Vinyl

[Danny]

Records - anyone else hold on to their old vinyl. Are perhaps a collector now?

I don't mind getting up every 20 minutes.

Are you out there adding to your collection..

I've come to realize I'm a collector now that I had to but a 4 shelf unit to hold the ones I've been buying lately...

Every couple weeks I go to my sources here and when on trips to visit my son in Manhattan we go on foraging trips in the Villages for gems to add to our collections.

See High Fidelity?...remember John Cusack's record collection....

 

[ERD50]

I've hung on to my old, but have not collected any new.

One project is to get it all digitized, just for the convenience of having it on the computer, playlists and all. Have done that with all my CDs and it is great. A lot more work to do vinyl (cut each track, name them, etc). And when I eventually downsize, that little portable hard drive is a lot smaller than my record collection.

I used to worry about wear on the records, but at this point, I just play them if I want to hear them. I'm not going to wear them out before my hearing goes.

DW actually thinks it is odd when I say, "I have that on vinyl" ( a very John Cusack-y thing to say ). High Fidelity is a great movie, I should netflix that.

-ERD50

 

[harley]

I still have a number of vinyl albums, mostly bootlegs with no labels or artwork. Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, some old blues and jazz. There was no replacing them with CDs, and I have't converted them to digital yet. Other than that, I have a few favorites that I just like better in vinyl, they sound warmer to my ear. Dark Side, Bitch's Brew, Getz/Gilberto, Aqualung, etc. Also, I have an old Monty Python album with 3 sides (double grooved on one side). It used to freak me out in the old stoner days, and there's no way to reproduce that on CD.

 

[bbbamI]

Off the top of my noodle, I'd say we have about 150 albums. Most of which I consider the 'greats' and a few 'huhs'. I love the album cover art and I really like the way vinyl sounds.

Most of the albums are in great shape, but there are a few that if you listen closely, it sounds like someone is frying chicken.

 

[harley]

Off the top of my noodle, I'd say we have about 150 albums. Most of which I consider the 'greats' and a few 'huhs'. I love the album cover art and I really like the way vinyl sounds.

Most of the albums are in great shape, but there are a few that if you listen closely, it sounds like someone is frying chicken.

I have probably gone through 4 copies of Dark Side and the White Album over the years. No matter how well you treat them, if you play them enough they wear out. I usually replaced them when I stared hearing the other side bleed through.

I was in a Restoration Hardware store a few months ago, and I noticed they were selling frames for albums covers. The album art on CDs never really matched up to the vinyl size. Album Frames Set of 2-Gifts

 

[bbbamI]

Thanks Harley! I've got to get some of those frames. Now, I just have to figure out which ones to use. We've got some pretty 'far out' covers.

When I was growing up, my parents could only afford to buy 45's for me. However, I did manage to get 4 albums before I left home that were given to me by other people.

The majority of the albums in our house belong to DH. So, if we ever get a divorce, I'll take the albums that I brought to the marriage..Alice Cooper, Andy Williams and Barry Manilow. .....

 

[Goonie]

I kept all my vinyl...both LP and 45's. A couple hundred LP's (at least) including Iron Butterfly's "Ina Gadda-Da-Vida", Jethro Tull's "Aqua Lung", the original 3 record Woodstock album, and a whole slew of others from the 60's through the 80's. Plus several hundred 45's from the early to mid 60's up through disco, at which point I switched to the latest, greatest....8-track tapes! Oh, and I still have an operating turntable hooked up to my stereo. In my weird and wild mix of music, I even have a 45 of Big Bird singing his hit single...."Rubber Ducky"!!!

And if that isn't enough old music media....I still have all of those old 8-tracks, AND an operating 8-track player hooked up to the stereo as well. I also still have a couple of portable 8-track 'boom-boxes', and a couple of automotive 8-track players....one of which used to be hooked up out in my workshop until just a few years ago.

We had quite a collection of old vinyl 78's that were in excellent shape too, but we gave them all to a friend of ours who collects them and enjoys listening to them.

By the way, I was just reading an article about a week or two ago, that said that vinyl records are making a come back. Not just the old ones, but that they are beginning to press new ones as well. And that many music stores are clearing out some of their CD space, to make room for the ever increasing demand for vinyl. They were talking about how the sounds on vinyl had more 'depth' than sounds recorded on CD's. Anyway, if I can remember where I read that, and/or can actually locate the article I'll post it's whereabouts and little better 'review' of the article.

 

[Keim]

You should check out www.SteveHoffman.tv. Great music discussion site, with lots of info on this topic.

And, yes I still listen to and purchase records.

Records - anyone else hold on to their old vinyl. Are perhaps a collector now?

I don't mind getting up every 20 minutes.

Are you out there adding to your collection..

I've come to realize I'm a collector now that I had to but a 4 shelf unit to hold the ones I've been buying lately...

Every couple weeks I go to my sources here and when on trips to visit my son in Manhattan we go on foraging trips in the Villages for gems to add to our collections.

See High Fidelity?...remember John Cusack's record collection....

 

[bruce1]

Presently digitizing my old 78's and a few selected albums. I have some really old 78's oldest at this point is 1915 and it actually is supposed to be played at 80 RPM. I'll probably sell or give away all but a few when I am done.

Audacity seems to be a decent free program for digitizing and cleaning up hiss pops and clicks.

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Interesting site for identifying 78's

The Online 78 rpm Discographical Project

Ebay is also helpful as is Vinyl Records, LPs, CDs and Rare Albums. Out of Print Music Albums and Imports. - GEMM.com which seems to have many old albums for sale

Bruce

 

[HFWR]

I have about 300 vinyl LPs, but many have been abused over the years (Can you say "BSR mini-changer with a nickel taped to the tone arm"?), and all are 20-30-40 years old and counting. I have digitized many off the rarer ones.

 

[freebird5825]

I have a very small collection (50 or so) of LPs that is looking for a good home. And a 8 year old turntable to go with them. No takers so far.
I have a collection of CDs that approaches 200 in number. I bought most of them on sale at a now-closed used CD music shop.

 

[bbbamI]

I kept all my vinyl...both LP and 45's. A couple hundred LP's (at least) including Iron Butterfly's "Ina Gadda-Da-Vida",

We saw Iron Butterfly in a local club circa 1983. We talked to Doug for about half an hour and they all signed our album for us. Well...it was a thrill then...

 

[My Dream]

I kept all my vinyl...both LP and 45's. A couple hundred LP's Plus several hundred 45's from the early to mid 60's up through disco, at which point I switched to the latest, greatest tapes! Oh, and I still have an operating turntable hooked up to my stereo.

I'm in the same situation although the LP's were hardly used since I used to record them on tape as soon as I got the album and listened through cassette. Been busy lately so I haven't heard many cd's lately of which about 50 or so are still in the plastic wrap. Maybe one day.

Iron Butterfly..........brings back many memories, wish I could have been there bbbam.

 

[HFWR]

According to George Carlin, the three most played songs in the history of the English language are:

Happy Birthday To You

Auld Lang Syne

and

Ina-Gadda-Da-Vida...

 

[NW-Bound]

I do not have many phonographs. I will admit I like them for the album cover arts or photos, but simply do not understand people's love of their sound. For nostalgic reasons, a resounding YES, but for technical reasons?

I have many more cassettes, and bought my first CD player in 1986, and have not looked back since.

 

[Dreamer]

We had all of our albums stolen from us, along with many other things, back in the 80's. We were renting a big old farmhouse and our albums ran from one side of the wall to the other. Don't know how many we had, but there were a lot of them. The albums were mostly 70's rock. Hope they enjoyed them.

 

[mn54]

We have 50-75 LPs. Love to listen to them. Mostly jazz, mine, and pop and rock from the late '60s and 70's, DW. There's a great music store in Mpls. called cheapo records that has a large collection of used vinyl. Will go and browse when in the area. Will usually find something interesting. Sorry to hear about your albums being stolen Dreamer.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have about 300 vinyl LPs, but many have been abused over the years (Can you say "BSR mini-changer with a nickel taped to the tone arm"?), and all are 20-30-40 years old and counting. I have digitized many off the rarer ones.

I wonder if there is anything left in their sound to digitize.
Perhaps you should continue to keep them just for looks, while searching for new releases on CDs or MP3.

 

[harley]

I do not have many phonographs. I will admit I like them for the album cover arts or photos, but simply do not understand people's love of their sound. For nostalgic reasons, a resounding YES, but for technical reasons?

I have many more cassettes, and bought my first CD player in 1986, and have not looked back since.

There is a difference. HowStuffWorks "Is the sound on vinyl records better than on CDs or DVDs?" Some people can't hear it, just like I'm not a super taster. Supertaster Test: How To Tell If You're A Supertaster - Prevention.com. I want to be a super taster, but I'm not. But I can hear the difference between vinyl and cd on certain recordings, mostly classical and jazz, but not most rock albums. It's not a big enough a difference to bother with most of the time, though.

 

[NW-Bound]

Oh, I can tell the difference between vinyl and CD.

To me, the latter is far superior. And that was when the record was just pulled out of its sleeve, not when it has been injected with scratches and worn out with the "BSR Special" tone arm+nickel.

However, I will read the link you provided to see the argument the other way, I presume.

PS. I did, and it was not convincing. I suspect that most people like myself cannot discern the effect of digital quantization, but can easily hear the scratches and the eventual degradation of the sound when the groove modulation gets worn out due to repeated playing.

 

[ERD50]

Oh, I can tell the difference between vinyl and CD.

To me, the latter is far superior. And that was when the record was just pulled out of its sleeve, not when it has been injected with scratches and worn out with the "BSR Special" tone arm+nickel.

However, I will read the link you provided to see the argument the other way, I presume.

PS. I did, and it was not convincing. I suspect that most people like myself cannot discern the effect of digital quantization, but can easily hear the scratches and the eventual degradation of the sound when the groove modulation gets worn out due to repeated playing.

As in most things - "it depends".

CDs give really good sound, very reliable, and rarely any degradation at all.

But great vinyl, played with a great cartridge will sound great - arguably better than a CD. I personally don't get hung up on the differences, CDs (or more generally, 16 bit 44K sample rate digital) are "good enough" for me, and I do like the convenience.

I've been surprised two times with vinyl. Once, when I got a new cartridge and learned that some of the distortion that I heard in some tracks was *not* in the record, it was my old (highly rated) cartridge. The new one was clearly better. So if you listen to vinyl with mediocre equipment, expect mediocre (or worse) sound.

The second surprise was when I put some well recorded vinyl on after years of CD listening. I couldn't believe how good it sounded. I think all those associations with pops and crackles and surface noise and distortion was from poor recordings (which were common). But the really good stuff was great. Did it sound 'better'? I dunno, but I wouldn't argue with someone who claimed it did to them. Sometimes a little distortion and softness (from the analog process) can sound 'better', or maybe just more 'familiar', or 'preferable' to some ears.

At my age, I no longer worry about wearing them out from a few plays every few years ( again, with a good cartridge and cleaning before every play). But I do want to digitize them for the convenience factor.

And no compressed digital for me (other than for casual listening). I don't even care if I can hear the difference or not, it just does not make sense to me to intentionally degrade the source material that I own. I do use FLAC, which is an open source, non-destructive (loss-less) compression. Similar to 'zipping' a file, you get back exactly what went in, but only ~ 2:1 compression.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, it depends.

I bought into CD fairly early in 86. The debate was raging then between vinyl and CD. I remember one expert pointed out that CDs (back then) sounded harsh because the recording engineers tended to abuse the digital process. They mixed in too much "scintillating" highs, a lot in the high-end spectrum that would not be possible with a record. They tried to show-off the new technology's capability, and ended up abusing it.

I remember trying to listen for that effect with my CDs then, and somewhat agreed with that expert.

Then, I happened to pick up a CD with a re-released old duet by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Now, I never had the record of the original release, but I seriously doubt if it would sound differently or better on vinyl.

In short, I tend to agree with that expert's testament that when a CD sounds worse than a vinyl, it is often the audio engineer's fault rather than the digital technology.

About sound compression, yes, one can go too far in compression and ruin the sound. No argument here at all.

 

[Danny]

There is a steady stream of records coming on the market from people who are done with vinyl, people that need to raise money, and dead collectors. (yes i have seen them)

I'm reading and hearing that vinyl is growing. The [-]record[/-] music industry sees it as a growth business. They are putting out new and reissuing the old on heavier grade vinyl (like 180 grams). One of my places - Electric Fetus has expanded their new and old records area...they say their cd business is trending down while vinyl is growing....music companies are marketing with stickers like "hear the music the way the muscians wanted it heard" , etc. and charging around 20 - 35 for them! I prefer to get the original in good shape and when possible have what's surrounding the record in good shape....cheaper than new and has a different meaning for me.

Used to be it was just old guys like me in the old stacks and a few hip younger guys...now it's really catching on with the 20 somethings they're buying records and the crates to hold them...it's heartwarming to see them getting excited about their new discoveries of the old music, except when they try to grab the ones I want ...looks like there is this new generation that is picking up the vinyl torch...

We have a store here that just specializes in needles and players etc - the Needle Doctor

By the way a great resource for music in any form is AllMusic

...and here's a recent story Vinyl Records and Turntables Are Gaining Sales

 

[bow-tie]

I always thought the Bon Scott era AC/DC sounded the best on vinyl.

 

[ejman]

I kept all my records from the time I started buying them in the late 60's and just kept going , buying records for pennies when CD's took over the music world. I'm currently at around 2,000 records or so, all kinds from Classical to Country passing through Jazz and Folk Why? because they sound so good!

With proper cleaning and good playback equipment records have a warm musical sound that can be approximated with CD's but it costs a lot more to do so in top notch CD equipment. And then, although CD's can sound very good, many are recorded way to "hot" so they sound very shrill and fatiguing.

I basically listen to CD's or digital downloads as background music when I'm doing something else. I listen to records when I'm really listening to the music.

By the way, with proper playback equipment and record care wear is a non issue. I have records that I've played dozens, maybe hundreds of times and they still sound pristine.