people, I don't even know.
I've never owned a CD player (*1). By the time vinyl became achingly hipster cool and thus too expensive a few years ago quality downloads were readily available.
One nice thing about records that no one has mentioned yet is how much more thrilling they are to hear played out. A complete train wreck is a constant possibility and the resulting frisson of danger translates to the audience as excitement. Some of the great DJs deliberately flirt with this by making small errors on purpose so that when they subsequently nail the transition it sounds even more impressive. Like Tommy Cooper did with his funny magic tricks. Playing digital doesn't work the same because it's so easy. They might as well cue up a mix tape and retire to the bar for the duration.
*1 Obviously I did used to have a DVD player and optical drive on my PC but I never felt the need to buy CDs.
Reasons why someone might like Vinyl:
- Vinyl influenced in several ways musicians.
- Some music genres wouldn't be what they are without Vinyl.
- Record players let you see and understand visually how they work mechanically (see also what 2Bdecided wrote in post #5). I believe people like that. This might also explain the success of all kinds of 'steam' gear.
- You can listen UNWATCHED. Nobody wants to transmit your 'LP playlist' over the internet to whomsoever to "improve the user experience". Listen to Vinyl might be considered to be very private, even intimate.
And as usual, this goes from people talking about why they haven't completely abandoned vinyl to other people talking about how vinyl sucks and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.
I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't asking for the participation of people who hate or no longer listen to vinyl. Why the Vinyl forum is even being paid attention to by such people, I don't even know.
"Why do you like VHS tapes?" "Why do you like Hondas?"
The question contains a (potentially) false premise. The results of this "survey" would misleading if only vinyl lovers respond.
I like vinyl because it seems to have amazing powers which provoke discussions.
You can re-cycle them (http://1800recycling.com/2010/07/uses-old-vinyl-records/)
When I was a youngster growing up in the eighties, listening to hard rock and heavy metal, I mostly bought cassettes. I rarely bought records because the only players I had were cheap pieces of crap built into all-in-one Soundesign-branded systems the likes of which were sold at K-Mart. The only time my brother or I ever bought records was if we couldn't get it right away on retail cassette. (I grew up in the upper-midwest US; fifty miles north of a big enough city to shop for the types of music I wanted...this didn't happen very often so I usually had to settle for the limited selection that I could get at local stores and K-Mart.)
About 1990 is when I got my first CD player. It was a big old brick of a portable made by Seiko Instruments Inc. Nevertheless I was so impressed that I sold my entire cassette collection to kids at school to get money for CDs.
I've never since had a problem with the CD format and feel that it is at least good enough. I started getting into vinyl records more recently for many reasons...but one of which is that, as I've illustrated, I've always wanted to collect and listen to records and can now afford a decent 'table and can take better care of the media than I could as a careless punk in past decades.
...so with that bit of background I will conclude that I often find the collection of records to be mostly rewarding (but admittedly sometimes frustrating.) There's a shit-ton of (mostly boring and previously enumerated ad nauseam) reasons to justify it but I'll be honest: I would not want to return to an "analogue world." CDs, iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, and even the digitization of vinyl LPs are much better IMO. I would hate to go back to taping copies of my few records from a crappy Soundesign all-in-one.
Recods: $0.10 / album, box sets $0.50
CDs: $1.00 / album, box sets $2.50
And I find a lot more one-off obscure local stuff on 7" EPs than on CDs. Some of it is quite interesting and very rarely can I find anything about it online, except youtube videos from the records, which sounds even worse. So, I buy a lot more records than CDs. Except on Fridays, when blue tags are on sale.
Most of my listening is on my Sansa though (not that I don't buy that music)..
I like vinyl because I've always had it--it's what I grew up with. I didn't fall into the trap of re-buying my collection on CD, so most of my CDs were never available in any other format. The exception is classical music. I sold off most of my classical LPs because the sound on CDs is so much cleaner, a must for classical IMO.
I only buy new vinyl if it's something special--like the recent vinyl remaster of Nick Drake's Pink Moon, or the Steve Hoffman-mastered LP of Joni Mitchell's Blue. Kevin Gray's mastering of Steely Dan's Aja on the Cisco label is the best-sounding version of that album on any medium. I also don't buy used vinyl, unless it's one of my Holy Grail recordings, like a first UK pressing of Fairport Convention's Unhalfbricking.
I don't really understand the vinyl resurgence. Most used vinyl is not in the greatest condition, and most new vinyl is badly done. Aside from RTI and Pallas, there aren't any good pressing plants left. As far as vinyl sounding "better", in my experience it depends. I have well-mastered LPs that blow away their digital equivalents, and vice versa. I do find listening to vinyl much less tiring to my ears. I can listen to LPs all night, but not digital.
However, I've never liked having to get up and turn the record over. Still don't.
Why do you like Vinyl?
Because it's pretty (http://i.imgur.com/BuNiU2q.jpg) and it's mechanical. It's like those automatic mechanical watches: they're much less accurate than €20 quartz watches, but they're beautiful pieces of machinery, and they're fun!
CDs: $1.00 / album, box sets $2.50
Hmm, generally I find CDs at £0.01 through amazon sellers It all depends on the album of course/
I don't like vinyl. I like the full-scale album cover art.
I like the whole experience. The Saturday morning searching through thrift shops, you never know if you'll find that rare record and when you do you get a little buzz and you can retreat with your find and have a coffee.
Take it home give it a clean and listen. I guess my musical tastes are for older music some of which never found it's way onto CD and anyway I prefer to have the big artwork and an original–it really is 'something' I don't expect everyone to feel the way I do.
For me it's about the search and enjoyment.
YMMV
I rarely listen to my hundreds of vinyl, but I am gradually playing them into my digital library. I certainly can't afford to mass replace them, and many are simply not available anymore (think 50's releases). Yes, they have more noise than CD. Yes, they have pops and ticks. Yes, my old B&O turntable died, and I don't currently have a good one...
The current library has 181 gigs of files, 8563 separate tracks, mostly lossless FLAC, and it sounds great.
As someone who grew up with cassette tapes and CDs, I fully understand why some people really enjoy vinyl. From the large-scale cover art, to the ritual of unsleeving the record, carefully cleaning off flecks of dust with a carbon fiber brush, manually placing the needle in the correct groove and the 'warm' sound. It's all about the ritual and enjoyment of playing music. I can see how fussing over an analog format can enhance that enjoyment, it's a hobby. And if you're not playing music to enjoy it, why even bother?
Personally, vinyl doesn't hold any special significance to me apart from its historical importance in bringing music to the masses. I buy lots of CDs, though.
It's only when vinyl fanatics start to claim that records are more accurate or technically superior to CDs that I start to twitch.
I guess it comes down to "playing with it".
First there is getting records. I usually get mine either from 2nd hand shops. Sometimes I'll buy a new album on Amazon though. Most of my records have been passed on to me from my dad.
Listening to them is almost a little event, because there's cueing the needle, then the cover art, etc.
I like refurbishing old records and bringing them back to sound better, by cleaning the grooves etc. It may sound silly to some, but as a hobby, it's interesting.
Watching a record play, is pretty much as interesting as watching a reel-to-reel machine play. It's pretty awesome to look at, and by today's standards, almost incredible, that this mechanical thing actually makes this music.
Well kept, good quality vinyls sound amazing. I grew up listening to CDs, and cassette tapes when I was a small kid. Everything that came before CDs meant very bad quality in my mind. It's quite impressive, that an old 70's LP sounds this good. Surely not as good as a "modern" CD, but for such an old medium impressive. Before I started to get into Vinyl, in my mind everything before the CD must sound like a cheap Dynaflex record or crappy C60 cassette.
To me listening to Vinyl is not so much about quality, as it is about the music itself and the experience.
I love getting records as presents, etc.
The second part of the question was, why do I prefer Vinyl over listening on my computer. I don't actually.
I listen to most of my music from digital media. But listening to a Vinyl every know and then, especially when sitting with friends, etc. that's always nice.
I love vinyl. I also love digital. At least... I do now. I remember the first time I heard a CD and was expecting something marvellous. I heard something massively underwhelming.
Then the record shops (in the UK at least) forced people to adopt CD by relegating vinyl to a tiny browser box in the corner and the record companies also restricted the chance for people to vote with their wallets by ramping down vinyl production to virtually nothing. LPs massacred shellac 78s in a fair fight. The contest between LP and CD was as fixed as a WWE wrestling match.
After a while, CD players started to sound a bit better and I could get a genuine thrill from the sound. I was pretty pleased at last, but it had taken a while.
Then I started hearing about computer audio and took my first stumbling steps. It didn't really grip me 'til I bypassed the computer's line out by using an external DAC, and ditched MP3s for lossless. Revelation! I no longer own a CD player; all discs are ripped as soon as they are unwrapped.
Now the majority of my listening is digital, although quite a bit of it is digitised vinyl. I buy mainly second-hand and find the selection of LPs in any of the shops I visit is so much more varied and interesting than the CD section. And most of the prices are cheap enough that you can take a punt on something that looks interesting and if it stinks, it's no great loss.
Vinyl compared to regular music
By regular, I assume you mean digital.
I wasn't the OP, but to me "regular music" is live performance. If it's acoustic instruments, then preferably without a sound system. As they used to say in the Coke ads, "It's the real thing!"
Because I have to switch sides / discs every 20 minutes!
Vinyl compared to regular music
By regular, I assume you mean digital.
I wasn't the OP, but to me "regular music" is live performance. If it's acoustic instruments, then preferably without a sound system. As they used to say in the Coke ads, "It's the real thing!"
I have heard some unbelievably bad-sounding live concerts. Nothing is perfect, but in a couple of incidences, I'd have been better off listening to a wax cylinder. Sometimes "the real thing" can be bloody awful and a lot LOT worse than even a bad recording. Of course, on the other hand, there are times when I've been completely blown away by the immediacy and wonder of a live experience.
I like the whole experience. The Saturday morning searching through thrift shops, you never know if you'll find that rare record and when you do you get a little buzz and you can retreat with your find and have a coffee...
Exactly. It's the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes I'm flipping through some used bin and come across a mint "holy shit!" find, inspect the record for imperfections, and go home smug and pleased with myself for grabbing that original Aldo Nova pressing for chump-change.
When I get home I carbon-brush it on my 'table and gently lower my overpriced cart onto the vinyl. After about twenty stylus-snapping pops, a mere ten minutes into Side A, I'm cursing everyone I recall coming in contact with that day.
Flip the record as "mint" on eBay rinse and repeat. Why anybody cares about boring CDs is beyond me. They all sound exactly the same and are too easily obtained.
After growing up with records played on so-so systems i got myself a Goldring GR1.2 10 years ago and got into vinyl a bit - I stopped when the collection was getting too big!
I love the sound of vinyl, but it fills my flat up!
Must say, I am a pretty young guy compared to many of you. I've never seen vinyl IRL except from videos and pictures. Of course, I don't have the same nostalgia, rituals, etc as many of you guys might. To me it's just extra work. I was shown a vinyl rip of some tracks I like and I heard pops and cracks which I felt detracted from the experience. Unless I'm listening to like, 1920s music (a la Fallout3 radio), I don't want those types of sounds in my track.
Do you think the younger generation and future generations will all ditch vinyl and eventually it'll just disappear forever? Or maybe there will also be a group of people that finds it interesting.
And as usual, this goes from people talking about why they haven't completely abandoned vinyl to other people talking about how vinyl sucks and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole.
I'm pretty sure the OP wasn't asking for the participation of people who hate or no longer listen to vinyl. Why the Vinyl forum is even being paid attention to by such people, I don't even know.
"Why do you like VHS tapes?" "Why do you like Hondas?"
The question contains a (potentially) false premise. The results of this "survey" would misleading if only vinyl lovers respond.
Yeah, I was originally looking for replies from people who like vinyl, just to hear their side of the story.
Don't assume that the older generation is nostalgic for vinyl. I grew up with it and put up with all of its limitations for years, but the day I got my first CD player, my turntable and ALL of my records went into the trash. I have never regretted that.
Don't assume that the older generation is nostalgic for vinyl. I grew up with it and put up with all of its limitations for years, but the day I got my first CD player, my turntable and ALL of my records went into the trash. I have never regretted that.
A friend of mine did the same and just dumped his big LP collection instead of taking it to the second-hand shop. He didn't tell me until afterwards, and he had some nice stuff I'd happily have taken off his hands. The swine.
CDs are less hassle, of course, and the advent of the format also coincided with a massive increase in the reissue industry, without which I would never have discovered all sorts of great records.
... ... ...by today's standards, almost incredible, that this mechanical thing actually makes this music.
It's not as incredible as how a sequence of numerical values makes music! Maybe one of the things about records that people like is the the fact that they can comprehend that the vibration of the stylus in the grooves leads to the vibration of the speaker. It leaves out the electronics completely, but people feel that "analogue" is sort-of more natural. I don't remember if I ever felt like that: I certainly don't now, perhaps because I now admit that I have little real understanding of either system.
Must say, I am a pretty young guy compared to many of you. I've never seen vinyl IRL except from videos and pictures.
Hah! I grew up with shellac! 78RPM.
Not so much because "vinyl" didn't exist in the 1950s (it did, I guess) but more because my parents were not interested in updating the family music.
Don't assume that the older generation is nostalgic for vinyl. I grew up with it and put up with all of its limitations for years, but the day I got my first CD player, my turntable and ALL of my records went into the trash. I have never regretted that.
A youngster would have given you good money for that!
However little used, I could never bring myself to throw away my records, or my deck. I have LPs bought in the 1960s, played with blunt styli and ceramic cartridges, now completely unplayable, but, they are still like photos in a family photo album.
Yes, there is a lot of nostalgia in
why I like vinyl.
In fact, I really, really wish my mum hadn't thrown the 78s away
My Dad's still got his 78s, and built a double-sized horn for his old gramophone. Even better, we found an old bloke in the next village who made him a whole load of the correct size/shape wooden needles for the pickup. My Dad had run out of them ages ago and so hadn't been able to use the gramophone. He had a Leak turntable that would handle 78s, so we could still listen to the 78s through the regular hi-fi.
The sound through that big horn? Well, it's not hi-fi - not even close! - but it is rather fun for the occasional listen. Just a big, mid-rangey sound that fills the room.
I like this topic!
I don't know if I'm too young for vinyl or not. I'm 28. My mom and her sister had a lot of vinyls, but she took them away wit her so i actually never listened to vinyl during my childhood. My first possession of music comes from compact cassettes. Then i got my first PC, i met with mp3, remember how excited was about the sound of a 128kbps mp3 file. And it's just like ten years ago when i noticed how good digital can sound with lossless tracks. Nowadays I'm only collecting lossless music.
Vinyl is still make me curious, sometimes I'm searching the net for turntable videos and just watch. I do sometimes thinking about buying a turntable and some vinyls, but in the end I'm always finding it needless. It's more the playback technology which amazes me, not the vinyl collecting.
I think vinyl is something you had to live with to appreciate it's importance, when it was the best thing you can get. I suppose it's the same thing as retro computing. Nobody understands why i love the Commodore 64 so much for example. And if you think about how much powerful and better today's PCs are it seem silly even for me. But what matters to me is the memories and countless hours of enjoyment it gave to me. And it's good to have nostalgy and just turn on the old thing and remember those joyful days of my life as a kid
I have the same "buy it or not" thing with the Amiga 1200 as with the vinyl for example. A classmate of mine had this machine and i was so excited every time i had the opportunity to go and play something on it. It would be good to posses one right now, but then i realize how much i don't know about it, and i don't feel i would really invest time to learn how it was working and what kind of games we were playing together. Though I'm still amazed everytime i see some demos or games running on an Amiga. The same thing goes for vinyl.
My Dad's still got his 78s, and built a double-sized horn for his old gramophone. Even better, we found an old bloke in the next village who made him a whole load of the correct size/shape wooden needles for the pickup.
That sounds intriguing. Is it like one of these?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MA957TfmIs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MA957TfmIs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGqHaEEvWg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGqHaEEvWg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdGWCZTUqlg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdGWCZTUqlg)
Cheers,
David.
My Dad's still got his 78s, and built a double-sized horn for his old gramophone. Even better, we found an old bloke in the next village who made him a whole load of the correct size/shape wooden needles for the pickup.
That sounds intriguing. Is it like one of these?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MA957TfmIs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MA957TfmIs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGqHaEEvWg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCGqHaEEvWg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdGWCZTUqlg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdGWCZTUqlg)
Cheers,
David.
I got an error message on the second clip, but my dad's is very much like the one in the third, except it has an electric motor (it probably was wind-up when originally built). One of his 78s is Rachmaninov playing one of his own piano concertos, although disc 1 is broken.
I think vinyl is something you had to live with to appreciate it's importance, when it was the best thing you can get.
Only thing we could get! It was, simply, just the way music came, so we didn't think much about it at the the time.
Actually, that is not quite true, because, if I remember correctly, the "audiophiles" of the day looked at LPs as being second rate: their reel-to-reel tape machines were, to them,
the way to listen to music! Tuners and the BBC (yes, I grew up in UK) were also highly regarded and, perhaps, the source of many of their treasured tapes.
Now, in common usage, "analogue," means vinyl disk, and nothing else.
(Sorry, I suppose that has little to do with why you, I, or anyone else likes vinyl, but it seems to fit into the picture somewhere. I hope)
The stereo LP is such a good medium, it's still in production, despite CDs being a more faithful, higher fidelity replication of the studio recording, superior in every audible way, unless one argues LP's added noise and distortions are "beneficial".
What's interesting is that the improvement in sound that stereo LPs offered, at the time, is actually demonstrated (albeit in a rather embellished manner), on the very first stereo LP! Jump to 7m40s into this video to experience it:
http://youtu.be/iAjM7HqQXFM?t=7m42s (http://youtu.be/iAjM7HqQXFM?t=7m42s)
I think vinyl is something you had to live with to appreciate it's importance, when it was the best thing you can get.
Only thing we could get! It was, simply, just the way music came, so we didn't think much about it at the the time.
Actually, that is not quite true, because, if I remember correctly, the "audiophiles" of the day looked at LPs as being second rate: their reel-to-reel tape machines were, to them, the way to listen to music! Tuners and the BBC (yes, I grew up in UK) were also highly regarded and, perhaps, the source of many of their treasured tapes.
Now, in common usage, "analogue," means vinyl disk, and nothing else.
(Sorry, I suppose that has little to do with why you, I, or anyone else likes vinyl, but it seems to fit into the picture somewhere. I hope)
Reel-to-reel was pretty specialist for most of my formative years. The main alternative to vinyl was the compact cassette. Having had to fill in some paperwork recently, I notice that my ability to gauge how narrow to write to fit everything on the width of a cassette j-card has, sadly, atrophied.
It's all analogue - no DACs in the way! That is, while I save up for a decent Hugo DAC or similar..!
I got a nice Goldring and frequented car boot sales/rummage sales a few years ago - now I can't as I don't have the space for more records!
Reel-to-reel was pretty specialist for most of my formative years. The main alternative to vinyl was the compact cassette. Having had to fill in some paperwork recently, I notice that my ability to gauge how narrow to write to fit everything on the width of a cassette j-card has, sadly, atrophied.
It was pretty
high-end in mine.
I got an error message on the second clip, but my dad's is very much like the one in the third, except it has an electric motor (it probably was wind-up when originally built). One of his 78s is Rachmaninov playing one of his own piano concertos, although disc 1 is broken.
There's various models pictured here (in an attempt to match the serial numbers to the date of manufacture)...
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic...=11&t=15383 (http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=15383)
Plenty of discussion in this forum...
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewforum.php?f=11 (http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewforum.php?f=11)
Cheers,
David.
It's all analogue - no DACs in the way! That is, while I save up for a decent Hugo DAC or similar..!
$2000+ for a DAC?
It's all analogue - no DACs in the way! That is, while I save up for a decent Hugo DAC or similar..!
$2000+ for a DAC?
Hey, if it doesn't cost as much as a Goldring cartridge and exotic turntable, it can't have good specs right...?
I used to love vinyl! From the 1980s until just a few years ago, it seemed that I could still buy music on vinyl far cheaper than I could with CD. Even better, there was a shop not far from my apartment which had an upstairs entirely devoted to the stuff, and they had a number of turntables set up so that you could sample before buying. I'd come home with occasional gems for just a few bucks: Maybe something by Basie, Ellington or Kid Ory (the shop owners eventually caught on though, and suddenly the things I had been getting for a few bucks were closer to $25). It's still a pretty good way to sample classical and opera for next to nothing.
But I grew tired of hauling my collection up and down stairs, and realized that for every Red Back Book/NE Ragtime Conservatory or Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra/Previn/LSO, I had a whole lot more stuff that I had listened to once or twice but which made no lasting impression on me.
Today, I stream more than I purchase, and when I do purchase it's seldom on physical media anymore.
It's not why I like it, but some people buy it as an investment...
http://www.parcel2go.com/content/media/buy...to-invest-vinyl (http://www.parcel2go.com/content/media/buying-to-invest-vinyl)
...and apparently they can't make enough...
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ds-9695409.html (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/manufacturers-are-struggling-to-keep-up-with-the-resurgence-in-vinyl-records-9695409.html)
(pinch of salt duly taken)
Cheers,
David.
What is your own personal reason why you like and often listen to Vinyl compared to regular music on the computer?
It's another source for music. I have lots of LPs that have marvelous performances on them that have never been released on CD or any other digital media. A case in point: Sibelius - Finlandia (the choral version) with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Morman Tabernacle Choir. Never released on CD. Joan Baez, "The Ballad Book" never released on CD only as a Vanguard vinyl "Twofer" and a lousy cassette Never on CD. Those are only two examples of hundreds. To be honest, no music source is ever obsoleted until every performance that anyone might want is available on the new format that replaced the older one. That means that there are great performances on 78's that have never been transferred to another media either.
Add to that the fact that an LP on good playback equipment is hard to beat, sonically. There is something warm and human sounding about an LP that digital just lacks. It's probably distortion, but it's there, nonetheless. Case in point to back up this assertion. The best commercially available recording that I have ever heard is on vinyl. It's the Classic Records re-master of Stravinsky's "Firebird" ballet with Antal Dorati and the London Philharmonic. This release is four single-sided, 45 RPM 200 gram vinyl records. It sounds stupendous! I also have this same performance on CD, mastered by Wilma Cozart Fine (who also mastered this Classic Records vinyl release) and it's hard to believe that they are the same performance. The CD is lifeless, dull, and a big yawn while the LP version is vibrant, alive and dynamic. Don't sell vinyl short. But like everything else, if the record isn't top notch for some reason, then it's not going to sound all that great, but then the same is true of the latest digital 24-bit, 96 or 192 KHz or DSD high-res offering too, isn't it?
It's probably distortion
Harmonic distortion enhanced by uneven frequency response. Surprisingly easy to simulate with digital signal processing.
It's probably distortion
Harmonic distortion enhanced by uneven frequency response. Surprisingly easy to simulate with digital signal processing.
Given that the characteristic "warmth" etc. of vinyl is easily reproducible on digital formats, I find it odd that there aren't that many commercially available "vinylizer" DSP or effect boxes. I know there are a handful of plugins for Cubase and so on, but why isn't it more common?
Why hasn't anyone made a hifi-looking piece of hardware that will "vinylize" your CD playback, for instance?
... ... ... no music source is ever obsoleted until every performance that anyone might want is available on the new format that replaced the older one. ... ... ...
Not even then.
Just because music is
available on newer formats does not necessarily mean that we will
buy it
Given that the characteristic "warmth" etc. of vinyl is easily reproducible on digital formats, I find it odd that there aren't that many commercially available "vinylizer" DSP or effect boxes. I know there are a handful of plugins for Cubase and so on, but why isn't it more common?
Isn't a handful more than enough? How many do you need?
Given that the characteristic "warmth" etc. of vinyl is easily reproducible on digital formats, I find it odd that there aren't that many commercially available "vinylizer" DSP or effect boxes. I know there are a handful of plugins for Cubase and so on, but why isn't it more common?
Isn't a handful more than enough? How many do you need?
Cubase plugins and so on are for professional use, I was wondering why there weren't any hifi-looking vinylizer boxes for audiophiles who want their digitally-stored audio to sound "like vinyl".
Given that the characteristic "warmth" etc. of vinyl is easily reproducible on digital formats, I find it odd that there aren't that many commercially available "vinylizer" DSP or effect boxes. I know there are a handful of plugins for Cubase and so on, but why isn't it more common?
Isn't a handful more than enough? How many do you need?
Cubase plugins and so on are for professional use, I was wondering why there weren't any hifi-looking vinylizer boxes for audiophiles who want their digitally-stored audio to sound "like vinyl".
I wonder if a company like Wadia or Luxman put a "vinylizer" button on an overpriced USB DAC, would it sell like crazy?
Do these plugins really do more than just overlay some crackle? I mean a proper one would mess with EQ and compression, mono-ize deep bass, add rumble and tonearm resonance, vary the speed (simulate wow & flutter), simulate inner groove distortion and any other effects of the tonearm's arc-sweep not matching the cutting head's linear sweep. It would also need to make hi-hats and "ess" sounds (sibilants) distorted, perhaps concentrating the distortion in the side channel for extra "warmth".
Why hasn't anyone made a hifi-looking piece of hardware that will "vinylize" your CD playback, for instance?
Would you settle for a choke-loaded, transformer-coupled 300B tube buffer? Prices start at just 5500 USD:
http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm (http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm)
Cubase plugins and so on are for professional use, I was wondering why there weren't any hifi-looking vinylizer boxes for audiophiles who want their digitally-stored audio to sound "like vinyl".
Many audiophiles mistakenly believe that the reason they prefer vinyl is because it is inherently superior, not because of euphonic distortions. So they'd reason that adding a box to the already-damaged digital signal couldn't possibly restore what's been lost during digitization. Such a box would never sell to audiophiles. And the masses don't think vinyl sounds better, so there's no market there either.
Why hasn't anyone made a hifi-looking piece of hardware that will "vinylize" your CD playback, for instance?
Would you settle for a choke-loaded, transformer-coupled 300B tube buffer? Prices start at just 5500 USD:
http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm (http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm)
Why yes, I would love to "Experience the sound of
addaing a 300B output stage to any source component."
I love vinyl... but it depends on what the woman wearing it look like and what type of whip and handcuff she's planning to use
Why hasn't anyone made a hifi-looking piece of hardware that will "vinylize" your CD playback, for instance?
Would you settle for a choke-loaded, transformer-coupled 300B tube buffer? Prices start at just 5500 USD:
http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm (http://purityaudiodesign.com/300Bbuffer.htm)
Musical Fidelity made a tube buffer for a while, in one of those X-series cylindrical cases.
(http://www.listeninn.com/products/Musical-Fidelity-X10-D-670-B.jpg)
As others in this thread have stated, I like vinyl because of it's "lovable imperfections" and aesthetic qualities. I have no illusions about it being an objectively better way of reproducing sound, and if anything I like the sound because it isn't. I also like film for similar reasons. It's not really an either/or to me.
Also there are genres of music that are still mostly available on vinyl so their sound is still strongly associated with vinyl's "sound" (imperfections), as well as sample based genres that have built their aesthetics around the sound of dusty vinyl samples being run through lo-fi equipment.
I wouldn't want to give up my digital collection by any means, but I think there are reasonable (albeit subjective) reasons to like it.