Record player/Vinyl

[Carvalho Diablo]

Kemlyn King's advice is sound though. My mate Chutty has a Project turntable (not sure which one though), he got it from Richer Sounds, it's got a USB connector too and he loves it.

 

You should give your local branch of Richer Sounds or Sevenoaks, (or most good audio dealers) a call and set up a demo in their listening room. Tell them what you're thinking about, give em a few options and take your vinyl down there and let it fucking rip.

 

Don't have to buy fuck all.

[Jose Jones]

I am also thinking about going down this route.  My music collection is mainly CDs and shitty iPod downloads.  However my CD player and amp broke a year or so ago and the speakers were old already so I have been living off an iPod in a docking station since then.

Now I am old I need a midlife crisis of some sort and I think music nerd is going to be it.

Is vinyl still the best way to go?  What is the future of music format?  Will Neil Young ever get Pono out?

[Carvalho Diablo]

I am also thinking about going down this route.  My music collection is mainly CDs and shitty iPod downloads.  However my CD player and amp broke a year or so ago and the speakers were old already so I have been living off an iPod in a docking station since then.

Now I am old I need a midlife crisis of some sort and I think music nerd is going to be it.

Is vinyl still the best way to go?  What is the future of music format?  Will Neil Young ever get Pono out?

 

Honestly think CD sounds WAY better than vinyl, UNLESS your talking about spending silly money on some hand-wired all valve Italian amp and a Michell Gyro deck.

 

I road tested the same sort of amp when I was mooching for the Michell and it sounded utterly amazing, warm, tonal, bursting with life, power and subtlety...but fuck all change our of £40,000 !!!

 

Like I said earlier, I can see why so many people are fond of records, but really, dispassionately, CD quality pisses all over it.

 

You can get  Marantz, Nad, Cyrus, Arcam or even Cambridge Audio mix and match separates pretty cheaply these days, hook them up to some killer speakers and you'll have a system that'll fucking astound.

[Sugar Ape]

I'm not really expecting to be blown away by the sound quality, but I have never really liked collecting CDs, even though I've amassed a good few hundred, and I'm sick of just listening to music through my iTunes. I like to have the physical copy of my favourite albums and I think I'd prefer them on vinyl.

 

I expect it'll only get occasional use once the novelty has worn off but I'd like the option.

[Carvalho Diablo]

I'm not really expecting to be blown away by the sound quality, but I have never really liked collecting CDs, even though I've amassed a good few hundred, and I'm sick of just listening to music through my iTunes. I like to have the physical copy of my favourite albums and I think I'd prefer them on vinyl.

 

I expect it'll only get occasional use once the novelty has worn off but I'd like the option.

 

Do you have any young kids or a dog Rapey ?

[Adebisi]

I am also thinking about going down this route.  My music collection is mainly CDs and shitty iPod downloads.  However my CD player and amp broke a year or so ago and the speakers were old already so I have been living off an iPod in a docking station since then.

Now I am old I need a midlife crisis of some sort and I think music nerd is going to be it.

Is vinyl still the best way to go?  What is the future of music format?  Will Neil Young ever get Pono out?

Vinyl doesn't sound better. At least I don't think it does personally. There's probably some science mumbo-jumbo and some hardfacts that will prove which format sounds better, but unless you have the ears of a dog, you're probably not going to be able to notice.

 

I've collected vinyl for ten years simply because I like collecting things, I like the big beautiful album artwork and once you get in deep, there's the whole purchasing a first pressing of Sister by Sonic Youth for 2 weeks wages and realising whatever happens, as long as that record is in your possession, you'll never have to sell your arse for food (again) Truth be told I'd probably only get £100 odd for it, but I was a lot dafter with my money back then. 

 

Some people say its a dead format, but all the bands worth listening to still release their records on vinyl. Once you start collecting though it can become a very expensive hobby. I've been threatened with eviction and had bailiffs knocking on my door, but not a chance I'm parting with my records. 

[Sugar Ape]

Two dogs, no kids as of yet.

[Carvalho Diablo]

Two dogs, no kids as of yet.

 

Dogs + kids + vinyl + turntables = f%@k c£n$ b*$t£r£% t"%&

[Bjornebye]

It's all about the showing off though. 

 

Ipod speakers? ha, fuck off, get on this.....

[Kemlyn King]

Vinyl sounds a bit warmer on a half decent system turned up.

The great thing about CDs is once they've been out a while you can pick them up for dirt cheap anyway.

Most new vinyl comes with CD/download code.

Your kids will make a few bob from your record collection when you snuff it.

Your still allowed to play CDs if you get a turntable.

Buying records is fun!

Biggest mistake was selling shitloads years ago...To buy CDs

Still got Definately Maybe though on double vinyl cause it included Sadsong and that's why records are boss!!!

If your into music do it! As a midlife crisis it's cheaper than a convertible and a pony tail will look silly!

[Pureblood]

Wise words Kemlyn. Agree about the warmer sound of vinyl, it really brings instruments to life and sounds more live.

 

I've resolved never to buy cds, dvds, blu rays etc. ever again. Digital media is a pure rip off.

[Kemlyn King]

Tk421 I will buy CDs but I pay no more than 2 quid. There's loads not on vinyl or the vinyl is silly dough.

Gone are the days of paying £10+ for a disc.

Gotta be honest there's no way I'm trying to duplicate the CD collection on vinyl. Just trying to get different stuff.

[VladimirIlyich]

I think CDs sound way too perfect and manufactured whereas vinyl,at least the older stuff,80s and back,sounds more real and earthy. A record is supposed to have dust on the stylus its just the way its meant to be.

[Sugar Ape]

I'm thinking of this one now, seems to have good reviews on Amazon and WhatHiFi:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TDK-Record-Powered-Vinyl-Turntable/dp/B004LR5SQE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384450447&sr=8-1&keywords=tdk+turntable

 

[PestiRed]

Sadly, being old enough to actually have no choice except vinyl (or shitty tapes that were no choice at all), I don't get the younger obsession with trying out vinyl - it's not as good as options now

 

I inherited a 60's Beatle collection and love it but still wouldn't choose to listen to it over digital except for novelty/heritage value

[Pureblood]

Sadly, being old enough to actually have no choice except vinyl (or shitty tapes that were no choice at all), I don't get the younger obsession with trying out vinyl - it's not as good as options now

 

Yeah, but have you seen an MP3 that looks like this?

 

[Pureblood]

Tk421 I will buy CDs but I pay no more than 2 quid. There's loads not on vinyl or the vinyl is silly dough.

Gone are the days of paying £10+ for a disc.

Gotta be honest there's no way I'm trying to duplicate the CD collection on vinyl. Just trying to get different stuff.

 

I would just put the 2 quid towards some sexy vinyl.  Everything is on youtube now anyway, with decent sound quality. 

[Sugar Ape]

Sadly, being old enough to actually have no choice except vinyl (or shitty tapes that were no choice at all), I don't get the younger obsession with trying out vinyl - it's not as good as options now

 

I inherited a 60's Beatle collection and love it but still wouldn't choose to listen to it over digital except for novelty/heritage value

 

Maybe that is the reason young people want to try it though. Ancient people like you who only had the option of vinyl have embraced the digital age because it's much easier to download songs and skip songs, you believe the sound is better etc... but a lot of younger people have never tried it.

 

I want to give it a whirl and experience it for myself, get a decent system set up and invest in a few records.

 

I think we can agree how fucking shite tapes were. Christ, I hated them. I do remember getting Boss Drum by The Shamen on tape and a Sony walkman one year though and being made up.

[FanchesterCity]

To be fair, most of the world's music was recorded on tape! (albeit at a much higher speed / quality than cassette tape).

I remember spending a small fortune in my youth on all those BASF Chrome II cassettes or the TDK ones.... remember the TV adverts saying how amazingly clear they sounded?  To be fair, they pretty good at the time. Hard to tell them from the original vinyl if you got your levels just right.

 

Don't forget, when you play them back now, they've deteriorated - so sound far worse than they did originally.

 

When CD's came out, most of us marveled at the sheer clarity, but these days, that's been deemed as 'lacking in warmth' or 'brittle sound'.

 

One thing many people don't realise with CDs - is that in THEORY every time you play it back, it should be the same... because it's digital right?...

 

Well... that's a bit misleading. If you play back a CD in most CD players, it'll read back different data every time. It's usually not enough for you to ever notice, but all the same, it's NOT a 100% perfect digital reproduction at all. At least with a lossless file format like FLAC, you'll read back the same data every single time.

 

Without getting too technical, with a CD, there's quite a high error rate as the laser tries to read the CD. There's usually enough error correction on the CD itself to help overcome serious errors, but there's still countless minor errors in reading back the data. This is why a lot of CD rippers usually have an 'accuracy' option where they'll have to read back the data multiple times to be sure... rather than the quick 'on the fly' rips that behave in the same way as a normal CD playback does (error strewn).

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

Make sure whatever turntable you buy is direct drive and not belt driven, you don't want to get the lazy pitch on start up of a shitty belt driven. Also with regards to audio quality, nothing beats the initial snap crackle and pop when you stick on 'let's get it on' and yer missus knows it's on, fuck foreplay, vinyl rules.

 

 

 

[stringvest]

plus she knows you've only got 20 minutes, so she's not going to hang about.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

I've got tonnes of vinyl going back to the 60's , original stuff. Plenty of latex and rubber too. A particularly nice 12".

[Dr Arthur De Sabre]

plus she knows you've only got 20 minutes, so she's not going to hang about.

We've had 2 go's and a ten minute kip by then mate, I always leave her with a smile.

 

 

 

[Paul]

I'm not a sound fascist so i don't know about the difference between analogue/digital. But i do prefer the sound of vinyl to digital music. All i know is that everything sounds fuckin great played through my 7.1 surround system.

 

If you do get into collecting old vinyl the best thing to do is just watch auctions on ebay until you get a feel for price. It's easy to get drawn into bidding wars when you start out. If in doubt search for finished auctions on popsike.com and then you can find out a record's true value.

It's not even a matter of opinion, mate. Digital music is compressed and loses something at both the bottom and top end. I've reluctantly given up on vinyl simply because the overwhelming bulk of what I want to buy doesn't get a vinyl release and I've therefore stopped bothering to look anymore. I was a vinyl junkie from the age of 15 until I was 40 but the last two years have seen me buy precisely zero records. I'm still a little bit gutted, even if the quality and quantity of new music available is stratospherically high these days.

[Magellan06]

 

This is my set up, although you are looking at about 3k for this. i began this upgrade about eighteen months ago, up until then I'd always thought vinyl far superior to cd so stayed with it. Two things have changed my opinion a bit. Firstly in the last 4/5 years the CD manufacturers have upped their game because of the download threat, and secondly my new kit has enabled me to hear the improvement. I now only buy vinyl to add to existing collections, if I'm buying an artist new to me I go  for CD, they're just more convenient to play and now they're good enough imo.